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Little Simz with Gorillaz at Moody Center on Oct. 15, 2026 Credit: David Brendan Hall<\/p>\nOn their latest album, The Mountain, Gorillaz contemplate themes of death and the afterlife \u2013\u00a0inspired by the recent passings of founders Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett\u2019s loved ones \u2013 and pepper it with posthumous features from collaborators recorded during the cartoon-concept band\u2019s past sessions. Its songs provide the framework for the tour of the same name and, while heavy in theory, Thursday night\u2019s show at Moody Center was anything but a bummer. True to their reputation, the group delivered a dazzler that translated those universal human experiences into an invigorating celebration.<\/p>\n
To achieve that, the 14-piece ensemble (comprised of four percussionists, a guitarist, and bassist, plus quartets of backup singers and keyboardists) took thousands of attendees on a two-hour journey, backdropped by a curved, stage-spanning screen projecting eye-popping visuals of the band\u2019s animated renderings throughout.<\/p>\n
They kicked off the show with the new album\u2019s Indian-music-influenced opening tracks \u201cThe Mountain\u201d and \u201cThe Happy Dictator.\u201d Albarn ostensibly embodied the role of the latter \u2013 dressed in military fatigues and a beret, he stalked the stage with a distorted megaphone mic amid shades of sitar, traditional woodwinds, and entrancing drums. Those soon gave way to the peppy electro-pop of \u201cTranz,\u201d which saw the singer\u2019s demeanor veer more toward joyousness and flamboyance. He rewarded the audience\u2019s exuberant response with two trips to the pit on \u201cLast Living Souls\u201d and \u201c19-2000,\u201d where he serenaded front-row diehards while signing as many pieces of merch and memorabilia as possible.<\/p>\n
Little Simz with Gorillaz at Moody Center on Oct. 15, 2026 Credit: David Brendan Hall<\/p>\n
It was the sort of showmanship that demonstrated genuine adoration for fans, the admirable hallmark of an artist who doesn\u2019t let fame overshadow the audience\u2019s role as an essential part of the concert experience itself \u2013 much more than mere spectators. Participation in the party peaked during the epic pulse of \u201cRhinestone Eyes\u201d and the tour debut of \u201cWhite Light,\u201d which even sparked a bit of spirited moshing.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn Melancholy Hill\u201d offered a carefree comedown and preceded a parade of guests: singer Kara Jackson for an arresting assist on \u201cOrange County\u201d; a spot on \u201cGarage Palace\u201d from Little Simz, who opened the show with her own electric set of eclectic hip-hop; Austin-residing rapper Danny Brown for the super-charged \u201cSubmission\u201d; and Bootie Brown subbing for Yasiin Bey (fka Mos Def) on the always ecstatic \u201cStylo.\u201d<\/p>\n
And, of course, Del the Funky Homosapien \u2013 also the MC for futurist rap trio Deltron 3030, who also opened the show \u2013 appeared in the encore for \u201cRock the House,\u201d followed by galvanizing takes on \u201cDirty Harry\u201d with Bootie and \u201cFeel Good Inc.,\u201d led by De La Soul\u2019s ever-enigmatic Posdnuos.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Bootie Brown with Gorillaz at Moody Center on Oct. 15, 2026 Credit: David Brendan Hall<\/p>\n
Never shying away from activism, Albarn donned a keffiyeh for the latter part of the show, demonstrating solidarity with the people of Palestine. He elevated that symbol for humanitarian coalition with an aside at the gig\u2019s end.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels like we\u2019re in a very positive place,\u201d he said with a miles-wide grin. \u201cTexas is \u2026 a very important place. In the geopolitics, this is important. You are important, and we are here to tell you that.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was perhaps a subtle reminder to hit the polls in the coming weeks and, though subliminally serious, it only served to increase the audience\u2019s sense of unified celebration, which reached its summit when Del returned to round out the night with superhit \u201cClint Eastwood,\u201d a turn-of-the-millenium anthem that never fails to absolutely slay in a live setting. We\u2019ve heard it countless times, but in context, one could interpret the sendoff as a little \u201csunshine in a bag\u201d for the people of Central Texas to take with them as they move into a future that is full of uncertainty, but likewise great potential.<\/p>\n
A note to readers:\u00a0Bold and uncensored,\u00a0The Austin Chronicle\u00a0has been Austin\u2019s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community\u2019s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On their latest album, The Mountain, Gorillaz contemplate themes of death and the afterlife \u2013\u00a0inspired by the recent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,159567,159568,159569,159570,159571,159572,159573],"class_list":["post-469345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-bootie-brown","tag-danny-brown","tag-del-the-funky-homosapien","tag-deltron-3030","tag-gorillaz","tag-kara-jackson","tag-little-simz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}