Massive Attack 09/17/06

As a Texas-based fan of electronic music in the early to mid 90s, I quickly got used to disappointing tour schedules. My favorite musicians of the time, many British, seemed to think that touring the U.S. in the shape of a capital "N" would hit the significant locations. They would start in New York, go down the east coast a little bit, then shift up to Chicago or Detroit, and then head for either San Francisco or Los Angeles, leaving out our fair metroplex of Dallas/Fort Worth, along with many other notable cities. (I also believe this touring strategy was a major part of the reason why the electronica push of the mid-90s never gained traction -- they were performing to the already electronicized instead of creating new markets, but that's another post.) So that type of touring strategy plays a big part in explaining why this tour was the first time Massive Attack has played Texas, even though they've been well-regarded in the U.S. since at least 1991. The second part of the seeming snub of Texas might be that Massive Attack just doesn't tour that much -- with the exception of Coachella earlier this year, Massive Attack had not played the U.S. in 8 years.

So yeah, you might say I was a tad over-excited about Massive Attack playing Big D. I became a fan not long after Blue Lines came out in 1991, and Protection and Mezzanine are both in my pantheon of greatness (though they don't quite make my ongoing Top 15 list). Here's what I like about Massive Attack: variety. Listening to a Massive Attack album is like listening to a really cool radio show -- there's an overall vibe to it, but the musicians shift for many of the songs. One song will feature some low-key rap, while the next song will feature Elizabeth Fraser (of the Cocteau Twins) or Sinead O'Connor, and then it will shift to some groove-laden reggae-esque tune with Horace Andy on vocals.

When I bought my tickets, that was one of the big questions in my mind: "Which Massive Attack will be there?" Will the evening just be two guys exchanging rap verses, or will they take a guest vocalist on tour with them? Because I'm a sucker for the female guest vocals on the Massive Attack albums... Elizabeth Fraser, Tracey Thorn, Sinead O'Connor, Sara Jay -- those are the voices that really make things shine for me. But heck, they've not been to the States in 8 years and they've never been to Texas, so I plunked down the plastic no matter which Massive Attack was coming to visit.

I started surfing the web last week as Massive Attack was supposed to start the U.S. portion of their tour, mainly because I wanted to see who was coming with them. (Yeah, I'm like the kid snooping around the Christmas presents.) But I was horrified to see that Massive Attack was having difficulty obtaining United States visas! They ended up cancelling shows in Montreal, Detroit, and Chicago, but they got things straightened out in time for ACLFest, and that meant they would be in Dallas before long... Never did find out who was touring with them, so I was pleasantly surprised last night. Consider this a spoiler alert -- If you don't want to know who will be there, stop reading now.

I'm so anal, it's not even funny... If we're going to a movie or concert, I have to get there early. Why? I'm not sure. But if I walk into a movie or concert late, I'm off-kilter for the whole thing. So we got there a little before 7:00, and the ticket had a start time of 7:30. I browsed the t-shirts, which were so-so, and then we went in. Promptly at 7:30, a DJ began mixing a bit at the front of the stage. He had some decent tunes, but the transitions were a little raw. He was up there until 8:30. Massive Attack came on stage at 9:00 in a very nonchalant manner.

The band had two drummers, and a bass, guitar, and keyboard player, and the bass was booming. It was that chest thumping bass that makes you feel like the Alien baby could come bursting out soon. One guy stood at the front of the stage and turned in a rap, but the vocals were too low in the mix to make out much. Turns out that Daddy G's wife just had a baby, so it was on the shoulders of 3D. He did very well, and put in an energetic set. I didn't recognize the song they opened with, and the audience didn't seem to, either. Most stayed in their seats. But then the energy level rose as the band went into "Risingson" from Mezzanine.

The stage lighting reminded me of the LED-looking deal that Nine Inch Nails was using last fall. It looks pretty simple at first, but they can do some pretty complex patterns that still look rather retro and pixelated. In addition, they had some scrolling text signs that were used occasionally to display factoids.

For the third song, 3D introduced "Elizabeth" and I do believe my wife thought I had gone insane. I stood and yelled and hooted while many in the audience were probably wondering what was wrong with me. You see, it was Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins fame, and I LOVE her voice. I've been kicking myself for not seeing the Cocteau Twins when they came through Dallas around '93, so it was wonderful to see her. Elizabeth and the band performed "Black Milk," another Mezzanine track, and it was gorgeous! Yes, I was officially in heaven at that point. Elizabeth left the stage, and 3D introduced Horace Andy, who came out and performed "Man Next Door."

And that's how it went from there. There would be one song that was just Massive Attack and 3D, then Elizabeth would come out, then Horace would come out. Yeah, they switched it up a bit, but it was kind of like watching the Massive Attack Variety Hour, and it felt a lot like the variety of their albums, so that was nice...

The rest of the highlights for me were, well, pretty much any time Elizabeth was on stage. She's amazing, and the absolute pinnacle of the night was "Teardrop." But the band also tore into an sinister version of "Inertia Creeps" where the bass player was throwing in this nasty bass line that kicked it into the next dimension. The encore included "Unifinished Sympathy" featuring Deborah Miller. She ripped it...

One person at ACL Fest, while admittedly unfamiliar with Massive Attack, described it as "something someone would listen to before toking up and masturbating to that anime comic porn," but I ask you, is that so bad? There would be a lot more world peace and a lot fewer problems if more people were doing that... I don't know how they did in the heat at ACL Fest, but Massive Attack were stunning at Nokia. I'm glad they finally visited Texas, and I hope they come back soon...