Gorillaz play new album in full at London show with special guests including Johnny Marr, Joe Talbot and Sparks
During their final night of their London residency, Gorillaz played their upcoming album in full at the Copper Box on September 3rd.
At the first show, on August 29th, they performed their eponymous debut album in full, then played Demon Days in full on August 30th, and dedicated their September 1st concert to Plastic Beach. However, the fourth and final show was billed as a mystery show.
For the first three shows, phones were permitted to be used by audience members, but were banned from the mystery concert, which was seemingly implemented to prevent fans from leaking their upcoming album.
Per an official programme from the show, which has since appeared online, Gorillaz’s band consisted of Damon Albarn, Mike Smith, Jeff Wootton, Seye Adelekan, Jaega McKenna-Gordon, Karl Vanden Bossche, Ruth O’Mahony-Brady, Rebecca Freckleton, Michelle Ndegwa, Jesse Appiah, and Angel Williams.
While special guests who joined them included Black Thought, Omar Souleyman, Asha Puthli, Asha Bhosle, Sparks, Gruff Rhys, Kara Jackson, Yasiin Bey, Paul Simonon, Joe Talbot, Johnny Marr, Ajay Prasanna, Trueno and Anoushka Shankar.
Meanwhile, a group of deceased artists, consisting of Dennis Hopper, Bobby Womack, De La Soul’s Dave Jolicoeu, Tony Allen, Proof and Mark E Smith, were billed as the Voices from Elsewhere.
According to fans in attendance, including one Reddit user, the album sounds like it was “inspired by South Asia/the Middle East”, and another on X said it is “heavy on Indian tunes”.
During a recent interview with Channel 4 News, Albarn let the cat out of the bag that they would be playing new material during the mystery show, stating, “There might… I mean, yes, in that sense.”
He also confirmed that he’d been working on a new Gorillaz album to The Sun earlier this summer, sharing, “I’ve been incredibly busy making music — it’s what I love to do.” He added, “I suppose I’m going to have to share some of it soon. Inevitably there will always be a dustbin bag full of stuff that needs dropping off at the recycling.”
In another conversation with The Times, Albarn stated that the album is likely to be released in 2026, and also shared, “My new Gorillaz record is in four languages.”
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