Twenty-five years ago, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett were living above a carpet shop in Westbourne Grove, west London, watching MTV. What they saw gave Hewlett a clear diagnosis: “If you watch MTV for too long, it’s a bit like hell — there’s nothing of substance there. So we got this idea for a virtual band, something that would be a comment on that.” The comment, which they named Gorillaz when they formed the project in 1998, has since been certified by Guinness World Records as the planet’s most successful virtual act. On October 15, that virtual band plays Moody Center on the 25th anniversary of its debut.
About the Show
The Mountain, released February 27, 2026 on Gorillaz’s own KONG independent label, is the band’s ninth studio album, constructed the way Gorillaz records tend to be: Albarn as the through-line, the animated cast (2D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle, and Russel Hobbs) as the frame, and a rotating ensemble of collaborators doing the actual work of pulling the music across genres. This edition draws in Sparks, IDLES, Yasiin Bey, Anoushka Shankar, Tony Allen, Bizarrap, and others. The Mountain Tour is the band’s eighth concert tour, a 22-date North American arena run presented by Live Nation from September 17 through October 31, 2026, following a UK and European leg that included the band’s first stadium headline, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on June 20. Albarn performs alongside the Gorillaz live band and special guest performers. BRIT Award and Grammy Award winners (their 2005 Grammy came for “Feel Good Inc.” with De La Soul), the band has also received the Jim Henson Creativity Honor. Their catalog runs from “Clint Eastwood” and “DARE” through “On Melancholy Hill” and “Dirty Harry,” enough material that a Gorillaz arena set functions as a quarter-century survey of where left-field pop has been. The Austin date features two openers: Little Simz, who opens the majority of North American dates, and Deltron 3030, the hip-hop collective of Dan the Automator, Del the Funky Homosapien, and DJ Kid Koala, who appear on all North American shows.
Venue & Logistics
Moody Center sits on the UT Austin campus at 2001 Robert Dedman Dr. The show begins at 7:00 p.m. Clear bag policy in effect; no age restrictions for this event.
Tickets
Tickets start at $192. VIP packages are available through vipnation.com. Buy tickets