Gorillaz Come to Life!

Fine, we'll cop to it. We never really thought Gorillaz would get this far. We bobbed our heads to "Clint Eastwood" just like the rest of you, we gave the debut LP just as many spins as it deserved, and we watched their cartoon music videos with as much interest as our indie cred would allow. But not even the most flamingly optimistic thought they'd be even more popular four years later. Yet here they are, several awards and kajillion-selling album in hand.

However unlikely the heat surrounding these cartoons may be, it doesn't look to be dying down any time soon.

The Manchester International Festival (that's Manchester, England, duh) recently announced a series of Gorillaz live performances entitled "Demon Days Live", in which the group's second album will be performed in its entirety.

The shows will take place across five consecutive nights, on November 1-5 at the Manchester Opera House as part of a series events leading up to the city's inaugural festival in July of 2007. Here we go, yet another thing Manchester has to answer for.

In a change of pace for Gorillaz, "Demon Days Live" will focus on the real-life people behind the band, rather than their cartoon alter-egos. The extravaganza is scheduled to include several (if not all) of the album's guest musicians, with Roots Manuva and the Happy Mondays' Shaun Ryder confirmed so far. Of course, mastermind Damon Albarn will be on hand. Given that Demon Days features contributions from MF Doom, Neneh Cherry, Ike Turner, De La Soul, Danger Mouse and Dennis motherfuckin' Hopper, things could get completely crazy.

As previously reported, "Demon Days Live" is only the beginning of the Gorillaz live onslaught. The minds behind the band are currently crafting a world tour, set to begin in 2007, that will feature the animated members in "3D holographic format." If you're not sure what that means, take solace in the fact that we're pretty much clueless, too. Come October, we'll all be more in the know, as Albarn and co. will be offering a sneak peak in London this October. No word yet on whether we'll be seeing any animated groupies.

source: pitchfork - Timothy Najmolhoda's report