Gorillaz, Beck perform in Animal Crossing

Gorillaz and Beck played their new song, ‘The Valley of the Pagans’, on the in-game Animal Crossing talk show on Friday (23 October).

The collaboration, which appears on Gorillaz’ new album, Song Machine Season One: Strange Timez, was performed by Gorillaz vocalist 2-D (aka Damon Albarn) and Beck, who appeared on Animal Talking, a talk show within the popular Nintendo Switch game, as virtual avatars.

The performance followed an interview with Gorillaz creators Albarn and Jamie Hewlett earlier in the programme, which is hosted by screenwriter and author Gary Whitta.

The animated band last week announced a short 2021 European tour, visiting Cologne, Berlin, Luxembourg’s Rockhal and the O2 in London next summer.

Animal Crossing is the latest video game to host a ‘concert’, with Gorillaz joining the growing ranks of artists who have performed as virtual versions of themselves. Notable videogame shows this year include Travis Scott and J Balvin in Fortnite, and several festivals in Minecraft, while 2019 saw Marshmello play Fortnite, Korn play AdventureQuest and the Offspring World of Tanks, among others.

IQ revealed recently that more than three quarters of a billion people – each one of them a potential concertgoer once the live business restarts – play video games regularly.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.