A Palestinian flag thrown onstage by a fan was caught by Damon Albarn, who lifted it above his head. He didn't sing—just stared out at the crowd and said, "Don't forget this. Never. Take a stand. Never stay neutral."
It happened on the night of September 17, when Gorillaz played Orlando's Kia Center to officially launch their 2026 North American tour. They played 24 songs that night, spanning their self-titled debut, Plastic Beach, Demon Days, Humanz, and all the way through to their latest album, The Mountain. Fans caught the flag moment on their phones, and it spread across social media the next day.
The moment landed at a particularly charged time. Just before this, Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour after making "free Palestine" comments while opening for him—Pink and the Israeli American Council publicly called for him to be pulled, and Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft confirmed he personally made the call, saying the remarks left him "deeply offended" and hurt the Jewish community. Sheeran later responded that he was "not complicit," calling the Israel-Palestine conflict a "tragedy" with suffering on both sides.
Albarn's decision to take a direct stand this time echoes, to some extent, the public position he's held for over a year now. In an interview with Channel 4 News last year, he said, "I think it's about not denying the legitimacy of Palestine, not denying the historical existence of the Palestinian people, and acknowledging that a genocide is taking place there." He also said at the time that watching the footage left him feeling "almost hopelessly powerless."
This isn't the first time he's spoken out on the issue. Last September, he appeared at Together For Palestine, a show curated by Brian Eno in London, performing a suite of traditional Palestinian songs alongside the London Arabic Orchestra and the Juzour Dance Collective. Gorillaz also played "Damascus" that night—a track that later made it onto The Mountain. Even earlier, Gorillaz's set at Primavera Sound opened with an introduction from Palestinian activist Aarab Barghouti, son of imprisoned Palestinian political figure Marwan Barghouti. Onstage, he said: "My father is one of ten thousand Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. But to millions of Palestinians, he represents something Israel cannot imprison: hope."
A UN inquiry commission concluded in a September 2025 report that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, a finding echoed by Amnesty International. A separate UN investigation released this past June alleged that Israeli authorities and security forces "deliberately targeted Palestinian children, constituting genocide and atrocity crimes in the Gaza Strip and war crimes in the West Bank." Israel has consistently denied these accusations, maintaining that its military actions are self-defense in response to Hamas's October 7 attack, and has dismissed the UN commission's findings as "distorted and false" and a "defamatory hoax."
Gorillaz also recently announced they'll play India for the first time in January 2027—a country whose musical and spiritual traditions served as a key inspiration behind The Mountain.
