[...music...]: massive attack + thievery corporation @ bell centre

2010-10-20

massive attack + thievery corporation @ bell centre

the show was on monday evening. i went with some friends: roxanne, fil, christophe. the stage was placed at mid-arena, and we had seats in section 116; good view.

first act of this double bill was thievery corporation. i had heard of this band's name, but the only music i'd heard from them was a clip of "thievery blonde", a track i think they played that night.

their music is a mix of electro with world music. it was nice, very lounge.

my favourite track was near the end, before the encore, when the stage was completely bathed in red light. after some searching, i found a youtube user who uploaded some great videos of the show. turns out the song was "sound the alarm".

video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kDcU_p8ujQ

i was there for the main headliners, massive attack. "mezzanine" is my favourite album of theirs, and i told myself before the show that i'd happy if anything from that album gets played.

the stage atmosphere was eerie throughout their set: the stage was dark most of the time, lots of smoke, the occasional spooky light effects, and a led screen in the background with lots of writing. i thought the visual effects were well done to keep the audience entertained.

except for the writing on the led screen. at first, it was random phrases (in french!), which was alright. but during "girl i love you", the content became socio-economic, using numbers to contrast between the living conditions of an industrialized country and that of a developing nation, etc. i appreciate a band with strong politics and a message to say; but at that moment, i felt a bit too uneasy to rock out during a song while i am reminded that there are people in the world with little access to drinkable water and their annual salary is minimal.

my favourite part of the show started with white lights illuminating streams of smoke; very ghostly. when the song started, i didn't recognize it until martina topley-bird started singing: it was "teardrop"! squee momment for me. this song was followed by "angel". another squee moment. finally, this was followed by "inertia creeps". this trio of songs, performed live, was the highlight of the show, for me. (during "inertia creeps", the led screen displayed news headlines, in french. a bit sensational, like the stuff you'd see on journal the montreal...)

the same youtube user has some great videos of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqpkTKtlzy8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0_Ccz1RVIs

people have been putting together the setlist on setlist.fm. but as of this moment, i feel that it is not the most accurate; i am pretty sure there were some other songs between "mezzanine" and "teardrop". i'll wait a few days to see if it gets updated.

the encore was pretty epic. the last couple of songs had some long instrumental jams. robert del naja danced like in a trance.

it was quite a show.

~~~

Labels: bell centre, massive attack, shows, thievery corporation