Gorillaz Invade Los Angeles With An Arsenal of Media For New Album ‘The Mountain’

FEATURES, SHOWS

February 28, 2026

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alternative, asha puthli, black thought, blur, britpop, damon albarhn, de la soul, del tha funky homosapien, deltron, featured, gorillaz, hollywood palladium, idles, johnny marr, kara jackson, omar souleyman, sparks, the fall, Trending

Gorillaz don’t just release new albums, they release new worlds. From Demon Days to their upcoming latest, The Mountain, each album has its own story, its own physics, its own ensemble cast, and in the case of The Mountain, its own spirituality. Blending eastern traditions and sounds from Hinduism to Islam into their traditional funky alternative sound, Gorillaz’s intention with The Mountain is to put their fans on a spirit quest. They brought this quest to The Hollywood Palladium for 2 nights on February 22 and February 23, 2026; but also through their current interactive exhibit House Of Kong at the Rolling Greens nursery, which we will cover in the second part in this article.

Around the world and across time, mountains have always been significant as metaphorical obstacles meant to test believers and help them rediscover their true essence. In a time of much confusion, where the human soul is routinely compromised by what we consume, we are each called to climb our personal mountains and meditate on their peaks to find new meanings for the new world in its new age.

Gorillaz at The Hollywood Palladium by Pooneh

As the world changes, so do the animated characters that make up Gorillaz. For their last album, Cracker Island, Murdoc assumed the form of a dark priest, a sort of Rasputin-like master of black magic. Now, for The Mountain, Murdoc transforms into a yogi, holding one arm up above his head in complete devotion to the supreme while also being able to conjure multitudes of phantom arms from his body to take on a Shiva-like destroyer of worlds form. It’s this fantastical, magical realist approach to music that attracts me to Gorillaz, that and their undeniable jams.

So with their first two shows exhibiting new music at The Hollywood Palladium, Gorillaz took their fans up The Mountain on a pilgrimage that saw us elevate and enlighten ourselves around new meanings for life.

Entering The Palladium’s Vinyl Room to enjoy a VIP Gorillaz fan experience around food, drinks, and music appreciation translated into interior design, the evening’s immersion into the world of Gorillaz began immediately. Fans were dressed in cosplay, whether as extras in the Gorillaz universe or as Noodle and Murdoc. When doors opened, fans rushed to the front with rabid speed and ferocity, claiming their spots early. The last time I saw Gorillaz at a seated venue, fans weren’t offered the luxury of finding a spot. The Palladium, though, allows everyone to enjoy a show in a more free for all format.

The moment the ensemble cast walked onto the stage, from backup singers to sitar player to horn section, we knew we were in for a treat. And when Damon Albarn finally appeared dressed in military fatigues, the audience expressed their deepest gratitude to the singer for what they knew was about to transpire. This wasn’t going to be a typical Gorillaz show, this was intended to be the sort of grandiose show meant for DVD specials.

Gorillaz at The Hollywood Palladium by Pooneh Ghana

The setlist was simply made up of The Mountain’s tracklist, from beginning to end, putting the audience through a live listening party that transported us into a mythic experience across spiritual traditions through a single narrative thread that Gorillaz identify and synthesize into music that we can simply call spirit power or perhaps mana.
That setlist was as follows:

THE MOUNTAIN
THE MOON CAVE (Asha Puthli)
THE HAPPY DICTATOR (Sparks)
THE HARDEST THING
ORANGE COUNTY (Kara Jackson)
THE GOD OF LYING (Idles)
THE EMPTY DREAM MACHINE
THE MANIFESTO
THE PLASTIC GURU
DELIRIUM
DAMASCUS
SHADOWY LIGHT
CASABLANCA
SWEET PRINCE (Kara Jackson)
THE SAD GOD

The show began with a sonic exploration of world music through loosening sitars and Indian rhythms that lubricated the audience’s minds into opening up a little more to possibility. When Asha Puthli appeared to sing “The Moon Cave”, the audience began to transcend their earthly shackles, almost floating a foot off the dance floor. Puthli is a legend for both American and Indian audiences, fusing jazz, disco, blues, soul, and electronica, and so for her to be the audience’s guide into “The Moon Cave”, a metaphorical place of ascension, reflection, and transcendence, gave the show an immediate prestige and spirit power that no ordinary band could tap into so effortlessly. With each player onstage contributing to the collective soul in the air, the show took on the feeling that we were in church, raising our voices with divine purpose and not just for entertainment’s sake.

Following “The Moon Cave”, the legendary rock duo Sparks appeared on stage to perform my favorite song on the album, “The Happy Dictator”. With Murdoc onscreen appearing as a parody of Chaplin’s The Great Dictator, Sparks and Gorillaz put on a master class in satire, singing about how happy the world we live in is. With multiple wars and famines going on as every major civilization seems to be tearing at the seams, the leaders of these crumbling societies seem to find no trouble smiling along with the bloody news cycle.

This was followed by “The Hardest Thing” and “Orange County” featuring Kara Jackson, two songs about dealing with loss and grief. Having experienced some of that in the recent past, the lyrics hit a soft, vulnerable spot in me and were able to tap into real feelings the way good music should always aspire to do.

Next, Idles frontman Joe Talbot appeared to sing “The God of Lying”, a sort of post punk, no wave lounge song that grooves along and animates the music with the same sort of dark colors and vibes that you might be seeing in the animation.

This gave way to “The Empty Dream Machine”, featuring a verse from Black Thought, who is considered the sharpest lyricist in all hip hop today. This was followed by “The Manifesto”, which featured a Latin verse from Trueno, delivering reggaeton vibes fused with Indian music, giving the diverse Los Angeles audience a taste of the many cultural experiences they get to touch simply by existing in LA.

