Following a series of acclaimed shows in the UK and USA, including headlining appearances at the Glastonbury and Coachella festivals, Perth’s Burswood Dome was chosen as the first Australian venue to host the Gorillaz’s ‘Escape From Plastic Beach’ show.

Getting inside the Dome is always something of a novelty – the pressurised revolving doors (which ensure that the ballooned ceiling stays afloat) sucking and breathing punters inside. The crowd itself was a diverse bunch, as can be expected from any band which achieves mainstream commercial success. The side seating tiers were blocked out with curtains, leaving the only seating at the back of the venue, and the stage itself moved almost halfway along the floor of the venue, turning the usually cavernous and soulless surroundings of the Dome into a more intimate setting. It was by no means a small crowd, however it appeared to be far from a sell-out show.

Swedish-cum-Japanese band Little Dragon opened proceedings burgeoning crowd, with their heavy synth-pop stylings providing a less than chilled start to the evening. Pint-sized singer Yukimi Nagano pirouetted around the stage, occasionally interjecting with stabs of vocal lines over the driving beats. Singles Twice and Fortune were well received by the crowd, and by the end of the show it was clear that this group are sure to be festival favourites in the near future.

From the new-skool to the old-skool, the familiar rotund figure of De La Soul’s DJ Maseo bounced onto the stage shouting “How yo doooooin’? Put yo hands up!” before dropping the heavy intro of The Grind Date. It was not long until he was joined onstage by MCs Trugoy and Posdnuos, each decked out in familiar oversized t-shirt and skater kicks.

It was a hi-octane and energetic set from De La Soul, who delivered party favourite after party favourite, including Ooh Ooh Ooh and Stakes Is High. The MCs amped up the right side of the crowd, then the left side of the crowd, before joking that those at the back were sitting “like they was watchin’ a movie”. The set closed with a rousing version of Ring Ring Ring, the crowd bouncing and waving their hands to the bump-&-grind beats.

As the house lights dropped, the giant video screen played a 3D Jamie Hewlett cartoon piece, which ended with a flourish from the mini-orchestra which had quietly made its way onto stage. The animation morphed into a scene of a plastic beach, then onto a boat with Snoop Dogg as the Gorillaz played Welcome To The World of the Plastic Beach. The integration of the video with the band was seamless, to the point that if you closed your eyes, there was no way of telling that the guest stars featuring in the videos weren’t in the venue singing live.

A rousing cheer greeted Damon Albarn stepping into the spotlight for the first time, dressed in a striped t-shirt and black denim jeans, as the band played old favourites Last Living Souls and 19-2000. What makes the Gorillaz show so entertaining is the constantly changing lead singers. The Beverly-Hills-Cop-cool Bobby Womack and the Pharcyde’s Bootie Brown made their first appearances on Stylo, before leaving Damon Albarn to lead on Blur-esque new tracks On Melancholy Hill and Rhinestone Eyes. De La Soul then returned for kooky track Superfast Jellyfish, followed by the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble for Broken.

Damon Albarn’s penchant for plodding synth-based Japanese songs was prevalent on some of Blur’s earlier albums (Yuki and Hiro anyone?), and his oriental leanings have surfaced again on the latest album. Little Dragon’s Yukimi Nagano returned to the stage for Empire Ants, and would later return on To Binge, but the slower tracks were lost on the crowd, despite the faux intimacy between Albarn and Nagano. The lull in the set was quickly forgotten with the thudding trip-hop of the mellotron fuelled Tomorrow Comes Today and Dirty Harry, with its accompanying animation of a creepy cartoon children’s choir.

After El Manana, Damon Albarn took a moment to admire the strange pressurised venue which “keeps the sky from falling in” before introducing drummers and guitarists from the National Orchestra for Syrian Music which the band met whilst playing in Damascus recently. After an intense three-minute solo drumming piece, the Gorillaz band fused with the Syrian orchestra on White Flag, complete with Damon Albarn twirling a massive white flag around the stage. After another seamless video integration with missing guest Shaun Ryder on DARE, the main set ended with a quickfire Punk, the Goldfrapp-esque Glitter Freeze and title track Plastic Beach.

After a short break, the band and Bobby Womack slowly crept on stage. As the video screen showed footage of World War II kamikaze pilots smashing into aircraft carriers, Womack delivered the soulful gospel-infused vocal of Cloud Of Unknowning. The Dome is renowned for its terrible acoustics and shoddy sound, but the giant curtains flanking the left and right tiers of seating seemed to soak up the usually-present crackly reverb, and the resulting sound was crisp, clear and full of thunderous bass.

The colossal sound system soon had the crowd jumping again as De La Soul returned for the glorious Feel Good Inc and MC Bashy delivered some deep rhymes over a thumping rendition of Clint Eastwood. Don’t Get Lost In Heaven and Demon Days rounded out the encore.

As Damon Albarn turned and thanked the crowd, his massive grin said it all. An excellent night, a long set-list featuring an even smattering of tracks from all three of Gorillaz’s albums and a powerhouse arena show pulled off by a ramshackle band of misfit musicians that would seemingly only work on paper but somehow gel brilliantly live. This is one show not to be missed.