CARTOON band Gorillaz began their eagerly awaited five-night stint in Manchester with a flawless performance at the Opera House.
Until now, the group, brainchild of Blur frontman, Damon Albarn, has only performed live behind a screen onto which their animated alter-egos, drawn by Tank Girl creator, Jamie Hewlett, were projected.
But the four-piece cartoon group was unveiled as an eight member live act on stage last night, albeit in the shadows.
The serenity of the Opera House provided a bizarre setting for a rock concert, but the superior acoustics and dramatic interior were the perfect place for Gorillaz to present a staggering rendition of their chart-topping second album, Demon Days.
Fittingly, for a group founded on the idea of rejecting false idols and mass-produced pop culture, Gorillaz came to town with a host of legendary collaborators in tow.
But she was soon upstaged by the Wythenshawe Children's Choir, who body-popped and shimmied their way through Dirty Harry, accompanied by hip-hop artist Booty Brown.
By hit single Feel Good Inc, the audience was hooked, lined and sunk. The arrival of rappers De La Soul sent a wave of excitement through the crowd and Ike Turner was rightly greeted with enthusiastic reverence as he delicately tickled the ivories on Every Planet We Reach is Dead.
Welcome
Martina Topley-Bird and British artist Roots Manuva were brought out for All Alone, but it was local hero, Happy Mondays' front man Shaun Ryder, who received the biggest welcome of the night.
Dressed in a bomber jacket and blue jeans, his eyes hidden by dark wrap around glasses, Ryder delivered a flirtatious rendition of Dare, even shaking his booty at the delighted audience.
Several members of the audience, desperate to get up and dance were swiftly pushed back into their seats.
Some were even ejected from the auditorium by burly security men. But their heavy-handed tactics could not detract from a landmark concert that ended with a spectacular encore by Albarn.
He finally emerged from the shadows to deliver a heart-wrenching version of Hong Kong, accompanied by the Chinese harp. His standing ovation was well deserved.
Gorillaz have sold millions of albums yet their performances have always been blighted by a problem of presentation - how to bring an entirely fictional band to life.
But their show demonstrated that the group has cast off at least some of the shackles of anonymity to bring their spectacular second album to life.
A decision Albarn won't regret.
What did you think of the show? Let us know below.
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Fantastic performance. Wrong venue. Apollo anyone?
Steve: agreed, it was a sensational show, jaw-dropping in its audaciousness. But I thoguht the Opera House made for a perfect venue. I love the Apollo - it walks all over the Academy, and by some distance the Apollo is the city's best venue for pop and rock gigs - but I think it just wouldn't have been the same there.
Hmmmmm. Lovely building yeah.
People being kicked out for dancing?
Will the real Damon Albarn please sit down.
We're sittin down, DARE!
I thought the venue couldn't have been better - the theatrical yet grungy surroundings couldn't have been more perfect for such the Gorillaz. But anyway - what's all this talk of the venue about?! What about the performance?!! I agree with the Sarah Walters - it was absolutley flawless and there wasn't a moment i wasn't hooked. Damon Albarn definitely deserved his standing ovation and the rest of the performers were a credit to the night. I feel priveleged to have been able to see them all perform together and wouldn't change a thing!
I don't think it would have worked at the Apollo, apparently Damon originally wanted the Bridgewater... Fantastic night, wish I could go back again and see the brillian performance..... but why all the fuss about Shaun? he was the only person in the building that didn't know the words to DARE... Just cos the man wrote a few decent songs 10 years ago!
Stupendous! It was like Jools Holland's Big Band on crack. A musical & visual feast. Shaun was pure comedy and the sound of the band and the brilliantly directed choirs in the opera house were something special. The Gallagher brothers could never produce anything like that.
An absulutely fantastic night. one of the best performances I've ever seen - flawless other than Mr Ryders inability to remember the words to Dare (Theres not that many of them Shaun!). I thought the venue was perfect and I don't know what the problem was with standing up - we were there on Thursday and there were plenty of people dancing at the back or in the aisles.
And anyway - the kids from the childrens choir did enough funky dancing for all of us - superb!
.... just wondering why my complementary comments on the show dated 2nd November time 13.31 have been COMPLETELY WIPED OFF ? ? ?