“The Plastic Guru” featuring Johnny Marr and “Delirium” featuring a resurrected Mark E. Smith from The Fall were next, injecting the evening with seminal English figures of post punk and grounding Gorillaz’s music with Damon’s original inspirations.

With nods to western musical traditions and eastern ones already being touched upon, Damascus infused the evening with Middle Eastern vibrations as summoned by the legendary Omar Souleyman and rapper Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def). The energy of Syrian dance music elevated with electronics has more ability to raise the roof than any other style of music, and for this song, everyone got to dancing no matter their backgrounds.

“The Shadowy Light, Casablanca” featuring parts by Johnny Marr and the resurrected Paul Simonon from The Clash, “Sweet Prince”, and the closing reverie of “The Sad God” featuring Black Thought closed out the album and wrapped up the story as something of a tale of rediscovery and enlightenment with a tinge of sweet sorrow and tragedy to it. Together, the evening’s set showed the world an album with such diverse inspirations and vibes that it could inspire a whole new religion, one that blends the world’s many mysticisms but follows a new set of prophets who deliver a musical message instead of the average doomsaying.

Once the band finished the record and poured their hearts, souls, and bodies into the transformative set, they took a brief break before putting on an encore of the Gorillaz classics everyone was hoping for. That encore set included:
CALIFORNIA AND THE SLIPPING OF THE SUN
ROCK THE HOUSE (feat. Del The Funky Homosapien)
DIRTY HARRY (feat. Bootie Brown)
FEEL GOOD INC (feat. De La Soul)
CLINT EASTWOOD (feat. Del The Funky Homosapien)

“California And the Slipping of the Sun” started things off with a dreamy feast for the eyes that hypnotized everyone with the elusive, mysterious magic of California. The song induced reflection on both the majesty of the state and the potential for unforeseen destruction, whether by fire or earthquake, that can occur in an instant.

“Rock The House” was the perfect nostalgia jam, returning people to the moment they discovered Gorillaz in the early 2000s and the sounds that baked themselves into modern music. Del The Funky Homosapien came out to rap his iconic verse over the track for his first appearance of the night.

Gorillaz' House Of Kong exhibit by Ben Bentley — Gorillaz’ House Of Kong exhibit by Ben Bentley

Demon Days was represented next with “Dirty Harry”, a track that can’t help but grab you by the collar and get you dancing as Bootie Brown came out feeling unchained to blast his machine gun fire verses at the audience.

“Feel Good Inc.” was next and had the whole audience laughing in villainous HAHAHAHAs along with Posdnuos from De La Soul.

The evening then finished off with the biggest hit of all Gorillaz canon, “Clint Eastwood”, which saw Del return to the stage, freestyling new verses to add to old canon so that we would remember that Gorillaz’s music is living history, able to change and never stay static.

This show, like one should expect any Gorillaz show to be, was a pseudo religious experience, allowing the audience to transcend and imagine new deities based on whatever religious backgrounds they came from. In a world where humanity collaborates more closely regardless of how dictators seek to push us apart, Gorillaz is a band supplying us with the anthems to help us understand the world and ourselves, giving something for everyone no matter what countries, ethnicities, religions, or languages you come from.

‘HOUSE OF KONG’ INTERACTIVE ART EXHIBIT

Prior to this invitation, I had not heard of House of Kong. From the surface, I assumed it was nothing more than an art gallery featuring a collection of the band’s concept art, music video animations, props, merchandise, and more.

The hype around the exhibit was much larger than what one might expect from a simple art gallery though. The fans frothing at the mouth to enjoy the exhibit gave me the sense there had to be something going on that was more exciting than simply milling around a gallery and passing by drawings appreciating the art.

Having experienced House of Kong’s LA installation at Rolling Green on Wednesday February 25, 2026, I can tell you this exhibit did not just live up to the hype, it surpassed it. In some ways, it was as enjoyable, if not more enjoyable, than the live show. Concerts are still grounded in reality for the most part. Even when moments of musical transcendence occur, you are quickly returned to reality. In immersive experiences though, you can be transported to a whole new dimension simply by lending your senses to another artist’s curation.

Lending my body, heart, senses, and soul to Gorillaz during House of Kong, it was as if I entered “Behind The Music: Gorillaz: The Ride”. I do not want to give away spoilers, just know there is no other game in town that gives you an excuse to truly escape reality as powerfully as this.
There was one moment where I genuinely left this dimension and found myself inside an art piece.

House of Kong does something for Gorillaz that not even real flesh and blood artists get to have these days. How well do you know the artists you spend money to see and listen to? Somehow I know the animated characters of Gorillaz more intimately than I know the real flesh and blood members of any other band I listen to. And that is all thanks to the genius and progressive creative endeavors of Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett.

The many art pieces that spanned the history of Gorillaz were a sight to behold. From Jamie Hewlett’s early concept art, which featured unused characters and the band’s visual development, to seeing the model diorama of the band’s Plastic Beach getaway, it was a true treat getting to appreciate the detail that goes into the Gorillaz worldbuilding.

With 25 years of Gorillaz creating mountains of 2D and 3D artwork in all mediums, the band’s ascent to a new spiritual peak is The Mountain, their upcoming album that releases this Friday. There is no better way to join the band on this journey to enlightenment than enjoying House of Kong, which in many ways is a temple to art and music itself

Words by Robert Shepyer
Concert Photos by Pooneh Ghana and Blair Brown
Exhibit Photos by Ben Bentley