Monday, October 5, 1998
Massive Attack subdues, satiates ravenous audience
MUSIC: Lackluster dj openers make it easy for trip-hop band to
thrill crowd at Palladium
By Louise Chu
Daily Bruin Staff
The masters of trip-hop graced the sold-out Palladium with a
rare appearance on Sept. 27 – but not without pushing fans to the
peak of anticipation.
For two-and-a-half hours, the elusive trio tossed out a
half-hearted dj to occupy the hungry crowd. Subjected to a bland
mix of tracks at elevator-music volume, they appropriately booed DJ
Lewis Parker off the stage as the 6:30 p.m. show hit the 9 p.m.
mark. While the heightened impatience could have presented a rabid
audience to the premiere performers, the excruciating wait induced
a lethargic stupor that took several Attack classics to cure.
But once 3D (Robert Del Naja), Mushroom (Andrew Vowles), Daddy G
(Grant Marshall) and their entourage of guest performers took the
stage, the throng of 4,000-plus were quick to forgive their
tardiness.
Opening with the mystical "Angel" off their latest album
"Mezzanine," the group stirred the crowd, who was grateful to hear
anything with a good beat. It wasn’t until 3D and Daddy G
approached the mics for "Risingson" that Massive Attack launched
into full force with a brain-thumping bass and a deep, heavy-handed
pulse.
Unaffected by the maniacal beat, Daddy G and 3D walked the stage
with an apathetic coolness, their poetically unintelligible murmurs
underlining each song.
Reggae singer Horace Andy, who started the show with "Angel,"
lent his voice to several other pieces. An unofficial Massive
Attack-er, Andy has contributed to a couple albums, including
"Mezzanine" and 1994’s "Protection." His presence added an older
and mellower flavor in contrast to the chaos of the rest of the
show, but Andy was embraced by hard-core fans who recognized his
trademark sound.
The centerpiece of the show, however, was the lone woman on the
crowded stage. Deborah Miller’s feminine flourishes sliced through
the thick air, soothing fans with her mezzo-soprano sweetness. She
quickly proved an incredible performer and outstanding replacement
for the absent female vocalists from "Mezzanine," Elizabeth Frazer
and Sara Jay.
Miller’s rich voice enveloped each breath of the hollow
"Teardrop" and entertained with her ethereal stage presence even
when not offering her voice.
Massive Attack’s low-key recorded work belies the jarring
intensity of their live show. Their mind-melting trip-hop morphs
into a mind-crushing industrial sound that still found an avid ear
in unsuspecting ticketholders. Fans were visually treated to a
packed stage blazing with a rainbow of light beams. The pounding
drums and an overpowering bass left little room in the head to
breathe, let alone think. But the audience drank in every
earth-shaking moment.
Only performing for a short but unforgettable hour and a half,
they graciously concluded their North American tour with a
grandiose double-encore, exuding as much energy and excitement as
in earlier acts.
The band closed with a climactic guitar and drum set, in which
the instruments built to a crescendo of musical brilliance that
seeped into every pore of the room and left the crowd craving the
next Attack.
Virgin Records
(Left to right) Andrew Vowles, Robert del Naja and Grant
Marshall make up the trip-hop band Massive Attack who finished up
their North American tour in Los Angeles on Sept. 27.
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© 1998 ASUCLA Communications Board