Damon Albarn cheered up by Kate Bush after 'terrible' Glastonbury reviews
Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn felt awful after the band's set at Glastonbury Festival in 2010 but he was given a boost by Kate Bush who thought it was one of the 'best shows' she'd ever seen
Damon Albarn felt "vulnerable" after Gorillaz's Glastonbury performance got "terrible" reviews but he was cheered up by a phone call from Kate Bush.
The band was a last minute addition to the line-up at the 2020 festival after headliners U2 pulled out due to frontman Bono's back issues but they struggled to win over critics and Damon admits he was left feeling awful - but he was given a huge boost in a surprise call from reclusive pop legend Kate.
Speaking at a question-and-answer session with Gorillaz' co-creator Jamie Hewlett and comedian Alan Carr for Banquet Records, Damon explained: "The next morning a lot of terrible reviews came through. I did get a phone call from Kate Bush who said it was one of the best shows she’d ever seen. That was an amazing thing and I really needed it at that moment because I was feeling particularly vulnerable."
Damon added of the Glastonbury set: "Glastonbury was very memorable because it was so different to any other performance that had been before us.
"We wanted to just be, and not do the normal schtick of ‘hello Glastonbury, how are you all feeling?’ We wanted to just do our thing ...
"I realised halfway through the Gorillaz set that the audience had no idea who some of the guests that we were bring onstage were, because I wasn’t introducing them."
Hewlett went on to insist another reason the set might not have gone down as well as they hoped is because he'd created visuals around the band's album 'Plastic Beach' which focused on environmental issues.
He said: "It [the record] talks about the damage we’re doing to the planet. I made videos that were pretty heavy to watch, including one about whaling. People don’t want to watch that at 10.30pm at Glastonbury."
