Lucky Deepest Crazy Chances

Massive Attack @ Roseland Ballroom 10/3/2006
False Flags / Risingson / Black Milk / The Man Next Door / Karmacoma / Butterfly Caught / Hymn of the Big Wheel / Mezzanine / Teardrop / Angel / Future Proof / Safe From Harm // Inertia Creeps / Unfinished Sympathy / Group Four

Massive Attack “Safe From Harm” – Massive Attack’s music is basically a utilitarian thing. They are exceptionally gifted at writing dark, cinematic mood music and they don’t muck about, providing a consistent vibe throughout both individual tracks and entire albums. They seem to have deliberately created a body of work that makes the most sense when played in the background, and so it’s actually sort of strange that they tour at all, given what is normally required to be a compelling live act. After all, what comes off as atmosphere on home speakers often translates as a shapeless dirge in a concert hall.

The group performs as revue, shuffling vocalists (Horace Andy, Elizabeth Fraser, Deborah Miller, etc) on and off stage when they are required, and largely abdicated the visual component of the concert to the lighting while the performers stood in the shadows. As is common of producer-driven UK music, the band was comprised of sharp session players who recreated the sound of the original recordings with cold precision, and looked a little like Blue Men whenever they were bathed in indigo light.

The audience never really seemed to know what to do with the music as it was being performed, and frankly I’m at a bit of a loss for suggestions. The songs from the Mezzanine album in particular have been licensed to death, and the general sound of their catalog has been so thoroughly colonized by film and advertising that it’s hard to listen to many of the songs without those associations lingering in your mind. In addition to that, Mezzanine is sort of notorious for being a stock answer to the “what music puts you in the mood” question in internet personal ads, but there appeared to be a radical disconnect between the practical usage of those songs in urban bedrooms and the not particularly sexual (or even physical) response of the audience at Roseland. It was especially strange when the group performed their biggest American hit “Teardrop” to a room of people who clearly wanted to show some sort of appreciation, but couldn’t figure out an appropriate expression and fell silent after the first minute and a half of random shouts, awkward clapping, and aborted attempts at singing along. Things worked out much better when they came closer to the dynamics of a rock band on “Angel” and “Safe From Harm,” both of which came out sounding like the live version of U2’s “Bullet The Blue Sky” slowed down and twisted into a creepy variation on Quiet Storm slow jams.

“Safe From Harm” was the clear highlight of the show, and made for a sharp contrast with the rest of the main set with Deborah Miller’s warm, emphatic vocals and an extended instrumental section that demanded more attention than the other dramatic musical gestures of the evening. Miller returned in the encore for “Unfinished Sympathy,” which was also quite good and provided a greater sense of movement than the rest of the low BPM selections from the night. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Also: My friends in Au Revoir Simone will be touring in Europe through the end of the year, but are in search of places to stay while they tour the UK. If you can offer them accomodations — it’s just the three girls, all of whom are very sweet and well-behaved — they will happily get you into their shows for free (they are playing on bills with We Are Scientists) and show you quite a bit of gratitude. The only catch is that they cannot stay anywhere with cats. They need help with the following dates:

Oct 20 Norwich UEA
Oct 21 Sheffield Octagon
Oct 22 Manchester Apollo
Oct 23 Leeds University
Oct 24 Newcastle Academy
Oct 25 Aberdeen Music Hall
Oct 26 Glasgow Academy
Oct 28 Belfast Mandela Hall
Oct 29 Galway Roisin Dub
Oct 30 Dublin Ambassador
Nov 1 Cardiff University
Nov 2 Reading Hexagon
Nov 3 Birmingham Academy
Nov 4 Nottingham Rock City
Nov 5 Bristol Academy
Nov 6 Exeter University
Nov 7 Southampton Guildhall

If you can help them, please email: info @ aurevoirsimone.com

They will also be playing a show at the Mercury Lounge in New York City on Sunday night, but obviously won’t need a hand with that since it’s a hometown gig.