Friday 10.8
NYC
Gorillaz @ Madison Square Garden
4 Penn Plaza. 212-707-3131. $45-$125. 8 p.m.
Damon Albarn made his name as the front man of Blur, but it’s not inconceivable that he’s made more of an impact with his first post-Blur band, Gorillaz. Now three albums into a bizarre and fascinating career, Gorillaz are perhaps the most convincing case that music today is truly global: Albarn and Co. blend genres and voices with ease and authority; their music never sounds self-consciously postmodern or intentionally diverse—it simply sounds like the music made by people with great record collections and even better imaginations. On their last, Plastic Beach, Gorillaz finally did away with the stifling conceit that this music is made not by middle-aged humans but by cartoon monkeys. And the results feel suitably liberated. Though they’ve never had any boundaries, now Gorillaz sound more open and adventurous than ever.
