Øya Festival 2022 is in the process of putting together a varied and content-rich program. Last week organisers released 11 names for next year’s poster. Now they cling to another highlight – GORILLAZ headline the first night in Tøyenparken and will be their first Norwegian festival performance.

The animated band GORILLAZ was started as a project by the everlasting Blur vocalist Damon Albarn and the multi-artist Jamie Hewlett. For 20 years they have impressed with best-selling releases and fantastic concerts. Next summer they are back on tour, and take the trip to the Øya Festival, where they are planning a content-rich show, which will include guest artists.

GORILLAZ draws inspiration from an even broader field than can be heard in Blur’s music. Here there are generous portions of hip-hop, funk, electronic music, rock and much more. The first two albums Gorillaz (2001) and Demon Days (2005) were huge sales successes over large parts of the world, and the band has maintained its popularity in streaming services as well. GORILLAZ has made mega-hits that you can hear on nightclubs and radio several years later, such as Feel Good Inc and Clint Eastwood. They have a star gallery of guest vocalists on individual songs, people like André 3000, Robert Smith, Elton John, Beck, Peter Hook, Tony Allen, De La Soul, Terry Hall, Snoop Dogg, Vince Staples, slowthai, Shaun Ryder, Bobby Womack and Mos Def have all contributed to the GORILLAZ universe at at some point.

In recent years, they have released a series of songs under the title Song Machine, which will be followed by more new music in 2022. Organisers look forward to meeting both the characters that make up GORILLAZ, and the musicians behind, in Tøyenparken for an insane concert experience.