Hey look, it’s me again.

So last night, F and I saw the Gorillaz at the Paramount. If you are wondering if they did the regular Wizard of Oz routine, the answer is yes, yes they did. It was strange but also felt sort of groundbreaking. Sort of like hearing Beck’s Mellow Gold for the first time, I thought wow maybe I’m witnessing something revolutionary.

While the music of The Gorillaz is provided by a number of superstars, the prolific overachiever Dan the Automator, Cibo Matto's Miho Hatori, and others, the bands personae are provided by animated characters dreamed up by the creator of Tank Girl.
When they perform live, they do so from behind a screen. During the performance, cartoons are projected onto this screen starring the adventures of the animated alter egos. Even knowing this was their schtick, I expected at some point they would emerge, a final bow or something, but except for a couple “Yo Seattle” shout outs, audience interaction seemed minimal. The projected images were entertaining for sure, but after paying over $30, part of me was jonsing for some real live rock star charisma.

But how real is the regular performance thing? It just a genre, right? Every show follows the same basic script. Thanking the opening act, some attempts to localize by commenting on how enthusiastic the residents of that town appear to be (last year at the Tacoma Dome show, Dr. Dre decided to cover an entire region with a sort of clumsy “Western Washington, make some noise!”), the regular set of songs, holding the most popular for the end, the saying goodnight, the long pause, an encore, perhaps two and that’s that. For the most part, The Gorillaz followed this formula but added a new dimension, the cartoon alter egos sort of mocking the rock star image. I’m still not decided, but one thing for sure, it might be the loudest show I’ve ever been two. And I know it’s bad for my little eardrums, but there is something distinctly satisfying about a bass beat that could restart your heart.

Oh yeah, they played Clint Eastwood twice.