Review & setlist: Gorillaz brings ‘5/4’ tour debut and visual spectacle to TD Garden

Gorillaz, with Deltron 3030 and Little Simz, at TD Garden, Boston, Thursday, Oct. 1.

Damon Albarn knows how to work a crowd. 

The 58-year-old Gorillaz frontman spent parts of Thursday night wandering along the crowded floor at TD Garden, signing albums, shaking hands, taking photos, and occasionally having a chat with fans who came to see him. At one point, a young fan with purple-dyed hair shook Albarn’s hand, hugged him, turned away, and covered their mouth in apparent disbelief.

It was that kind of night.

The sold-out show was part concert, part stunning visual performance, part reunion, and — at least for one particularly welcome moment — a music theory lesson.

Gorillaz, the virtual band created in 1998 by Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, brought its three-decade catalog to Boston as part of The Mountain Tour, supporting the band’s ninth studio album, “The Mountain,” released in February.

Before performing “Orange County,” Albarn recalled his first-ever Boston show, when he said he was escorted offstage by police after becoming “too inebriated.” “What do I know?” he added, with the bemused delivery of someone who has spent decades accumulating stories like this one.

But this wasn’t simply a nostalgia tour.

The set leaned into newer material, with songs from “The Mountain” woven between tracks from throughout the band’s catalog. The live ensemble — a sprawling group of more than a dozen musicians supporting Albarn — gave the songs a more robust sound than their studio counterparts, while Hewlett’s visual world remained an essential part of the experience.

On the screens, Gorillaz characters 2-D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle, and Russel Hobbs appeared alongside surreal imagery, mini-stories, and, on the stage, a Muppet-like costumed character named Alan. At various points, the visuals morphed from a floating, dreamlike world to incorporate military aircraft, helicopters, explosions, and a pirate attack.

There was a lot going on. And then came “5/4.”

About midway through the set, Albarn introduced the rarely played song from Gorillaz’s 2001 self-titled debut.

“I don’t know why we’re playing this, but we are,” he told the crowd.

For fans who love a deep cut — and perhaps a few music theory nerds — it was a treat. The song is rarely performed and layers a four-beat drum foundation against a faster five-beat guitar, creating a slightly disorienting feel that makes the early Gorillaz catalog so fun to revisit. Someone cue the Berklee students.

It was also a reminder that this band has never been particularly interested in behaving like a conventional rock band.

Albarn’s energy, alongside bassist Seye Adelekan and lead guitarist Jeff Wootton, kept the sprawling production from feeling overly distant. He repeatedly left the stage and ventured into the crowd, turning what could have been a highly produced event into something more intimate.

Before “Up on Melancholy Hill,” the show briefly became a miniature movie. “Sir, the ship is under attack by pirates,” a voice announced as Hewlett’s visuals transformed the screen into a fantastical scene. The sequence gave way to the song as Albarn and the band returned to the stage, another reminder that at a Gorillaz show, the visuals aren’t merely decoration — they’re part of the evening’s story.

The show also made room for plenty of collaborators.

Little Simz, who opened the night after Deltron 3030, returned during “Garage Palace,” and was one of the evening’s most commanding performers. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the British rapper return to TD Garden someday to headline.

Del the Funky Homosapien joined Albarn for “Rock the House” and “Clint Eastwood,” while Posdnuos of De La Soul appeared for “Feel Good Inc.”

And then, finally, came the songs everyone knew.

Gorillaz waited until the encore to unleash “Dirty Harry” and “Feel Good Inc.,” before closing with “Clint Eastwood.”

“Feel Good Inc.” was one of the night’s biggest singalongs, with Posdnuos helping turn the 2005 hit into an arena of fans shouting, “ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.” The De La Soul founding member remains one of those rare collaborators who can walk onto a stage and immediately make a song feel bigger.

The show could easily have been a victory lap. Gorillaz has 30 years of material and enough instantly recognizable songs to fill an arena. Instead, the set moved freely between eras, giving newer songs from “The Mountain” as much room as some of the band’s best-known tracks. The result was less a trip down memory lane than a reminder that Gorillaz has always been a moving target — a project built around collaboration, experimentation, and whatever Albarn and Hewlett happen to be interested in next.

Near the end of the night, he paused to ask the crowd to wish his daughter, Missy, a happy birthday.

After two hours of giant screens, memorable guest performers, a puppet, a deep cut song, new songs, and plenty of crowd work, it was an unexpectedly human way to end the night.

Gorillaz may be a virtual band.

Thursday’s show was anything but.

Setlist for Gorillaz at TD Garden in Boston, Oct. 1, 2026

1. The Mountain
2. The Happy Dictator
3. Tranz
4. Last Living Souls
5. Tomorrow Comes Today
6. 19-2000
7. Rhinestone Eyes
8. 5/4 (debut, The Mountain Tour)
9. El Mañana
10. Orange County (with Kara Jackson)
11. Delirium
12. Andromeda
13. Garage Palace (with Little Simz)
14. She’s My Collar
15. Stylo (with Bootie Brown)
16. Kids With Guns
17. The Sad God

Encore:

18. Cloud of Unknowing
19. Rock the House (with Del the Funky Homosapien)
20. Dirty Harry (with Bootie Brown)
21. Feel Good Inc. (with Posdnuos)
22. Clint Eastwood (with Del the Funky Homosapien)

Emily Turner

Community deputy editor

Emily Turner is the community deputy editor for Boston.com, where she oversees reader engagement.