i am in front of stage watching The Young Fathers at Brixton Academy, they are captivating, they have their own sound and feel fresh, new. exciting. I’m in. I start to think they might be my new favourite band. I feel like a teenager again which is kinda fitting as I have been coming to this venue since I was an adolescent. Brixton is my musical mecca…just without the kneeling…although I have ended up on the floor of the mosh pit on several occasions and did find myself both on my knees and praying (that someone wouldn’t stomp on my head).
Despite my enthusiasm for the Y.F, I am here to see Massive Attack as is everyone else. I look around the crowd and can’t believe how young they are. M.A have been around for a long time but this is not just their old school die hards come to see them, this is the new generation of fans. It seems incredible that they have stayed relevant for so long but half way through their opening track ‘Battlebox’ I realise why…they sound like ‘now’. Their music pulsates with today’s vibrations – the audience connect as only they could to a voice that reflects the current chaotic & insane world that we live in.
As the visual LED system starts to reel off medicines and their costs and it is very clear from the beginning that M.A want us to think, not just feel. This is not just a sensory experience. They don’t just want our bodies moving, they want our minds too. In their 2nd track United Snakes we see flags interspersed between each other and corporate logos, their rapid interchangeability says it all.
We are not allowed to drift into escapism. M.A want us to stay on course. This show is not designed for us to escape the horrors of modern living but instead to reflect upon them. It is is intense and powerful. M.A have been collaborating with UVA (who create and design their light show) for years and it is a perfect symbiosis. The music and visuals hit you as if they are one entity and deliver an incredible sensory experience.
Whether it is from the barrage of Matrix style 0s & 1s cascading across the screens in “Futureproof” or the myriad of google searches on display during “Inertia Creeps”, we witness a perfect manifestation of what it is to live in the age of information overload. Intense, stimulating, overwhelming. This is not ‘light’ entertainment. The crowd know this. This is why we are here. Detractors of the band say they are too sombre, too serious, but we live in a world of endless froth, who needs more? There is enough meaningless shite out there. This is something else. This is eyes wide open. The world needs Massive right now. To remind us how apathy and avoidance are allowing all those with evil intention to continue unabated. What is extraordinary is that they manage to be political without being preachy which is a feat all in itself.
M.A do want you to have a good time, but they also want you to have a conscience. We currently live on a planet where there is just too much awful shit to ignore, we can’t keep pretending its not happening. This is their way to engage us, to get us angry, to make us act. Horace Andy performs an incredible rendition of “Girl I love you” to the backdrop of Giles Duley’s poignant photographs of refugees and the crisis world they inhabit. It has more impact than a 1000 news bulletins. We are reminded this ‘thing’ is not going away. We cannot just ignore it. We cannot just turn our backs on these people and bury ourselves in the trivialities of our own lives. If this all sounds too heavy for a gig, it isn’t. It is hard hitting but it does hit the spot. The crowd cheer. They are absolutely in support. I also saw them perform this gig in Copenhagen a couple of days later and it takes on even more resonance in Denmark with the recent invasive laws they have passed regarding refugees.
(anyone speak danish?)
The band themselves sound incredible. Even though they have built their reputation on producing seminal album after seminal album (this is a music review btw so I have to say ‘seminal’ at least once, so I thought I’d chuck a couple in and get it out of the way) it is in fact their live act which has developed so much over the years and they now produce a musical intensity that is truly arresting.
From slow grooves that creep up on you and lure you in to powerhouse crescendos that take the roof off, you are utterly absorbed. I can feel the bass beat deep inside my chest, reverberating through my heart, pumping it in time to a new beat.
And yet, despite their status as one of the biggest bands in the country this is not about the band. There is no showboating. This is not ‘look at me’ music designed for adulation. They remain largely hidden in the shadows, acting as a soundtrack to the experience they are delivering. It is their guest vocalists who are all given the spotlight. This is clearly how they want it, especially 3d, aka Robert Del Naja, who quietly orchestrates everything they are and do with very little fanfare. I actually saw them perform a live soundtrack to an Adam Curtis film which they performed behind a bank of projector screens, completely unseen and maybe that was ideal for this slightly reluctant super group.
But M.A is more than just a band. It is very much a collaboration. A working collective guided by the gentle hand of Del Naja. Martina Topley Bird, a long term collaborator sings on several tracks, her heavenly voice swirling through the crowd and lifting us up, especially on ‘Teardrop’ which culminates in her hitting a note accompanied by an explosion of light so full on it creates an impromptu burst of applause from everyone present and literally makes your hair stand up on end.
The aforementioned Horace Andy, the coolest OAP ever, is introduced by Daddy G as having ‘one of the best voices on the planet’ & indeed kills it on ‘Angel’, raising the intensity even further . Azekel sings on new track Ritual Spirit and his voice is truly beautiful. Deborah Miller, another powerhouse vocalist sings “Safe from Harm” with so much feeling you cannot help be moved as the LED lists off religious shrines and relics that have been destroyed by ISIS.
They come back on after the encore with ‘Take it there’, also off their new EP and its a glorious haunting song, digging its claws deep into you. After the anger and frustration channeled into the bulk of the set they return with this vision of hope. A way we can work together to make the world as good as it could be. Through compassion and co-operation, we can be so much better. M.A , a unit of talented individuals who all work together to create something greater, are a shining example of this.
This is followed by two tracks featuring The Young Fathers who are welcomed onto stage as if Massive are indeed their proud fathers. This is what they do. They nuture & foster talent. And it has to be said, Y.F & M.A are a great fit together and both “Voodoo in my blood” & “He needs me” are stunning songs with a big impact. And then I realise that they have basically played three new tracks as their encore. No-one does that. Ever. It is bold but they have confidence in their new material and rightly so. What is amazing about their set is that all their music, whenever it was created, both new and old, all blend seamlessly together. It all feels like one thing which is astounding considering they have been recording since the 90s but yet it is not a sound that has stagnated. It has evolved and progressed and is still doing so. And hopefully it will continue for many years to come.
The gig ends with a plea to donate to the refugee crisis via UNHCR with more evocative images from Giles Duley. It is not a downer. The crowd roar in support. We have been galvanised. The message on screen states: We must remember. We must act….and we will. If you want to do so you can donate by clicking on this link.
As we walked back to the tube after the gig we stop to pay our respects at the Bowie memorial. From one great british institution to the next. In Bowie’s absence we will need Massive more than ever to help guide us towards what is right. What is necessary. And to blow the shit off the roof.
(if anyone wants to see some more pics of the band here is a gallery from the gig they did to 80,000 people in Paris last year – please click here)