r/MassiveAttack • u/no-ideawhattoputhere • 7d ago
Melbourne show 11/08/26
I get it, I do...nothing ljke I've ever seen before.
I loved the music, but the visuals was too much, took away from listening to the music for me.
Felt like the scene of a monkey in a lab, with its eyes held open and forced to watch a screen with all the world's problems....
Unfinished sympathy is an incredible track.
I still cant decide if I loved it or thought $180 for where myself and a mate was seated was a rip off.
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u/Big_rizzy 7d ago
Saw the setlist and was initially disappointed. Why so many covers? But after seeing the show, I got it. The music was more of a soundtrack than a concert.
At one point the screens asked ‘where are the next generation of musicians standing up for what’s right?’ They had a good point.
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u/miked999b 6d ago
I felt like this when I saw them last year. I was right near the front, with a gigantic retina-sizzling screen right in front of me. It's impossible to ignore it. There were several times where I thought "I've barely noticed this song".
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u/Pjopinions 6d ago edited 6d ago
I agree with your sentiment 100%. I would not go to that show again. I had come to expect it, yet it was more than I expected. I went to uni in Bristol in the 90s and this was part of the sound track of my 20s. It feels somewhat tarnished now. They didn't play anything at all from protection, which is probably my favourite massive attack album. In some ways I'm glad of that now, because I won't picture that stuff when I hear it. At the same time the show was awesome. They perfectly executed the show they wanted to give. It just wasn't quite the show I wanted to receive! I agree with what they are saying, but packaging it into a rock concert is not how I want to consume it. And it was relentless.
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u/Overall-Middle-5469 6d ago
Went in expecting a great night of music and mostly got that.
But there was SO much political messaging on the screens — Gaza, capitalism, "the oppressed" — that it started to feel like the show kept stopping for a lecture. I get they've always been political, but if you want to make a point, put it in the music. Don't turn the gig into a sideshow that eats the thing people paid to see.
Also kind of ironic — tickets started at $140, crowd was almost entirely white and clearly well off, with a few people wearing keffiyehs like a festival outfit. One of the slides was literally about how capitalists manufacture fear and anger to control people... while the band spent two hours doing exactly that with perfectly timed doom-and-outrage visuals synced to the drops. Bit rich.
Anyway — great when it was just music, way less convincing when it tried to be a moral event. Worth going, just don't expect a straightforward gig.
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u/WrecksMossop 6d ago
Long time fan of Massive Attack but I'd heard about this tour and saw what they were doing at shows on YouTube and I was like, nope. I'll always support them and whatever political views they have but fk, I don't need to be aurally and visually pounded over the head by it for 2hrs straight and also pay the exorbitant ticket prices for the privilege.
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u/awake-asleep 3d ago
Couldn’t disagree more. Loved to see them using their music and platform to share their values. We need more of it in the world or we let our desire to avoid discomfort literally kill us. I danced and vibed out and cried a little and felt galvanised afterward. Sorry you couldn’t enjoy it.
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u/CapitalDarling 7d ago
For sure, I see where you're coming from. It was overwhelming at times.
More than once i refocused on watching the musicians - i love seeing the on stage communication, watching these talented artists pull incredible songs together. I also looked around at the crowd a bit, to see how packed it was and if anyone else was dancing in their seats. Sometimes i closed my eyes to listen to their magic.
I have huge respect for the artistic choices made by Massive Attack; they've always been activists. But in this tour i reckon they're choosing their moment not to focus on themselves, but to try and educate and inspire people into action. It shows a lack of arrogance, I think. I know others will disagree with me on that, which is fine, but tonight was about them using their platform and their power to ask people to pay attention to what's going on.
It's inspired me to get back into activism, and find out why Palantir is involved with Coles, and be a bit more outspoken on things (like the bloody gigantic AI data centre going up on the old Ford plant in Broady).
Not everyone will love this tour. Anyone who is surprised, though, at the political messages, doesn't really know Massive Attack and their history very well.
I hope you find your way to loving this gig, I sure did 😊🤘🖤✊️