Gorillaz Makes Its First Cleveland Stop at Rocket Arena With a 26-Song the Mountain Tour Set and Appearances From Little Simz and Del the Funky Homosapien

CLEVELAND, OH — Gorillaz played its first-ever Cleveland concert Tuesday night at Rocket Arena, turning the downtown venue into a fast-moving blend of live performance, animation and storytelling. For the British band, which has spent nearly three decades building its sound and mythology, the debut felt like a long-delayed arrival in Northeast Ohio.

Frontman Damon Albarn told the crowd it was the group’s first visit to Cleveland and called it “an entirely new experience.” The show ran for about 100 minutes and leaned into the band’s identity as both a musical act and a visual project, with cartoon band members appearing on the arena screens above the stage.

Damon Albarn returned to Cleveland after his Blur days

Albarn is not new to the city, even if Gorillaz was. Nearly 30 years earlier, he played Jacobs Pavilion with Blur, one year before launching Gorillaz and stepping into a very different creative lane. That earlier visit gives Tuesday’s concert an added layer of history for fans who have followed his work across eras.

His connection to the region also runs through music. Albarn later worked with Cleveland native Bobby Womack, including on “Stylo” and “Cloud of Unknowing,” and he co-produced Womack’s final album, The Bravest Man In The Universe, in 2012. Those collaborations helped widen Gorillaz’s reach beyond indie rock into soul, hip-hop and other genre spaces.

Animation, characters and live players shared the stage

The concert leaned hard into the band’s fictional universe. On large screens, the illustrated members created by artist Jamie Hewlett hovered over the real musicians, including Murdoc, 2-D, Noodle and Russel Hobbs. The animated figures are part of what makes Gorillaz unlike almost any other touring act, and the Cleveland crowd got a full version of that concept.

Albarn moved beneath the visuals in a brown beret and camo jacket, leading the live band through the set and occasionally stepping toward the front row to sign vinyl sleeves and hand out high-fives. The performance kept the balance Gorillaz fans expect: a real band delivering the songs while the fictional one supplies the larger story around them.

The Mountain anchored the night with grief and Indian classical influence

A significant share of the set came from The Mountain, Gorillaz’s latest album. The new material was described as a lush exploration of grief, with inspiration drawn from Indian classical music. Songs such as “The Mountain” and “The Sad God” helped shape the emotional center of the performance.

That focus also matched the tour’s broader sense of momentum. The new record sits within Gorillaz’s larger catalog but also points to where the project is headed, especially as the band continues folding different musical traditions into its work. In Cleveland, the album’s more reflective songs shared space with older tracks that have long been fan favorites.

Classic Gorillaz songs still drew the loudest recognition

The setlist also made room for some of the group’s most recognizable songs. “Tomorrow Comes Today,” “On Melancholy Hill” and “Stylo” all appeared, along with “19-2000,” “Rhinestone Eyes,” “Every Planet We Reach Is Dead” and “Feel Good Inc.” By the time the encore arrived, the arena had already heard a full sweep of the band’s different eras.

Those songs showed why Gorillaz has remained a live draw for so long. Even with a multimedia presentation and a constantly shifting lineup of collaborators, the hooks are what pull the crowd in. The Cleveland debut was a reminder that the group’s biggest songs still land hard in a room full of fans hearing them together.

Little Simz, Deltron 3030 and other guests widened the performance

The night also featured several collaborators and openers who helped stretch the show beyond the core band. Deltron 3030 opened with relaxed performances of “3030” and “Mastermind,” setting an easygoing tone before Little Simz followed with high-energy songs including “Thief,” “Point and Kill” and “Young.”

Little Simz later returned for “Garage Palace,” while Kara Jackson appeared on “Orange County,” DRAM joined for “Andromeda,” Posdnuos showed up on “Superfast Jellyfish” and “Feel Good Inc.,” Bootie Brown took part in “Stylo” and “Dirty Harry,” and Del the Funky Homosapien turned up for “Rock the House” and “Clint Eastwood.” The guest list made the concert feel expansive without losing its shape.

Why this Cleveland debut mattered to Gorillaz fans

Part of the appeal of a Gorillaz concert is that it still feels futuristic, even after 28 years of music-making. The band launched in 1998 with a virtual concept that has only become more visible in an age where artificial intelligence and digital creation are everywhere. Albarn and Hewlett have both spoken against AI, choosing instead to keep their work handmade and textured.

That commitment showed in Cleveland, where the show paired the album’s new visual elements with hand-drawn short films such as The MountainThe Moon Cave and The Sad God. The result was a concert that felt both old and new at once: a long-running project finally arriving in Cleveland, but still pushing its idea of what a band can be.

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