Gorillaz add SA concert to join the Illuminate Adelaide festival

Hit UK virtual band Gorillaz will play here for the first time in more than a decade as part of July’s Illuminate Adelaide festival.

English “virtual” band Gorillaz has added a South Australian concert to its tour itinerary as part of the Illuminate Adelaide festival in July.

Gorillaz, which was originally only going to Melbourne, Sydney and Byron Bay, will now play on July 28 at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, where it last performed in 2010.

English virtual band Gorillaz creators Jamie Hewlett (left) and Damon Albarn (right) with animated band members Murdoc Niccals, Russel Hobbs, Noodle and 2-D.

Festival co-founders Rachael Azzopardi and Lee Cumberlidge said that securing the Gorillaz concert was a real coup.

“To have a band of this magnitude performing at Illuminate Adelaide will be one of the highlights of our 2022 program,” they said.

Also returning will be electronic music event Unsound and last year’s hit attractions Light Cycles at the Botanic Garden, Light Creatures at the Adelaide Zoo and City Lights, with new installations throughout the CBD.

Azzopardi and Cumberlidge said that, despite extreme weather and a Covid lockdown, last year’s inaugural festival had 500,000 attendances and brought more than $40m to the state’s economy.

This year’s expanded program, which runs for all of July, would include “experiences, installations and performances showcasing the very best examples of the convergence of art and technology”.

New attractions will include Istanbul-based Ouchhh Studio’s multisensory exhibition Wisdom of AI Light, at a specially designed projection pavilion in the city’s East End, and Adelaide-raised artist Joanna Dudley’s operatic video installation We Will Slam You With Our Wings.

Submergence, an installation by Squidsoup, will be part of the City Lights program at the Illuminate Adelaide 2022 festival. Picture: Rikard Osterlund

International classical concert and live visuals series KLASSIK Underground will also make its Australian debut at the Dom Polski Centre, and more events will be added to the Illuminate program in coming weeks.

Gorillaz was created by Blur frontman Damon Albarn and Tank Girl comic artist Jamie Hewlett in 1998, featuring four animated band members – singer 2-D, bassist Murdoc Niccals, guitarist Noodle and drummer Russel Hobbs.

The screen characters interact in a multimedia concert experience which will feature 22 live performers, including Albarn, on stage.

Tickets and program details at illuminateadelaide.com