The Escape to Plastic Beach Tour was a concert tour by the British alternative rock virtual band Gorillaz in support of their third studio album Plastic Beach. During the tour, Damon Albarn recorded The Fall, described by Albarn as a "diary of [his] experience" throughout its American leg. The album was released in late December 2010 to fan club members, and physically in April 2011.[1]
| Tour by Gorillaz | |
 | |
| Location |
|
|---|---|
| Associated album | Plastic Beach |
| Start date | 3 October 2010 |
| End date | 21 December 2010 |
| Legs | 4 |
| No. of shows |
|
| Gorillaz concert chronology | |
Live band
edit- Damon Albarn – lead vocals, keyboards, piano, acoustic guitar, melodica
- Paul Simonon – bass guitar, background vocals
- Mick Jones – rhythm guitar, background vocals
- Jeff Wootton – lead guitar (Certain dates)
- Simon Tong – lead guitar (replaced Jeff Wootton on certain dates)
- Cass Browne – drums, drum machine
- Mike Smith – keyboards
- Gabriel "Manuals" Wallace – drums, percussion
- Jesse Hackett – keyboards
- Wendi Rose - Choir direction and backing vocals
Guest collaborators and additional musicians
edit- Bashy – rap on "Clint Eastwood" and "White Flag"
- Kano – rap on "Clint Eastwood" and "White Flag"
- Mos Def – rap on "Stylo" and "Sweepstakes" (select dates only)
- Lou Reed – guitar and vocals on "Some Kind of Nature" (New York City and Los Angeles only)
- Bobby Womack – vocals on "Stylo", "Cloud of Unknowing" and "Demon Days"
- Neneh Cherry – vocals on "Kids with Guns" (select dates only)
- Bootie Brown – rap on "Dirty Harry" and "Stylo"
- MF Doom – rap on "Clint Eastwood" and "November Has Come" (select dates only)
- Miho Hatori – vocals on "19-2000" (select dates only)
- Yukimi Nagano – vocals on "Empire Ants" and "To Binge" (select dates only)
- De La Soul – rap on "Feel Good Inc." and "Superfast Jellyfish"
- Daley – vocals on "Doncamatic" (select dates only)
- Mark E. Smith – vocals on "Glitter Freeze" (select dates only)
- Roses Gabor – vocals on "19-2000" and "Dare"
- Members of Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music – orchestration on "White Flag"
- The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – brass on "Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach", "Broken", "Sweepstakes" and "Plastic Beach"
- Demon Strings – strings
Opening acts
edit- We Are Wolves (Montreal)
- N.E.R.D. (North America)[2]
- Little Dragon, De La Soul (Europe, Asia & Oceania)[3]
Production
editThe Escape to Plastic Beach Tour also featured new music videos and visuals on the big screen in the background while band members played up front. Visuals accompanied such songs as "Broken", "Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach", "Dirty Harry", "Empire Ants", "Last Living Souls", "White Flag" and many others alongside the original music videos for the group's previous songs.
The poster used to promote the tour was highly influenced by the theatrical poster for the 1969 Sam Peckinpah western, The Wild Bunch.
The tour was later noted by Albarn to be an extremely costly endeavor; in a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone, Albarn explained: "I made about 20 pounds by the end of it, so I won't be going on another of those. It was incredible fun, I loved doing it, but economically it was an absolute fucking disaster."[4]
Setlist
editThe following setlist is obtained from the concert held at the Bell Centre in Montreal, on 3 October 2010. It is not a representation of all shows on the tour.
Bell Centre, Montreal
- "Gorillaz in Dressing Room Part 1" (visual intro)
- "Orchestral Intro"
- "Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach" (with The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)
- "19-2000" (with Roses Gabor)
- "Last Living Souls"
- "O Green World"
- "Stylo" (with Bobby Womack & Bootie Brown)
- "On Melancholy Hill"
- "Rhinestone Eyes"
- "Superfast Jellyfish" (with De La Soul)
- "Tomorrow Comes Today"
- "Kids with Guns"
- "Empire Ants" (with Little Dragon)
- "Gorillaz in Dressing Room Part 2" (visual interlude)
- "Dirty Harry" (with Bootie Brown)
- "El Mañana"
- "White Flag" (with Kano & Bashy)
- "To Binge" (with Little Dragon)
- "Dare" (with Roses Gabor)
- "Glitter Freeze"
- "Plastic Beach"
- Encore
- "Cyborg Noodle" (visual interlude) / "Cloud of Unknowing" (with Bobby Womack)
- "Feel Good Inc." (with De La Soul)
- "Clint Eastwood" (with Kano & Bashy)
- "Don't Get Lost in Heaven"
- "Demon Days"
- "Gorillaz in Dressing Room Part 3" (visual outro)
Songs performed
editSongs performed[5]
|
Bonus tracks/non-album songs
|
Tour dates
edit| Date | City | Country | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America[2] | |||
| 3 October 2010 | Montreal | Canada | Bell Centre |
| 6 October 2010 | Boston | United States | Agganis Arena |
| 8 October 2010 | New York City | Madison Square Garden | |
| 10 October 2010 | Camden | Susquehanna Bank Center | |
| 11 October 2010 | Fairfax | Patriot Center | |
| 13 October 2010 | Detroit | Fox Theatre | |
| 14 October 2010 | Toronto | Canada | Air Canada Centre |
| 16 October 2010 | Chicago | United States | UIC Pavilion |
| 17 October 2010 | Minneapolis | Target Center | |
| 19 October 2010 | Houston | Toyota Center | |
| 20 October 2010 | Grand Prairie | Verizon Theatre | |
| 22 October 2010 | Austin | Frank Erwin Center | |
