Reggae · May 28, 2004
Jamaican singer Horace Andy rescues Massive Attack's lackluster show in São Paulo!
One of the creators of trip hop and owner of a fundamental discography in electronic music over the last ten years, Massive Attack reinforces, in this second show in Brazil, the impression that it is not a band to be seen live. Because it features many important guests on its recordings, the replacement of vocalists and musicians in live shows makes the band seem to be doing covers of itself.
Furthermore, at the debut presentation on Monday night (09/24) at Via Funchal in São Paulo, the band took the stage minutes before midnight to play for about 1h30 for an audience that had already endured two hours of performances by DJs Nuts and Pedrinho Dubstrong. With that, the opening act ended up doing a longer show than the main attraction of the night.
The band led by Robert Del Naja based its repertoire on Massive Attack's last two albums, "Mezzanine", from 98, and "100th Window", from 2003, both with a denser and darker sound than the band's first two CDs, "Blue Lines", from 91, and "Protection", from 94. The live versions of more recent songs failed to reproduce the original atmospheres, and became dragged and tiring at times. Scottish singer Dot Allison, invited to replace the vocals of Elizabeth Fraser and Sinead O'Connor, also disappointed and failed to excite with her interpretations inferior to the originals.
The meticulous treatment the band achieves with its music using studio resources, a fundamental ingredient for Massive Attack's lyricism, is also missing in the show. In the most intense moments, the music sounds flat and unbalanced by the size of the performance hall.
Jamaican singer Horace Andy, who has worked with Massive Attack since the first album, was responsible for the best moments of the night, with "Angel", from "Mezzanine", songs recorded on disc by himself.
The live dub version of "Karmacoma", sung by Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall --who did not participate in the recordings of the last album--, and the hit "Unfinished Sympathy", from the group's debut album, also worked well.
The first time the group played here, in 98, its show was overshadowed by the lively presentation of the Germans from Kraftwerk, who played before Massive Attack in the same venue at the now-defunct Free Jazz Festival. With its more introspective and somber sound, the band failed to "convince" the audience --euphoric from the Germans' presentation-- to enter the melancholic mood of its songs. This time, the group also failed to make its show take off, hindered by the delay in taking the stage and by its nature as a studio band.
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Click here and watch Horace Andy live with "Skylarking".
Jamaican singer Horace Andy, who has worked with Massive Attack since the first album, was responsible for the best moments of the night, with "Angel", from "Mezzanine", songs recorded on disc by himself.
The live dub version of "Karmacoma", sung by Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall --who did not participate in the recordings of the last album--, and the hit "Unfinished Sympathy", from the group's debut album, also worked well.
The first time the group played here, in 98, its show was overshadowed by the lively presentation of the Germans from Kraftwerk, who played before Massive Attack in the same venue at the now-defunct Free Jazz Festival. With its more introspective and somber sound, the band failed to "convince" the audience --euphoric from the Germans' presentation-- to enter the melancholic mood of its songs. This time, the group also failed to make its show take off, hindered by the delay in taking the stage and by its nature as a studio band.
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Click here and watch Horace Andy live with "Skylarking".Category
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