Gorillaz recently kicked off the U.S. portion of their Humanz tour, and came down to Philadelphia on July 13 for a performance at the Festival Pier at Penns Panding. They won’t be in New York until October for a much larger performance at the Meadows Festival, so we took the trip to Philly to catch the show, which featured an opening performance by Vince Staples.
Staples, who we saw headline a sold out Terminal 5 in March, had his set slightly shortened due to some rain beforehand, but he still made the most of the opportunity and performed a great set that had the capacity crowd with him all the way. He mostly gave us material from his new album Big Fish Theory, and brought out fellow Gorillaz guest Kilo Kish, who helped perform on “Love Can Be…”
The last time (and my first time) I saw Gorillaz perform live it was at the much more intimate setting of Rough Trade NYC back in April. It was a bare bones performance, with none of the light show or stage set up that a much bigger space would provide. Although there’s no argument to be made about how special that show was, it was great to get the full Humanz tour experience in a great outdoor setting.
The stage at Penns Landing was much more fitting for their big time stage show and production, with a colorful screen with corresponding images and music video clips to accompany each song as they fit. They started the show turning back the clocks with “M1 A1” off of their debut record, before brining Vince Staples back out for his verse on “Ascension.” From there, they delivered a variety of songs both old and new, with more guests such as Kilo Kish on “19/2000,” Peven Everett on “Strobelite” Jamie Principle on “Sex Murder Party” and both Kilo Kish and Zebra Katz on “Out Of Body.”
Most of the night was obviously dedicated to the songs of Humanz, which frontman Damon Albarn seemed to be having the most fun doing, getting up close and personal with the crowd and interacting well with each and every guest. While it’s a bit odd and surprising that they don’t play “Feel Good Inc.” or “Melancholy Hill” live anymore, it was cool to get to hear Staples take over on “Clint Eastwood” and to hear both “Don’t Get Lost in Heaven” and “Demon Days” close it out, which really made use of the full band and the giant section of backing vocalists, who took us home in style and grace.
Find photos of both Gorillaz and Vince Staples posted below, along with the setlists.
Vince Staples Setlist:
1. Yeah Right
2. Norf Norf
3. Love Can Be… (Feat. Kilo Kish)
4. 745
5. BagBak
Gorillaz Setlist:
1. M1 A1
2. Ascension (with Vince Staples)
3. Last Living Souls
4. Saturnz Barz
5. Rhinestone Eyes
6. Sleeping Powder
7. 19/2000 (with Kilo Kish)
8. Busted and Blue
9. El Mañana
10. Strobelite (wtih Peven Everett)
11. Andromeda
12. Sex Murder Party (with Jamie Principle)
13. Out of Body (wtih Kilo Kish and Zebra Katz)
14. DARE
15. We Got the Power
Encore:
16. Stylo (wtih Peven Everett)
17. Kids With Guns
18. Clint Eastwood (with Vince Staples)
19. Don’t Get Lost in Heaven
20. Demon Days
Vince Staples:
Gorillaz:
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