Gorillaz returned to the Hollywood Palladium for a two-night stand Sunday (2/22) and Monday (2/23) for a pair of very special concerts where they played the entirety of their forthcoming album, The Mountain during the first set and the bangers from their catalogue in the second half.
The British outfit fronted by Damon Albarn (vocals, keyboards) which currently includes Jeff Wootton (guitar), Seye Adelekan (bass), Mike Smith (keyboards), and Karl Vanden Bossche (drums, percussion), held a two-night engagement 24 years ago at the legendary Sunset Blvd. venue during their 24-date Debut Album Tour.
The only major similarities between the gigs in 2002 and 2026 were Albarn, two songs ("Clint Eastwood” and “Rock the House"), and the cartoon characters on the tshirts and video screens. One giant difference was in 2002, the band played behind a curtain only casting shadows on the screen the entire night.
Opened on Halloween night in 1940 with a concert by Tommy Dorsey and his band which featured a 24 year-old vocalist named Frank Sinatra, the Art Deco ballroom has hosted pop, punk, and hip-hop acts throughout the decades.
Fans of the film The Blues Brothers will know the venue as the fictional Palace Hotel Ballroom where Jake & Elwood et al rocked their big show to save the St. Helen of the Blessed Shroud Orphanage.
The show opened with the album's title track starring Albarn behind the keys. It was followed with “The Moon Cave,” featuring guest appearances by Asha Puthli and Black Thought, both reprising their parts from the studio version.
Puthli is the Indian singer and actress who self-titled 1973 debut earned a cult following in crate-digging circles decades later. Through her career she has collaborated with artists across genres, including jazz legend Ornette Coleman... and now Gorillaz.
Black Thought aka Tariq Trotter, the head MC of The Roots, would later rejoin Gorillaz for "The Empty Dream Machine" and "The Sad God."
Keeping the guest parade going, just three songs in, none other than underground legends, Sparks, arrived to perform “The Happy Dictator” with the band.
Got to hand it to Gorillaz to go from a '70s Indian vocalist beloved by Disco heads to the duo Russell Mael and keyboardist Ron Mael who began in the late '60s, all in a matter of a minute.
When writing "The Happy Dictator," Albarn told Flood he immediately knew Sparks, who will be opening for Gorillaz in London, should be featured on it.
“I was like, ‘This song is just screaming Sparks to me.’ Literally screaming Sparks,” he said. “They did a brilliant job.”
"Orange County" was the fifth song and it contained the third guest appearance. This time it was singer Kara Jackson, a former National Youth Poet Laureate, whose 2023 debut Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love? produced her most performed tune, "Dickhead Blues."
Earlier this year Albarn told BBC Radio he's "always looking for voices that the first time I hear them, they just completely send me somewhere else. Kara's got one of those voices with me."
Another voice Albarn seems to like is Joe Talbot's of IDLES. The pair performed "The God of Lying” together, a tune they co-wrote for the album which drops on Friday.
During the second set the guests kept coming in including Del the Funky Homosapien who came out for “Rock the House” and “Clint Eastwood,” a very welcome addition to the sound that helped define Gorillaz back in 2002.
Bootie Brown joined for “Dirty Harry,” as on the original recording. And to peak on top of peak, Posdnuos of De La Soul helped end the show adding some of that Daisy Revolution to “Feel Good Inc.”
Gorillaz will be traveling the world now to celebrate its new album. But first it will be heading to 30 Rock to appear on SNL on a night Ryan Gosling is hosting. Get your tix on Gorillaz' website.
Gorillaz The Mountain Tour 2026
3/6 Saturday Night Live, NYC
3/13-3/14 Bradford Live, Bradford, UK
3/20-3/21 Co-op Live, Manchester, UK
3/22 bp pulse LIVE, Birmingham, UK
3/24 OVO Hydro, Glasgow, UK
3/25 First Direct Arena, Leeds, UK
3/27 Utilita Arena, Cardiff, UK
3/28 Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, UK
3/29 M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool, UK
3/31 The SSE Arena, Belfast, UK
4/1-4/2 3Arena, Dublin, Ireland
6/4 Parc del Fòrum, Barcelona, Spain
6/10 Park 360, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
6/12 Parque da Cidade, Porto, Portugal
6/14 Beekse Bergen, Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands
6/22 Inmusic, Zagreb, Croatia
7/4 Werchter Festivalpark, Rotselaar, Belgium
7/5 Luxexpo, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
7/9 SKY PARK Letisko, Trenčín, Slovakia
7/11 L’Esplanade Du Lac, Divonne-les-Bains, France
7/18 Plovdiv Rowing Canal, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
8/15 Slottsskogen, Göteborg, Sweden
