Gorillaz close Way Out West 2026 with a powerful, genre-crossing finale

There are concerts that feel like just another show on a festival schedule. And then there are concerts where it feels like absolutely everything comes together on the same stage. When Gorillaz closed Way Out West, it was definitely the latter.

After three days filled with concerts, it was time for the last big blast of the festival, and Damon Albarn with his Gorillaz had hardly come to Slottsskogen to gently play us home. This became a wild final show full of emotion, energy, and power – and a concert that constantly shifted between the new and the familiar, much of which the audience knew by heart.

The opening with The Mountain and The Happy Dictator already set the tone for the evening. Much of the new material was taken from The Mountain, where Gorillaz continue to blend musical expressions from different parts of the world. Influences from the Middle East were evident in several of the new songs and gave the concert yet another dimension before Tranz, Living Souls, 19-2000, and Rhinestone Eyes started to evoke more old Gorillaz memories from the audience.

But this evening was not just about the music.

On several occasions, Damon Albarn expressed his support for Palestine and his sorrow and anger over the ongoing killing and bombings. A Palestinian flag was held up on stage and later tied to his microphone stand. The message also spread through the crowd, where chants for Palestine could be heard during the concert.

It was a clear example of how Albarn used the stage for more than just entertainment. Whether it was about politics, emotions, or music, there was always an intensity in his way of leading the concert.

And the distance between stage and audience was at times almost nonexistent.

On two occasions, Albarn left the stage and moved out among the people in front of it. There he let fans sing along with him, and for a few moments it felt more like a huge collective celebration than a concert where an artist stands on one side of a barrier and the audience on the other.

When On Melancholy Hill appeared, the singalong was already a fact. It's one of those Gorillaz songs that only needs a few seconds before thousands of people realize exactly what's about to happen. All around, people danced and sang as Albarn continued to steer the slightly chaotic Gorillaz machine forward.

And what a machine it is.

Because a Gorillaz concert is rarely just Damon Albarn and a band. This evening, the stage rather evolved into a musical meeting place with an impressive array of guests. Yukimi Nagano from Little Dragon joined in for, among others, Empire Ants and To Binge, while Kara Jackson and Anoushka Shankar participated during Orange County.

Later, the energy was raised even more when Yasiin Bey, formerly Mos Def, appeared for Stylo and Damascus. Bootie Brown took the stage during Dirty Harry, and when Posdnuos from De La Soul joined during Feel Good Inc., it was as if yet another gear was engaged.

The audience's reactions to the guests spoke for themselves. Every new appearance was met with cheers, and the great thing was that no one felt brought in just for the sake of it. The guests became part of the show and at the same time demonstrated how incredibly broad the Gorillaz musical world actually is.

Amid all this, it's also important not to forget the band behind Albarn. Guitarist Jeff Wootton did fantastic work during the evening and also took the opportunity to throw three guitar picks into the crowd. A small detail in a huge production, but also one of those things that transforms into an unforgettable Way Out West memory for the three fans in the front row.

The setlist continued to line up songs from across Gorillaz history. Casablanca, Delirium, Andromeda, and She's My Collar were mixed with new material before the concert began to approach its crescendo.

And then, of course, come the songs almost everyone was waiting for.

Dirty Harry cranks up the energy even more and then comes Feel Good Inc.

It's almost impossible to stand still.

The bassline, the crowd, the De La Soul connection, and the full-throated singalong make the song one of the evening's clear climaxes. It doesn't matter if you've followed Gorillaz since the early 2000s or just know their biggest hits – when Feel Good Inc. starts, all of Slottsskogen knows what's happening.

Then all that's left is Clint Eastwood.

A pretty unbeatable song to close both a Gorillaz concert and an entire festival with.

It's also here that you realize just how difficult it really is to place Gorillaz into a single musical category. During the same concert, we've moved through electronic, hip hop, indie, rock, and pop, while influences from completely different musical traditions have constantly made their way in. On paper, it should almost be too much. On stage, it works.

Perhaps that's exactly why Gorillaz still feel so unique.

Damon Albarn and the rest of the massive lineup on stage managed to make the festival's final concert much more than a nostalgia trip through some of the biggest alternative hits of the 2000s. The new material got plenty of space, the guest artists succeeded each other, and the old classics triggered exactly the massive reactions you hoped for.

Above all, there were emotions behind it all.

At times political, at times playful, and at times completely explosive. But all the time, it felt like Gorillaz.

After countless concerts during Way Out West, it's hard to imagine a more fitting finale. A concert where the world, music, and people could meet on the same stage – before Clint Eastwood put an end to it all.

One of the festival's absolute best concerts.