The animated Gorillaz will come from behind their cartoon personal for five shows only, it has been announced.

The band will perform the unveiling at Manchester's Opera House in November as part of the launch of the Manchester International Festival.

Though lead 'Gorilla' Daman Albarn is well known his colleagues are more secretive. During live gigs the musicians usually play behind a screen.

Damon Albarn said: "Manchester is the centre of Britain. We are only going to do this once, so it makes sense to do it somewhere in the middle of the country."

The Gorillaz are leading the UK nominations for the MTV Europe Music awards along with Coldplay, with five nominations each.

They have been nominated for Best Group, Best Song, Best video for Feel Good Inc, Best Pop and Best UK & Ireland Act.