Hands down, the hottest gig ticket in London this year; Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s “virtual band” followed up their heralded US Coachella festival appearance with two sold-out shows on home turf in London town, and triumphantly reinforced their audio/visual onslaught with maximum effect. It’s been nine years since Gorillaz played to London audiences, and the expectant and ebullient audience were certainly treated to affair to remember. A two-hour bonanza of musical entertainment boasting a stacked deck of outstanding collaborators and musicians, overlooked by a giant video screen with interactive, animated visuals.

Stage set, the musical expedition of musicians included around 20 people on stage – ranging from horn sections, string sections, backing vocalists, the Gorillaz live band featuring Albarn, and Mick Jones and Paul Simonon of The Clash, and later, even joined by a section of the Syrian National Orchestra (who performed an interlude and a great revisit of the album track White Flag, alongside rappers Bashy and Kano). Kicking off the musical voyage and nautical theme, a fully resplendent Admiral Snoop Dogg set sail via some videoscreen interplay welcoming audiences to the world of the plastic beach, before Albarn took centre-stage to navigate proceedings with his own crowd-pleasing performances on the likes of Last Living Souls and Oh Green World.

The musical schizophrenia of Gorillaz’s three album catalogue made the performance all the more exciting, all underpinned with a genuine funky swagger. International guests floated in and out of the mix, alongside some of the UK’s underground heroes and upstarts, as conductor Albarn held the gig together with his overriding vision for the band. As you would imagine the crowd erupted in a frenzy with the first onstage guest appearance of the night – Bobby Womack and Mos Def for Stylo – but the crowd continued their appreciation throughout the show, even for the likes of the more subdued Yukimiu Nagano (from Little Dragon) who performed Empire Ants, before returning later in the show for To Binge.

Other onstage treats were provided by the likes of De La Soul (Superfast Jellyfish with Gruff Rhys), a pleasingly-droopy Shaun Ryder and real-life Noodle, Rosie Wilson (Dare), and the excellent encore-set which included the return to stage of ringmaster Mos Def for Sweepstakes, a blistering and euphoric version of Feel Good Inc, and the finale of early-Gorillaz hit Clint Eastwood.

All in all, Gorillaz delivered like most bands can’t these days – a full on assault on your senses; a musical and visual delight for your senses, boasting both style and substance. Albarn’s ability to sort through a series of disparate musical elements and create something new is nothing short of remarkable, whilst Hewlitt’s equally arresting imagery is genius, and works even better in a live setting than it does on disc, thanks to the palpable excitement from their audience and fans.

Gorillaz may be widely renowned as a virtual band, but there’s nothing virtual about this type of gig. This was a performance of the highest order. Welcome to the world of the Plastic Beach.

- SASHA PERERA