I'm going to geek out a bit in this post. If you're not familiar with Massive Attack's Mezzanine album, this might not mean a lot to you.
I just got back from seeing one of my favorite bands playing songs from my favorite album. It's been 21 years since Mezzanine was released and Massive Attack is touring playing songs from the album, along with covers of some songs that were sampled on the album.
This was my first time seeing them live, and I was impressed. They're known for bringing sonic complexity in the studio, so I wasn't sure how that would translate to a live show. While not nearly as intricate as the recordings out of necessity, they were still very good at first slowly building, then eventually unleashing a wall of sound, before unpacking it all again. Add to that the visual aspect of the show and it was sometimes verging on overwhelming. Definitely a great show.
The Masonic Temple is a Detroit institution, and it was great seeing them in such a historic location. I took lots of pictures, but none of them really came out. But here's a bit of what the inside looks like.
All my favorites from Mezzanine were there. Teardrop sounded great, as did Angel. Man Next Door is my least favorite song on the album, but it sounded way better live for some reason. The arrangements on Black Milk and Inertia Creeps left out some of the best parts, but I guess you can't have everything.
One of the best things about the show was that Horace Andy and Liz Fraser were actually there in person! And they both sounded really good, despite it being 20 years since they originally recorded their respective songs for the album.
Overall it was a great show and a once in a lifetime opportunity that I'm glad I had the chance to experience.
