The first and to date only time I have seen Massive Attack live in concert, Monday 2nd August 2004 at Canon's Marsh Ampitheatre in Bristol city centre. There's a good, contrasting pair of contemporary reviews and photos on the Red Lines website. I probably lean towards the latter: to be honest, I found the setting a bit soulless; the atmosphere felt like a crowd heavy with people wanting to look cool and say that they were there, rather than actually being there for the music and experience. The gig itself, what I can remember, was okay. Reviews of the 'homecoming gig' at Queen's Square the previous year was described as celebratory; this felt more like hard work at times.
The setlist is also surprising in that it pretty much ignores then-current 100th Window, which had been released 18 months previously, with only one selection - album opener Future Proof - making an appearance as the last song of the show. Instead, the set is more heavily weighted towards previous album Mezzanine, with a smattering of songs from Blue Lines and Protection. Horace Andy was there, along with Dot Allison and, apparently for the 2004 tour only, Hazel Fernandez. Sadly, no Elizabeth Fraser, although she eventually joined Massive Attack for their 20th anniversary Mezzanine tour in 2018.
The concert also yielded a new song, Speed Of Dark, which as far as I can tell was used in a Lucozade TV advert but has otherwise remained unreleased. I've only been able to find a contemporary live version from Massive Attack's appearance at the Via Funchal Festival in Brazil on YouTube, itself only a 3 minute segment, so I was tempted to leave it off this selection. In the interests of completeness, I've left it in, with apologies for the abrupt segueway into the next song.
As a playlist, and notwithstanding the paucity of 100th Window songs, the concert makes for a satisfying selection. A shame that I don't have happier memories of the gig itself.
1) Angel (Album Version) (ft. Horace Andy) (1998)
2) Risingson (Album Version) (1997)
3) Black Melt (Version of Black Milk) (ft. Elizabeth Fraser) (1998)
4) Spying Glass (Album Version) (ft. Horace Andy) (1994)
5) Karmacoma (Album Version) (ft. Tricky) (1994)
6) Speed Of Dark (Live @ Via Funchal Festival, São Paulo, Brazil, 25 May 2004) (ft. Dot Allison) (excerpt) (2004)
7) Teardrop (Album Version) (ft. Elizabeth Fraser) (1998)
8) Mezzanine (Album Version) (1998)
9) Hymn Of The Big Wheel (Album Version) (ft. Horace Andy, Mikey General & Neneh Cherry) (1991)
10) Safe From Harm (Album Version) (ft. Shara Nelson) (1991)
11) Inertia Creeps (Album Version) (1998)
12) Unfinished Sympathy (Album Version) (ft. Shara Nelson) (1991)
13) Future Proof (2003)
I also felt the same about the most recent tour when they played Filton Airfield. Strange song selection (Rockwrok by Ultravox anyone?) and a feeling that they were trying to make a statement rather than entertain. A lot of people told me about the previous Queen Square gig that you refer to and I wish I'd been at that one instead....
ReplyDeleteI was tempted to go, if only to see Elizabeth Fraser perform with them, but the 2004 experience put me off slightly. Personally, I'm a sucker for smaller scale gigs and venues: seeing Smith & Mighty at the Trinity, for example, beat Massive Attack hands down...and they were only the support act for Lamb!
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