Damon Albarn seems comfortable with this heritage. The rare Albarn intimate show in front of 3000 fans at Melbourne’s Palais Theatre was an alternate summary of a career that began with Blur back at the start of the 90s.
Blur didn’t make it to Australia for the final Big Day Out this year and Damon did apologise for being “a year late” and “with a different band” for this show.
What fans were treated to was a reminder of not the hits but the highlights of various Albarn incarnations and styles through Blur, Gorillaz, The Good The Band And the Queen and his solo work with the recent album ‘Everyday Robots’.
With Albarn the common denominator through the various projects the set moving from era to era and back again glued together endlessly.
There was no ‘Song 2’ or ‘Girls & Boys’ but there was the lesser known ‘All Your Life’ and ‘Out Of Time’ representing Blur.
‘Clint Eastwood’ was there but ‘Feel Good Inc’ wasn’t but both sides of the El Mañana’ and ‘Kids With Guns’ single featured in different parts of the show.
For the part of Del the Funky Homosapien, who featured on ‘Clint Eastwood’, Australian rapper Remi moulded the piece about himself. Honorable mentions also go to the Tasmanian choir who joined Albarn for ‘Mr Tembo’ and the final song ‘Heavy Seas of Love’.
Damon Albarn centred the show around his solo record ‘Everyday Robots’ from earlier this year. The album was a stripped back, personal which accounts for the delicate choice of back catalogue songs to match the mood of where he is musically at right now.
View the Damon Albarn photo gallery from Melbourne’s Palais Theatre by Ros O’Gorman
Damon Albarn, Melbourne, December 12 2014 SETLIST
Spitting Out The Demons (from Gorillaz, D-Sides, 2007)
Lonely Press Play (from Everyday Robots, 2014)
Everyday Robots (from Everyday Robots, 2014)
Tomorrow Comes Today (from Gorillaz, 2001)
Slow Country (from Gorillaz, Gorillaz, 2001)
Kids With Guns (from Gorillaz , Demon Days, 2005)
Three Changes (from The Good The Bad and The Queen, 2007)
Hostiles (from Everyday Robots, 2014)
Photographs (You Are Taking Now) (from Everyday Robots, 2014)
Kingdom of Doom (from The Good The Bad and The Queen, 2007)
You and Me (from Everyday Robots, 2014)
Hollow Ponds (from Everyday Robots, 2014)
El Mañana (from Gorillaz , Demon Days, 2005)
Out of Time (from Blur’s Think Tank, 2003)
All Your Life (from Blur’s Beetlebum single b-side, 1997)
End of the Century (from Blur’s Parklife, 1994)
Clint Eastwood (with Remi) (from Gorillaz , Gorillaz, 2001)
Mt Tembo (from Everyday Robots, 2014)
Heavy Seas Of Love (from Everyday Robots, 2014)
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