Live stream; available online
Double drummers, six backing singers, Robert Smith, Peter Hook and Slowthai guesting… Damon Albarn plays master of ceremonies in an impressive night of collaborations
Little about 2020 has been straightforward. So there is something perversely logical in the prospect of Gorillaz – a half-real, half-virtual band who released their best music in ages this year – playing a triumphal pre-Christmas gig with various layers of reality cavorting around them.
As this live stream begins, up pops not Damon Albarn, the musical half of the core Gorillaz partnership, but Robert Smith from the Cure. Backlit, he sings straight to camera, intoning about “strange times” next to a customised Gorillaz golf buggy. A live band plays in the distance; Murdoc Niccals, a cartoon band member, momentarily skulks into view.