The Escape to Plastic Beach Tour was a concert tour by the British alternative rock virtual band Gorillaz in support of their third studio album Plastic Beach. During the tour, Damon Albarn recorded The Fall, described by Albarn as a "diary of [his] experience" throughout its American leg. The album was released in late December 2010 to fan club members, and physically in April 2011. We Are Wolves, N.E.R.D., Little Dragon and De La Soul shared duties as opening acts.
Production The Escape to Plastic Beach Tour also featured new music videos and visuals on the big screen in the background while band members played up front. Visuals accompanied such songs as "Broken", "Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach", "Dirty Harry", "Empire Ants", "Last Living Souls", "White Flag" and many others alongside the original music videos for the group's previous songs.
The poster used to promote the tour was highly influenced by the theatrical poster for the 1969 Sam Peckinpah western, The Wild Bunch.
The tour was later noted by Albarn to be an extremely costly endeavor; in a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone, Albarn explained: "I made about 20 pounds by the end of it, so I won't be going on another of those. It was incredible fun, I loved doing it, but economically it was an absolute fucking disaster."
Set list The following set list was obtained from the concert held at the Toyota Center in Houston, on 19 October 2010. It is not a representation of all shows on the tour.
"Orchestral Intro" "Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach" (with The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble) "19-2000" (with Roses Gabor) "Last Living Souls" "Stylo" (with Bobby Womack & Bootie Brown) "On Melancholy Hill" "Rhinestone Eyes" "Superfast Jellyfish" (with De La Soul) "Tomorrow Comes Today" "Empire Ants" (with Little Dragon) "Broken" (with Hypnotic Brass Ensemble) "Dirty Harry" (with Bootie Brown) "El Mañana" "White Flag" (with Kano & Bashy) "To Binge" (with Little Dragon) "Dare" (with Roses Gabor) "Glitter Freeze" "Plastic Beach" Encore "Cloud of Unknowing" (with Bobby Womack) "Punk" "Feel Good Inc." (with De La Soul) "Clint Eastwood" (with Kano & Bashy) "Don't Get Lost in Heaven" "Demon Days"
Tour dates + List of 2010 concertsSources for shows in Europe, Asia and Oceania: All except where noted: Antwerp: 1st Paris date: DateCityCountryVenue3 OctoberMontrealCanadaBell Centre6 OctoberBostonUnited StatesAgganis Arena8 OctoberNew York CityMadison Square Garden10 OctoberCamdenSusquehanna Bank Center11 OctoberFairfaxPatriot Center13 OctoberDetroitFox Theatre14 OctoberTorontoCanadaAir Canada Centre16 OctoberChicagoUnited StatesUIC Pavilion17 OctoberMinneapolisTarget Center19 OctoberHoustonToyota Center20 OctoberGrand PrairieVerizon Theatre22 OctoberAustinFrank Erwin Center24 OctoberDenverWells Fargo Theatre26 OctoberPhoenixComerica Theatre27 OctoberLos AngelesGibson Amphitheatre28 OctoberSan DiegoViejas Arena30 OctoberOaklandOracle Arena2 NovemberSeattleKeyArena3 NovemberVancouverCanadaRogers Arena11 NovemberDublinIrelandThe O212 NovemberManchesterEnglandManchester Evening News Arena14 NovemberLondonThe O2 Arena15 NovemberAmsterdamNetherlandsHeineken Music Hall16 NovemberLondonEnglandThe O2 Arena17 NovemberBirminghamNational Indoor Arena18 NovemberBrightonBrighton Centre21 NovemberBerlinGermanyVelodrom22 NovemberParisFranceZénith de Paris23 November25 NovemberAntwerpBelgiumLotto Arena3 DecemberChek Lap KokHong KongAsiaWorld–Arena6 DecemberPerthAustraliaBurswood Dome8 DecemberAdelaideAdelaide Entertainment Centre11 DecemberMelbourneRod Laver Arena16 DecemberSydneySydney Entertainment Centre19 DecemberBrisbaneBrisbane Entertainment Centre21 DecemberAucklandNew ZealandVector Arena
Cancelled shows
+ List of cancelled concerts Date City Country Venue 8 September 2010 Glasgow Scotland Glasgow SECC Arena 11 September 2010 Newcastle England Metro Radio Arena 5 October 2010 Hartford United States Toyota Oakdale Theatre 19 November 2010 Milan Italy Mediolanum Forum
Box office score data VenueCityTickets sold / availableGross revenue Lotto Arena Antwerp 7,322 / 7,328 (99%) $516,657 Sydney Entertainment Centre Sydney 9,677 / 11,651 (83%) $950,425 Brisbane Entertainment Centre Brisbane 5,907 / 6,380 (92%) $687,449
Live band
Damon Albarn – lead vocals, keyboards, piano, acoustic guitar, melodica Paul Simonon – bass guitar, background vocals Mick Jones – rhythm guitar, background vocals Jeff Wootton – lead guitar (Certain dates) Simon Tong – lead guitar (replaced Jeff Wootton on certain dates) Cass Browne – drums, drum machine Mike Smith – keyboards Gabriel "Manuals" Wallace – drums, percussion Jesse Hackett – keyboards Wendi Rose - Choir direction and backing vocals
Guest collaborators and additional musicians
Bashy – rap on "Clint Eastwood" and "White Flag" Kano – rap on "Clint Eastwood" and "White Flag" Mos Def – rap on "Stylo" and "Sweepstakes" (select dates only) Lou Reed – guitar and vocals on "Some Kind of Nature" (New York City and Los Angeles only) Bobby Womack – vocals on "Stylo", "Cloud of Unknowing" and "Demon Days" Neneh Cherry – vocals on "Kids with Guns" (select dates only) Bootie Brown – rap on "Dirty Harry" and "Stylo" MF Doom – rap on "Clint Eastwood" and "November Has Come" (select dates only) Miho Hatori – vocals on "19-2000" (select dates only) Yukimi Nagano – vocals on "Empire Ants" and "To Binge" (select dates only) De La Soul – rap on "Feel Good Inc." and "Superfast Jellyfish" Daley – vocals on "Doncamatic" (select dates only) Mark E. Smith – vocals on "Glitter Freeze" (select dates only) Roses Gabor – vocals on "19-2000" and "Dare" Members of Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music – orchestration on "White Flag" The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – brass on "Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach", "Broken", "Sweepstakes" and "Plastic Beach" Demon Strings – strings
References