| 24 October 2010 | Denver | Wells Fargo Theatre | |
| 26 October 2010 | Phoenix | Comerica Theatre | |
| 27 October 2010 | Los Angeles | Gibson Amphitheatre | |
| 28 October 2010 | San Diego | Viejas Arena | |
| 30 October 2010 | Oakland | Oracle Arena | |
| 2 November 2010 | Seattle | KeyArena | |
| 3 November 2010 | Vancouver | Canada | Rogers Arena |
| Europe[6] | |||
| 11 November 2010[a] | Dublin | Ireland | The O2 |
| 12 November 2010[b] | Manchester | England | Manchester Evening News Arena |
| 14 November 2010[c] | London | The O2 Arena | |
| 15 November 2010 | Amsterdam | Netherlands | Heineken Music Hall |
| 16 November 2010[d] | London | England | The O2 Arena |
| 17 November 2010[e] | Birmingham | National Indoor Arena | |
| 18 November 2010 | Brighton | Brighton Centre | |
| 21 November 2010[f] | Berlin | Germany | Velodrom |
| 22 November 2010 | Paris | France | Zénith de Paris |
| 23 November 2010[g] | |||
| 25 November 2010 | Antwerp | Belgium | Lotto Arena |
| Asia[6] | |||
| 3 December 2010 | Chek Lap Kok | Hong Kong | AsiaWorld–Arena |
| Oceania[6] | |||
| 6 December 2010 | Perth | Australia | Burswood Dome |
| 8 December 2010 | Adelaide | Adelaide Entertainment Centre | |
| 11 December 2010 | Melbourne | Rod Laver Arena | |
| 16 December 2010 | Sydney | Sydney Entertainment Centre | |
| 19 December 2010 | Brisbane | Brisbane Entertainment Centre | |
| 21 December 2010 | Auckland | New Zealand | Vector Arena |
Cancelled shows
edit| Date | City | Country | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2010 | Glasgow | Scotland | Glasgow SECC Arena |
| 11 September 2010 | Newcastle | England | Metro Radio Arena |
| 5 October 2010 | Hartford | United States | Toyota Oakdale Theatre |
| 19 November 2010 | Milan | Italy | Mediolanum Forum |
- ^ The concert in Dublin on 11 November 2010 was originally scheduled to take place on 22 September 2010 but it was rescheduled.[7]
- ^ The concert in Manchester on 12 November 2010 was originally scheduled to take place on 12 September 2010 but it was rescheduled.[8]
- ^ The concert in London on 14 November 2010 was originally scheduled to take place on 14 September 2010 but it was rescheduled.[8]
- ^ The concert in London on 16 November 2010 was originally scheduled to take place on 15 September 2010 but it was rescheduled.[8]
- ^ The concert in Birmingham on 17 November 2010 was originally scheduled to take place on 10 September 2010 but it was rescheduled.[8]
- ^ The concert in Berlin on 21 November 2010 was originally scheduled to take place on 17 September 2010 but it was rescheduled.[9]
- ^ The concert in Paris on 23 November 2010 was originally scheduled to take place on 14 September 2010 but it was rescheduled.[10]
Box office score data
edit| Venue | City | Tickets sold / available | Gross revenue | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lotto Arena | Antwerp | 7,322 / 7,328 (99%) | $516,657 | [13] |
| Sydney Entertainment Centre | Sydney | 9,677 / 11,651 (83%) | $950,425 | [13] |
| Brisbane Entertainment Centre | Brisbane | 5,907 / 6,380 (92%) | $687,449 | [13] |
References
edit- ^ "Gorillaz - The Fall (Parlophone) Review". NME. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
- ^ a b Young, Alex (10 September 2010). "Update: N.E.R.D. to join Gorillaz on tour". Consequence. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
- ^ Vick, Megan (29 December 2010). "Little Dragon Preps New Album After Gorillaz Tour". Billboard. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
- ^ Tingen, Jonathan (28 May 2013). "Q&A: Damon Albarn on the Future of Blur, His First Ever Solo Album and Why He Doesn't Hate Oasis Anymore". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
- ^ "Gorillaz Tour Statistics: Escape To Plastic Beach Tour | setlist.fm". setlist.fm. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
- ^ a b c Sources for shows in Europe, Asia and Oceania:
- All except where noted: "Gorillaz Rearrange UK Tour To Coincide With 'Plastic Beach' World Tour & Tickets". Stereoboard. 22 July 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
- Antwerp: "Gorillaz et dinosaures" (in French). La Libre Belgique. 31 August 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
- 1st Paris date: "Date supplémentaire pour gorillaz au zénith de paris!" (in French). sortiraparis.com. 5 August 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
- ^ "Gorillaz reschedule Dublin Date". GoldenPlec. 23 July 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Gorillaz reveal debut UK arena tour". BBC News. 10 May 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
- ^ "Berlin-Konzert der Gorillaz verschoben" (in German). tipBerlin. 23 July 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
- ^ "Gorillaz en concert en novembre 2010" (in French). sortiraparis.com. 15 July 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
- ^ "Gorillaz to play first world tour". BBC News. 22 July 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
- ^ Gorillaz-Unofficial (22 September 2010). "Oakdale Theater, CT show cancelled (UPDATE: officially confirmed on Gorillaz.com)". Gorillaz.com. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
- ^ a b c "Current Boxscore". Billboard. Archived from the original on 11 January 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2022.