Gorillaz Launch ‘The Mountain’ Tour with IDLES’ Joe Talbot, Sparks, Black Thought

Gorillaz Kick Off 2026 ‘The Mountain’ Tour in Los Angeles

Gorillaz launched their 2026 tour celebrating the upcoming album ‘The Mountain’ on Sunday night at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. The performance opened with a full playthrough of the new record, starting with the title track ‘The Mountain’.

Star-Studded Guest Appearances

The show featured surprise guests during several tracks. Asha Puthli and Black Thought joined for ‘The Moon Cave’. Black Thought returned later for ‘The Sad God’ and ‘The Empty Dream Machine’. IDLES frontman Joe Talbot performed ‘The God Of Lying’ alongside Damon Albarn, echoing his contribution to the studio version.

Sparks appeared for ‘The Happy Dictator’, matching their album collaboration. Kara Jackson took the stage for ‘Orange County’ and ‘The Sweet Prince’. The second set included fan favorites: ‘Dirty Harry’ with Bootie Brown, ‘Feel Good Inc.’ with De La Soul, and ‘Clint Eastwood’ with Del the Funky Homosapien.

Full Setlist

Set 1:

• ‘The Mountain’
• ‘The Moon Cave’ (with Asha Puthli and Black Thought)
• ‘The Happy Dictator’ (with Sparks)
• ‘The Hardest Thing’
• ‘Orange County’ (with Kara Jackson)
• ‘The God of Lying’ (with Joe Talbot)
• ‘The Empty Dream Machine’ (with Black Thought)
• ‘The Manifesto’
• ‘The Plastic Guru’
• ‘Delirium’
• ‘Damascus’
• ‘The Shadowy Light’
• ‘Casablanca’
• ‘The Sweet Prince’ (with Kara Jackson)
• ‘The Sad God’ (with Black Thought)

Set 2:

• ‘California and the Slipping of the Sun’
• ‘Rock the House’ (with Del the Funky Homosapien)
• ‘Dirty Harry’ (with Bootie Brown)
• ‘Feel Good Inc.’ (with De La Soul)
• ‘Clint Eastwood’ (with Del the Funky Homosapien)

Album Details and Upcoming Releases

‘The Mountain’ arrives on March 20, previewed by singles including ‘The Hardest Thing’, ‘Orange County’, ‘The God Of Lying’ (featuring IDLES), ‘The Happy Dictator’ (feat. Sparks), ‘The Manifesto’ with Trueno and the late Proof, and ‘Damascus’ featuring Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey.

Additional collaborators include Asha Bhosle, Gruff Rhys, Paul Simonon, Johnny Marr, The London Arab Orchestra, Demon Strings, Ajay Prasanna, Trueno, Anoushka Shankar, Chris Storr, James Copus, and Matthew Gunner. Voices from Elsewhere feature Dennis Hopper, Bobby Womack, De La Soul’s Dave Jolicoeur, Tony Allen, Proof, and Mark E Smith.

Damon Albarn stated the album spans four languages, inspired partly by the loss of both his and Jamie Hewlett’s fathers, leading to a grief-processing trip to India.

Future Tour Dates and Appearances

Gorillaz debuted the material at a phone-free ‘House Of Kong’ event in London last September, marking 25 years of the band. The UK and Ireland tour starts in March with warm-up shows in Bradford, a headline at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on June 20, and European festivals like Electric Picnic, Primavera Sound in Barcelona and Porto, and Rock Werchter.

Next month, Gorillaz perform on Saturday Night Live for the first time on March 7, hosted by Ryan Gosling.