Copperbox Arena

Do you remember when the first Gorillaz album came out? It felt like all of a sudden we were catapulted into a new era where weirdo comic book musicians made begrudging rock 'n' rollers, producing sardonic melodies with a vocalist that sounded kind of… familiar. Created by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, Gorillaz is the artificial foursome of bassist Murdoc Niccals, singer 2D, drummer Russel Hobbs and guitarist Noodle, and House of Kong is their fabled homeland. This exhibition, of the same name, lifts a veil on how the group first came together to blow up a pre-digital world with the release of ‘Tomorrow Comes Today’ all the way back in 2000, and documents their past misadventures, musical innovation and ground-breaking virtual performances via an all-new immersive experience. Given the group’s track record of performing with *inhales* Elton John, Lou Reed, Mos Def, De La Soul, Little Simz, MF Doom, Jean-Michel Jarre, Tame Impala, Little Dragon, Grace Jones, Bad Bunny, Kali Uchis, Sidiki Diabaté, and many more, it’s sure to be a fascinating look into how the group became a global phenomenon, achieving success in some pretty unique ways. Taking place at London’s Copper Box for a limited run from August 8 to September 3, it all comes to a head with four special one-off performances by the group. 2001’s Gorillaz, 2005’s Demon Days and 2010’s Plastic Beach will all be played in full, while the fourth gig is tantalisingly billed as a ‘Mystery Show’. Each gig...