NEW YORK and REDMOND, Wash. — April 5, 2006 — MSN® Video will host the first full-length live performance stream of the GRAMMY-award-winning Gorillaz album “Demon Days” in the U.S. The musical collaborators behind the album will come together to perform live at the historic Apollo Theater in New York on Thursday, April 6, at 9 p.m. EDT. Fans in the U.S., Canada, Australia and the U.K. can experience the final show of Gorillaz’ sold-out, five-night run of “DEMON DAYS LIVE” concerts from the Apollo at http://msnvideo.com/gorillaz.
Beginning today, MSN Video will run select footage from “DEMON DAYS LIVE” performances at England’s Manchester Opera House in November 2005. On April 6, MSN Video will stream the entire concert finale, captured by eight cameras, and will present highlight clips for viewing on demand, bringing the exceptional visual identity of Gorillaz — courtesy of Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett — and the all-star musicians behind the performance to a virtual audience. There also will be links from the webcast page to Gorillaz photos, interviews, feature stories and other content, as well as video tracks from “Demon Days,” the group’s 2005 album that won a GRAMMY for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals, at MSN Music.
“With their groundbreaking blend of live performance and animated visuals, Gorillaz are one of the most visually captivating musical acts around,” said Rob Bennett, general manager of Entertainment and Video for MSN. “We’re making huge strides in our efforts to make MSN Video a key destination for a new generation of customers that desire original streaming content that can be viewed live or on-demand whenever and wherever you want.”
The concerts at the Apollo will be the first full-length, live performances of the double platinum-selling “Demon Days” album by the Gorillaz in the U.S. The run is sponsored by Gorillaz’ mobile partner Motorola Inc. Guest performers joining Gorillaz co-creator and “Demon Days” co-producer Damon Albarn on stage during the five-night run will include De La Soul, Ike Turner, Bootie Brown of The Pharcyde, Neneh Cherry and U.K. rapper Roots Manuva, with other special guest appearances to be announced.
“Virgin Records is immensely proud to be the home of The Gorillaz,” said Jason Flom, chairman of Virgin Records America. “We are thrilled to see the genius vision of Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s performance of the double-platinum album ‘Demon Days’ brought to the stage and, fittingly, to a wide audience through a forward-thinking use of streaming technology.”
“DEMON DAYS LIVE” is not to be confused with the unprecedented live holographic tour the Gorillaz team and animation house Passion Pictures are currently producing for 2007–2008. The tour will be a unique cross between live performance and a theme park experience, with the band fully present onstage, rendered in three eye-popping dimensions. Crucially, the show will evolve over the life of the tour like any live performance, will feature stellar guests from “Demon Days,” and will ultimately bring the unique visual identity created by Jamie Hewlett to a live audience.
About MSN Video
MSN Video is the largest video-only streaming service on the Web, offering 41 channels of content that are updated multiple times a day and watched by more than 9 million unique
users per month. In addition to streaming news, entertainment and sports video clips from more than 45 content partners, MSN Video presents a broad array of live events to online audiences worldwide. More than 50 top advertisers support MSN Video, which is available to consumers at no charge. MSN Video is available on the Web at http://msnvideo.com to consumers in the U.S., Canada, Japan and Australia; the service also is in beta testing in the U.K.
Overall, MSN attracts more than 465 million unique users worldwide per month. With localized versions available globally in 42 markets and 21 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering Web services to consumers and online advertising opportunities to businesses worldwide.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
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