Every now and then you attend a gig that extends far beyond a live music event. Something clicks in the space between your ears and you feel you’ve been changed forever. For the several thousand in attendance, Massive Attack created one of those hyperbole-inducing, ultimately indescribable experiences.
Though whispers of Sinéad O’Connor lending home-ground vocals proved unfounded, the collective lacked nothing, with Horace Andy, Dot Allison and Deborah Miller joining 3D and Daddy G onstage. Massive Attack did what they do best – music that’s at once rich and airy, dark and beautiful, delicate and powerful. Enough has been said for their legacy to trip-hop or ‘the Bristol sound’ – call it what you will. What’s remarkable is how thoroughly compelling their early catelogue sounds today.
But what truly made the live experience was the spectacular visual backdrop. Apparently inspired by The Matrix and Japanese LED installation artist Tatsuo Miyajima, the huge visual display has become the trademark feature of the tour – a data barrage that features everything from messageboard postings and Irish weather forecasts to human DNA strands and statistics on national weapons expenditure.
Combined with music of unrivalled epic proportions, this was an audio-visual experience that was both captivating and overwhelming. The goosebump-inducing ‘Hymn Of The Big Wheel’ was accompanied by a ‘worldometer’ displaying realtime statistics on deforestation and car production, making it as poignant today as it was in 1991. These two hours were nothing short of mind-blowing. While many gigs are about escape, Massive Attack’s was very much grounded in reality – a scary yet important commentary on love and war and all things in between.