Damon Albarn Disappointed With Glastonbury Gorillaz Set
By stonesthrow | Wednesday, July 28, 2010, 08:36
Damon Albarn has spoken out recently about his performance with the Gorillaz at this years Glastonbury Festival.
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Did even Snoop Dog fail to engage Gorillaz fans at Glasto?
The Gorillaz headlined the Pyramid Stage on the Friday, replacing U2 after Bono sustained a back injury (yes, fell off the stage, standing too close to the Edge, weight of his own head, etcetera etcetera....) Albarn has said that he felt there was not enough interaction with the crowd, and despite introducing many special guests onto the stage throughout the set, including Snoop Dog, Lou Reed and Bobby Womack, even these three failed to make the audience feel up close and personal with little or no banter and rapport with the tens of thousands of spectators.
Many appeared to leave the audience throughout the set, with numbers dwindling significantly towards the end as apparently even die hard fans felt the set was a little flat and not very engaging.
I watched the Gorillaz set and was, on the whole, impressed with the performances and the visuals. Admittedly, there was very little engagement with the crowd from the performers; I do recall at one point wondering why Albarn had not made any reference to their filling in for U2 - the crowd do enjoy a chance to acknowledge such a thing - and he didn't really make anything of the fact that he was headlining at Glastonbury for the second year in a row. It would have been nice, Damon, for you to have had a little chat with us, yes. Next time (though we're probably talking several years down the line now I hope you realise) at least give us a 'Hello Glastonberry......'
Later on during the weekend, I bumped into Mick Jones - legendary guitarist from The Clash, who performed on stage on guitar alongside fellow Clash member Paul Simonon. He told me he had thoroughly enjoyed playing the set, especially as he had a chance to work with Paul again and felt the band had been well received. I'm guessing he may not have played to a crowd like that in a long time however.
Did you watch the Gorillaz at Glasto? Disappointed or did they exceed your expectations? Let us know!
Photo by djsemtex
Comments
Damon Albarn is arguably a musical genius or at least a very clever person who can play an instrument. I think he knows this, and why not, nothing wrong with blowing your own trumpet (not sure he can play one of those?) I think it was a two way thing, that the Gorillaz didn’t get Pilton and Pilton didn’t get them, to play as headliner, on the biggest stage, at Europe’s biggest festival, you gotta be able to cut it, and they just didn’t pull it off. The crowd, especially the Mosher’s, wanna bounce, they want to hear crowd pleasers and the band just didn’t offer it up. It seemed that they were happy to play what they wanted and go, some may argue, and i read that Albarn made the excuse, that they were a little under prepared...well I’m sorry it’s just not good enough, these musicians, earn a lot of money from what they love doing, and at a professional status, at that level they should deliver. Pixie and I are an acoustic Duo and we play some gigs in and around this area, some are excellent places to play and some which we get asked to do are a bit of a chore. But no matter every gig we do get’s rehearsed properly and we maintain a professional approach at all time, because people have come or stopped by to listen. And all this rehearsing and putting arrangements together is after we have done full days work, sorted the little UN with Tea, Bath and Bed and managed to ear ourselves. These professionals not only get huge entourage, roadies, road managers stage, floor and lighting managers. Etc but they will also have people to sooth and massage their egos, they have time to rehearse, they get time in a recording studio with highly trained professionals to expand and explore their creative energies. So hey Damon Albarn stop your whimpering “oooh I’m sorry for letting everyone down” because it’s not all right and yes you did let everyone down.... (Don’t even get me started on Lilly Allen.. The Fish eyed Fu.... !%!^%^*(_*^%$£”?)) ....Wit
By the_mouse at 07:44 on 30/07/10
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