Gorillaz at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto felt like stepping inside a signal that had been bouncing around pop culture for years and suddenly landed right in front of you.
This was the Humanz Tour, and the whole show had that big Gorillaz energy: part concert, part cartoon transmission, part late-night city panic, part weirdly beautiful communal singalong. Damon Albarn stood at the centre of it all, but Gorillaz has never really been a normal front person-and-band situation. The world built by Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, with 2-D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle, and Russel Hobbs, has always lived somewhere between music, animation, mythology, and mood.
Toronto got a set that moved through the full Gorillaz universe, with “Ascension,” “Last Living Souls,” “Saturnz Barz,” “Tomorrow Comes Today,” “Charger,” “Rhinestone Eyes,” “Sleeping Powder,” “19-2000,” “Sex Murder Party,” “She’s My Collar,” “Busted and Blue,” “El Mañana,” “Strobelite,” “Andromeda,” “Out of Body,” “Garage Palace,” and “We Got the Power” all landing before the encore.
The night also pulled in the kind of guests that make Gorillaz feel less like a fixed band and more like a living, glitchy relay system. Vince Staples, Kilo Kish, Jamie Principle, Zebra Katz, Peven Everett, and Little Simz all appeared across the set, giving the Humanz material the crowded, restless pulse it was built for.
The encore closed with “Stylo,” “Kids With Guns,” “Clint Eastwood,” “Don’t Get Lost in Heaven,” and “Demon Days.” It was a strange, colourful, heavy little universe for one night in Toronto. Very Gorillaz, in the best possible way.
This post includes a small preview from the full Gorillaz Toronto gallery.
Setlist reference:
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/gorillaz/2017/air-canada-centre-toronto-on-canada-1be4792c.html
Complete Gorillaz gallery and print options available here.
For special requests, licensing, or print inquiries, please contact Lisa.
