Damon Albarn Leads the Gorillaz Through New “Mountain” Peaks and Old Favorites in South Florida – Review of the Gorillaz Concert at the Kaseya Center in Miami, FL

Thousands of excited fans lined up outside of Miami’s Kaseya Center on Friday night, clad in colorful hair and “Noodles” masks, as they waited in the humid air for a rare chance to catch their favorite band live. Damon Albarn and Gorillaz brought their “The Mountain” tour to South Florida, delivering an extravagant performance that balanced the somber themes of their new album with the playful spectacle that has defined the virtual band for more than 25 years.

The show, part of their first extensive North American run since 2022, relied heavily on material from their ninth studio album “The Mountain“, inspired by bandleaders’ Damon Albarn’s and Jamie Hewlett’s recent deaths in their families and recorded across India, London, and even Miami itself. The result is part “The Jungle Book“, part “The White Album” and part “Ravi Shankar” while still remaining 100% unmistakably Gorillaz.

But before the main event could begin, the evening started with a double dose of hip-hop. Deltron 3030, the futuristic trio featuring frequent Gorillaz collaborators Del the Funky Homosapien and turntablist extraordinaire Kid Koala took the stage first, wasting no time during their short 20 minute set to showcase their unique brand of futuristic sci-fi Hip-Hip. Following up was another Gorillaz regular, British rapper Little Simz, who pranced around the stage in a whirlwind of energy while showing off tracks from her albums “Lotus” and “Sometimes I Might Be Introvert“. 

Shortly after 9 PM, the red curtains on the screens flanking the stage began to dim as the Gorillaz backing band appeared on stage in the shadows, dressed in “Guerilla” fatigues in a witty nod to their band’s name. Damon Albarn appeared, also fully clothed in camo and wearing a red beret, as the band launched into the album’s title track “The Mountain“. While Gorillaz may be a “virtual band”, the incredible musicianship on stage was no less real as a massive 13 person backing band featuring sitars, multiple drum sets and even turntable scratching by Kid Koala.

With Jamie Hewlett’s hand-drawn animated visuals competing for attention on massive screens behind them, Damon and the band jammed through new songs like “The Happy Dictator” while mixing in classic Gorillaz jams like “Last Living Souls” and “Tomorrow Comes Today“. Damon walked out into the crowd multiple times, signing merchandise that rail-riding front row warriors brought in hopes of this very moment, and even sharing choruses with a lucky few.

The collaborative spirit that has always defined Gorillaz was also on full display. Little Simz returned for “Garage Palace” while Del the Funky Homosapien reappeared for “Rock the House” and the inevitable closer “Clint Eastwood“. Bootie Brown joined for “Dirty Harry” and Michelle Ndegwa lent her voice to “Kids With Guns“. “The Moon Cave” featured Indian-American singer Asha Puthli, while Kara Jackson came out for “Orange County“. We even had a special guest appearance by a Ukrainian “Tooth Fairy”, a “fixer” who helped Damon recover his missing gold tooth last time he was in Miami.

The main set closed with “Feel Good Inc.“, its unmistakable bassline prompting the night’s loudest singalong, before the band returned for a four-song encore that moved from the meditative “Cloud of Unknowing” along to the bouncy “Dirty Harry” and finally to the one-two punch of “Rock the House” and “Clint Eastwood“. By the time the lights came up, it was clear that while Gorillaz could easily tour on the strength of their millennial touchstones forever, this was a band more interested with constantly pushing the envelope to a place thats new and interesting than with simply resting on their laurels.