Live Perfomance of Vitual Band

Since the late 90s, so-called ‘virtual bands’ have started to appear in the music industry. For me, such computer animated ‘singers’ releasing official albums looked really freaky. Virtual bands were interesting to people but not as successful as the ‘real’ bands/singers. But there is one virtual band that sold over 7 million copies with their first album – Gorillaz. Composed with four animated members: 2D, Noodle, Murdoc and Russel, Gorillaz’s music is a collaboration between various musicians with Albarn from the British band Blur being the only permanent member. The attention-grabbing part is the way Gorillaz perform the live stages. The simulation of videos, animatics, holograms and images are projected onto the audience side of the screen while the actual band physically plays behind a specially designed screen. The music and the presence of the band are ‘real’ on the stage but what audience gets to see is the animated members of Gorillaz. Well, let’s watch some now!