When Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett introduced four animated characters to the music industry in 1998, the early verdict inside the business was, as Hewlett later recalled, that the music was fine but nobody was buying the cartoons. Young audiences turned out to be buying both simultaneously. Nearly three decades on, those original fans and their children are filling arenas across North America on The Mountain Tour, and Gorillaz arrive at Montreal’s Centre Bell on October 3 with their ninth studio album and a Guinness World Record for world’s most successful virtual act as context. That latter distinction stopped surprising anyone around album four.
About the Show
The Mountain, released February 27 on the band’s own KONG imprint, is their first album since 2023. The collaborator list follows the pattern Albarn established on Demon Days and has refined across the albums that followed: Sparks, Omar Souleyman, Yasiin Bey, Black Thought, and Bobby Womack all appear, each adding a distinct register without pulling the record from its central orbit. Albarn put the band’s ethos plainly in a recent interview: “If you have the ideas, then keep moving forward.” The Mountain arrives as evidence that the orbit has not decayed.
Whether it ranks among the band’s strongest work is a conversation worth having on the drive in. Gorillaz live shows have a way of settling those debates before the second song. The performance blends towering projections, layered arrangements, and live instrumentation into something visceral enough that the animated premise recedes from view — which has been the whole trick since the self-titled debut in 2001.
The Montreal date falls four days after Madison Square Garden and two days after Boston’s TD Garden. Little Simz, who joins for the majority of North American dates, appears here; Deltron 3030 (the alt-hip-hop trio of Dan the Automator, Del the Funky Homosapien, and Kid Koala, with two Billboard 200 albums of their own) opens every show on the run. On a bill this deliberately assembled, the 6:00 p.m. doors deserve attention.
Venue & Logistics
Centre Bell, a 21,000-seat arena in Montreal, last hosted Gorillaz approximately three years ago. October 3 is one of two Canadian dates on the tour, with Toronto following the next evening at Scotiabank Arena. Showtime is 7:00 p.m.; doors open at 6:00 p.m. All ages.
Tickets
Tickets are available through Ticketmaster Canada. Buy tickets