Gorillaz are the animated creation of Tank Girl creator Jamie Hewlitt, and they've proved every bit as popular as any "real" band. The debut album has gone Top 5, and Hewlitt's excellent animated videos have been beamed across the world's networks. They may not be quite as well known as Tom &Jerry, but 2-D, Murdoc, Noodle and Russel could soon be the John, Paul, Georgina and Ringo of cartoon rock.

The world and its granny knows that Blur's Damon Albarn is the voice behind 2-D, so when the singer's silhouette takes shape behind the giant onstage screen, the crowd at the Olympia goes wild. The format is simple - Albarn and the other live musicians remain in outline behind the screen, while Hewlitt's fast-moving animations fill the screen - eye-candy for some people, sensory overload for others.

The music is as loud as the colours on screen. Albarn's presence undermines the whole idea of Gorillaz - it needs anonymous musicians behind it, and he's just too famous to be subsumed under a cartoon band (OK, no jokes about Blur being a cartoon band). On the other hand, Albarn has penned some killer tunes for Gorillaz, including Tomorrow Comes Today, Slow Country, 5/4, Rock The House, Punk and Starshine, although Man Research, Latin Simone and Double Bass are mere dub-style fillers.

However good the tunes are, though, it gets boring watching cartoons all night, and you long for the screen to come down and reveal the real band behind it. Come on out, Damon - we know it's you.