A.Refuge

SDSU Open Air Theatre, San Diego, CA

Massive Attack

September

a style of music so that we can all feel safe and know what to expect. The trouble is, so-called “trip-hop” is really a blender that churns out musical smoothies. Do it wrong and you can easily fall into tedium. Do it right, you will defy such labels, remain fresh and retain the ability to mesmerize with music. The latter was such case at a stunning and brilliant performance by Massive Attack at San Diego State University’s Open Air Theatre, Wednesday night.

Right from the start of the show, Robert “3D” Del Naja and his live band turned everything you might expect to hear and flipped it on its head, stripping away much of the samples, programmed beats, and bleeps that color the majority of Massive Attack’s studio albums. Instead of just turntables, DAT’s and a few mics, you got a 5-piece band that rocked (yes, you read that correctly) harder than some more popular thrash metal acts with a beefed up sound and epic, layered songs flexing musical muscle. How else can you explain the two girls in the front row headbanging like they were at a Korn concert? "Yeah, right", you might say, and the only reason you might say that is because you weren’t there! The live incarnation of Massive Attack was a formidable machine that, quite literally, tore into the material as if to make up for the 8-year absence of touring stateside. From Winston Blissett’s chest-bursting bass riffs, the thunderbucket drumming of Andrew Small and Damon Neece, to Angelo Bruschini’s gnarling guitar feedback, songs like “Risingson”, “Futureproof” or “Safe From Harm” sent seismic vibrations far enough for Tijuana to feel them. Frontman Del Naja’s husky, whispered vocals were almost drowned by the intensity of the music near the beginning of the show and skittered dangerously close to being completely overwhelmed, until someone at the soundboard made an adjustment or two.

Thankfully, the near sonic overload was coupled with softer, quieter moments, and when they came they were ethereal. Guest vocalists and long-time collaborators Elizabeth Frazer (from the Cocteau Twins), Horace Andy and Deborah Miller contributed enormously to the effectiveness of certain songs; namely “Teardrop”, “Angel” and “Unfinished Sympathy” respectively. There were times when Del Naja would disappear from the stage, allowing his singers to take over. Occasionally this was a good thing, since “3D’ is anything but a multi-dimensional stage presence. He spent the majority of the show either standing rigidly center stage at his microphone or sitting down playing deejay. Sporadic moments of energy came where he would hop about shadowboxing, but mostly the emphatically British Brit from Bristol was subdued. This wasn’t necessarily a problem, since the music was the main attraction and spoke for itself. It didn’t really require any wild antics from the band members like doing cartwheels or biting the heads off chickens. Extreme examples, surely, but a little more animation wouldn’t have hurt Del Naja, who preferred having his back to the audience when he wasn’t singing.

The visual presentation was spot on with the audio, and it’s likely a few retinas were popped from the electron detonating light show. Statistics blurred by on electronic ticker tape. Protests over the war in Iraq glared in giant headlines behind the band. Many times the band was silhouetted by an unguessable amount of wattage, turning crash cymbals and electric guitars into white hot, burning objects. And for all the cynicism and outspoken sarcastic remarks flashing over the current political situation in the Middle East, never did you feel as if Massive Attack was proselytizing. Del Naja has never been shy about his political views, so it came as no surprise halfway through the show when he rather dryly thanked President Bush and Tony Blair for their fine work on the Iraq War before going into “Hymn of the Big Wheel”. “They’ve done a great job,” he remarked. “Leaving the U.N. and Red Cross to clean up the f***ing mess.” Okay, not very subtle, but that little snippet of criticism added some emotional weight to the more politically charged songs.

Oh, and about the choice of songs. There was (and most likely will be) some disappointment from fans expecting to hear certain tunes, especially since Massive Attack hasn’t toured the U.S. since 1998. The show, as good as it was, favored cuts from Mezzanine; a dark, angry album that dominated the set list and lent itself extremely well to the live format. You got a few gems from Blue Lines and a pair from 100th Window. If you expected to hear anything from Protection, think again. I can think of a few reasons why anything from this album was ignored, particularly its softer tone clashes with that of Massive Attack’s last two albums, but it would have been nice to hear the title track, “Karmacoma” or “Sly.” Also, Grant “Daddy G” Marshall was MIA, tending to his new baby girl. There was no word on how long until he would join his band for the remainder of the tour. Congrats and all Mr. Marshall, but you were missed.

Surprisingly, the few real complaints about the show really had nothing to do with Massive Attack itself. The venue security staff were an incessant annoyance, frequently getting in the way of the stage to tell someone they couldn’t smoke or take a picture or stand in the aisle. Sure, there’s got to be some controlled chaos, and if everybody just behaved then there wouldn’t be the need for security in the first place. Except that they tried to catch everyone they saw, and it was certainly distracting. My next beef had to do with certain members of the audience, who were either too stoned or just too rude to care that chatting away as if they were at someone’s backyard party is no way to enjoy a show such as this. Those who weren’t talking attempted to sneak closer to the stage, filled up the handicap sections and aisles, and prompted our security friends to further hinder the overall effectiveness of the show. Seriously people, if you must be obnoxious, buy the live DVD and stay home.

But enough whining, yes? It was clear from the start that this situation at this particular venue was unique, and there was enough consistent brilliance to make up for the security and handful of jerks in the audience. Astonishing was that the band deftly created something beyond the studio albums, an experience that is rare and difficult to achieve live. Even better was that the band put to shame that odious “trip-hop” label. It goes back to that smoothie thing I mentioned earlier. You got a rave, rock, metal, R&B, punk, rap, reggae, and techno sublimely blended into one big fat cocktail that left you with a nice buzz and a sense that you’d seen something special. If you have tickets to any of their upcoming shows on this criminally short tour, consider yourselves very fortunate. For those who don’t, let’s just say you’ve got your work cut out for you. As the band indelibly proved, Massive Attack is exactly just that.

Set List

False Flags
Risingson
Black Milk
Man Next Door
Butterfly Caught
Hymn to the Big Wheel
Mezzanine
Teardrop
Angel
Futureproof
Safe From Harm

Encore

Inertia Creeps
Unfinished Sympathy
Group Four

Massive Attack in San Diego

Review of Massive Attack at SDSU Open Air Theatre

Concert Review

Music - Other

By: Adam Jones

Photos: Alan Boling

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Massive Attack