So the Gorillaz, that cartoon band for adults who still think Trainspotting is the height of cultural commentary, are staging a one-off stadium show. And the British music industry, in its infinite wisdom, is celebrating this as proof of our 'global reach'. Forgive me if I do not join the chorus of self-congratulation.
This is not a triumph. It is a symptom. A symptom of an industry that has run out of ideas, retreating into nostalgia and gimmickry.
Compare this to the Victorian era, when British music hall entertained the masses with genuine novelty, not a thirty-year-old digital joke. The 'vibe is ridiculous' they say. Indeed.
So is the notion that this represents anything other than intellectual and artistic decadence. We are the Rome of pop culture, staging circuses while the barbarians stream their own content. The only thing more pathetic than the hype is our desperate need to believe it matters.
