In the light of recent events, the general sound of Massive Attack and given frontman Robert “3-D” del Naja’s well-publicised anti-war stance, this performance was always going to be a little “out of the ordinary”. Ultimately, I suppose, it was kind of half gig, half political statement, in the form of a huge v-flick at current British and American foreign policy and all that’s artificial about the world we live in. All of the above, plus the just-plain-boring nature of their latest album, "100th Window", as being promoted by the similarly-named world tour, which ends in Italy in June 2003, meant that this was never going to be an out-and-out wild party, but that’s arguably fair enough. Still something of a pity, though, because the hugely impressive light show, coupled with the atmosphere inside this new venue, a refitted theatre, meant that a great opportunity to put the disappointment of "100th Window"s release behind them was mostly lost, but I suspect that del Naja had his mind on other things.
As a huge fan of Massive Attack, it pains me not to be able to heap endless praise on this gig. But it wasn’t all bad. Some of it was just fantastic. The tone was set with a well-observed minute’s silence for the victims of the Iraq war, but this promising start was followed with what I can only assume were three tracks from the largely un-memorable "100th Window". Better things would surely come our way, (although not in the form of this track, or, unfortunately, any other from the pure brilliance that is Protection), and so it was to prove. Into the fray came ‘Inertia Creeps’, ‘Risingson’ and the excellent hit single ‘Teardrop’, all from the somewhat better but apparently a sign of things to come album, 1998’s "Mezzanine".
Then it peaked. And what a peak!! First came ‘Hymn Of The Big Wheel’, a truly amazing song in it’s own right, but then, oh bliss, an incredible rendition of the stunningly beautiful and poignant ‘Safe From Harm’ (both from 1991’s outing "Blue Lines"). I couldn’t say for certain who was on vocals for this one but it sounded and looked a lot like Shara Nelson, who can be heard singing it on the album. In any case, it was truly heart stopping and almost tear-jerking stuff, made all the more effective by the graphics on the huge dot-matrix lightboard suspended above the stage.
This was a story in itself, with its displays of, among other things, the precise latitude and longitude of Glasgow, presumably so that anyone who wanted to drop a bomb on the city would be able to find it without too much difficulty. Throughout the night, we were also given figures on cumulative world consumption of oil and coal since the beginning of this year, topsoil erosion caused by farming, and figures on deforestation, cigarettes produced, computers and automobiles sold, heartbeats beaten and breaths taken. Some of it had the thought-provoking effect it was meant to have. Some of it merely demonstrated the need for someone to get out more, but the overall effect was a good one and it marked Massive Attack out from the crowd in a way that "100th Window" itself didn’t.
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It is difficult to recall clearly exactly what happened after ‘Safe From Harm’ was played; such was the effect it had on me. I seem to remember the feeling being spoilt slightly by the playing of the rather turgid title track from "Mezzanine". But let’s not miss the point Massive Attack were trying to make here. Whilst there is much to be lauded and admired about the world we live in, it’s continued destruction cannot go on forever and certain sections of the human race attempting to bomb the hell out of one another is not going to help. Del Naja and assembled company (“Daddy G” Marshall having also been brought back on board for the tour) made their point extremely well but never lost sight of the need for a spot of light relief, and relieved the crowd were indeed when given a well-taken opportunity to go nuts to a fine encore performance of ‘Unfinished Sympathy’.
Overall, it was very, very good. It worked. The point was made and fun was had. I did not come away feeling as though I had wasted my money. Yes, there were dull bits but there were two or three astonishing performances, which really glued the evening together. All that was missing was a stage presence and, as has already been said, a decent album to promote. But it could have been worse. It could have been far, far worse.
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