Demon Days Live was a rendition of Gorillaz second album Demon Days. These shows where very limited as they only played at two different venues, The Manchester Opera HouseW and The Apollo TheaterW. Taking a different approach from their previous Gorillaz LIVE Tour, of their self-titled debut album.
Information[]
Real Life Backstory[]
It was Damon's idea to recreate the album in all its glory on stage. To realise this dream, he approached Alex PootsW, with whom he had previously worked on Mali MusicW, who in turn asked that it be a "trail-blazer" event for the Manchester International FestivalW.[1] The festival was officially inaugurated in 2007 with Albarn and Hewlett's opera Monkey: Journey to the West. The first rumours of a new tour surfaced at the SXSW FestivalW in Texas in March 2005, when Damon announced a North American tour "with all the characters" planned for summer 2005.[2] However, the idea that it would be a massive collaboration of artists who had worked on Demon Days live on stage was already there, as was the idea of using silhouettes in the performances rather than the screen that was a constant presence at Gorillaz's previous tour. By the end of spring, the band realised they would have to move the dates up a little, and in June the month of November was named and the venue was the Manchester Opera HouseW. All the shows sold out within an hour.[1]
On 1 March 2006, Gorillaz announced a surprise new residency at Harlem's Apollo TheaterW, sponsored by MotorolaW.[3][4] Once again, tickets sold out within an hour. Unfortunately, the first night of the show was marred by technical problems, resulting in no visuals.[5] A Las Vegas residency was considered, but the "astronomical" production cost of previous shows dissuaded the band from continuing the concerts. Speaking on tour expenses, Jamie explained: "The idea of putting it on in Vegas really appealed, but in the end it would have cost too much. The Demon Days Live shows actually ended up costing Damon and I money overall."[6]
Virtual Band Backstory[]
| “ | The way I looked at this gig was kinda like the Pope giving his blessing to another Parish. And I guess Albarn was a natural choice to lead it. I mean, he sounds like a dead ringer for 2D. | „ |
| ~ Murdoc Niccals |
According to the band's 2006 autobiography, Rise of the Ogre, they where scheduled to perform Feel Good Inc. Live At The 2005 MTV EMA's in November. So Murdoc decided on letting collaborator Damon Albarn lead the set of live shows. Damon managed on getting many different performances to re-create their latest masterpiece that was Demon Days. Damon bought on a 8 piece band, consisting of a singer, bassist, two guitarists, keyboardist, drummer and percussionist. Along with the band, Damon brought the Demon Strings from the album and back up singers. 2-D and Murdoc attended the first show before rushing all the way to Lisbon for the MTV EMAs.[7] Then in 2006, 2-D and Murdoc would once again visit the shows after guitarist Noodle had disappeared in the El Mañana video.[8]
Setlist[]
- Intro
- Last Living Souls
- Kids With Guns
- O Green World
- Dirty Harry
- Feel Good Inc.
- El Mañana
- Every Planet We Reach Is Dead
- November Has Come
- All Alone
- White Light
- DARE
- Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head
- Don't Get Lost in Heaven
- Demon Days
- Encore
Personnel[]
Live band
- Damon Albarn — vocals, piano, melodica
- Mike Smith — keyboards, musical director
- Simon Tong — guitar
- Simon Jones — guitar
- Morgan Nicholls — bass
- Cass Browne — drums
- Karl Vanden Bossche — percussion
- Darren Galea — turntables
- Wayne Hernandez — choral director, additional vocals
- Roses Gabor — additional vocals, vocals (DARE)
- Sharlene Hector — additional vocals
- Wendi Rose — additional vocals
- Aaron Sokell — additional vocals
- Demon Days Strings — strings
- Izzy Dunn — cello
- Dan Keane — cello
- Emma Smith — double bass
- Amanda Drummond — viola
- Nina Kapinsky — viola
- Antonia Pagulatos — violin
- Sally Jackson — violin
Additional musicians
- Royal Northern College of MusicW — additional strings (Manchester shows only)
- Simon Gilks - violin
- Holly Maleham - violin
- Zoe Colman - violin
- Kirsty Mangan - violin
- Gary Pomeroy - viola
- Julliard SchoolW students — additional strings (New York shows only)
- Neneh Cherry — vocals (Kids With Guns)
- Bootie Brown — rap (Dirty Harry)
- Parklands School & Newall Green School childrens choir — choir (Dirty Harry; Manchester shows only)
- Terry Wright Project & G3 Entertainment — choir (Dirty Harry; New York shows only)
- De La Soul — rap (Feel Good Inc.)
- Ike Turner — piano (Every Planet We Reach Is Dead)
- MF DOOM — rap (November Has Come; archive footage)
- Roots Manuva — vocals (All Alone)
- Martina Topley-Bird — vocals (All Alone)
- Manchester Gospel Choir — choir (Manchester shows only)
- Harlem Gospel Choir — choir (New York shows only)
- Shaun Ryder — vocals (DARE)
- Dennis Hopper — narrator (Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head; last two New York shows only)
- Zeng Zhen — guzheng (Hong Kong)
- Ibrahim Ferrer — vocals (Latin Simone; archive footage)
Live Performances[]
Gallery[]
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Trivia[]
2-D and Murdoc puppets used during the live shows.
- 2-D and Murdoc were performed by Muppeteers from the Jim Henson CompanyW:
- In the Manchester shows, 2-D and Murdoc were performed by Muppeteers Nigel Plaskitt and Andy Heath.
- For the Apollo shows, Matt Vogel, known for being the current performer of Kermit the Frog and Big Bird, puppeteered Murdoc, while Joey Mazzarino, who's known for puppeteering Murray Monster, puppeteered 2-D.
- DARE was performed twice at the 3 November show because the first attempt was so disastrous that Damon got frustrated and went backstage.[9]
- De La Soul were absent from the 3 November show (due to Gorillaz's virtual performance at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards) and only one of them appeared at the 5 November show.[9]
- The 6 April performance was broadcast by MSN VideoW and MHDW (now MTV Live) as "Gorillaz: Live in Harlem".[10][11]
See Also[]
References[]
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