Kevin Bronson on April 17th, 2010

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[Buzz Bands LA reader Dave Ramirez won last week’s contest to witness Gorillaz’ secret Coachella rehearsal, which turned out to be Friday night at Center Stage soundstages in Burbank. No cameras or cellphones were allowed into the show. I asked Ramirez to drop me a note to tell me how it was, and he was kind enough to do so:]

This was my first time seeing Gorillaz perform, and it definitely had the effect a great live show does.  I was a pretty big fan of the band and the new record going into the show but came out a huge one.  With at least 15 people on stage at any given time the musicanship was incredibly tight and Mick Jones and Paul Simonon were huge.  They brought such a great energy and balance to the music and the performance.  Mick even had a sultry snake dance move during the intro to White Flag that was just one of the many times I realized how lucky I was to be witnessing this. I couldn’t hear Mick’s guitar very well, but Paul’s low end was such a perfect compliment to the music especially live.

At risk of sounding dramatic, Bobby Womack’s performances were spiritual. De La Soul – all three members were there – brought huge energy and were in top form.  Damon is such a good singer and front man. His dreamy, lilting vocal was pitch-perfect note for note.

The staging is beautiful – a perfect blend of brilliant visuals (of course) and performance.  Granted we were up close so we got to get pretty personal with the band.  But it’s big, yet subtle in the ways it should be.  And the set is masterfully crafted to keep you enthralled from beginning to end.

Damon did mention some people being stuck due to the volcano, which may explain a few lead vocals being supplied through a backing track on a few tunes. Lady Dragon was not there and he humorously pretended to be sing with her as she’s scheduled to be at Coachella, which made for some good laughs.  Charming bloke, that one.