Massive Attack concert at Forest National / Vorst Nationaal in Brussels, Belgium
Fri, 05 Jun 1998

Mixed feelings at Massive Attack
by Bart VANDORMAEL – (Brussels gig MA 1998 june 05)
Strange it is, that people fall en masse for Massive Attack's dark,claustrophobic and ominous trip-hop kIanken. With every record they release, the Brits gain in popularity. On Friday night, they actually got to perform at a completely packed Forest Nationaal1 in Brussels. Massive Attack is first and foremost a studio group, not a live band. That became quickly clear during the English trip-hoppers' concert at Forest Friday night. The ominous atmosphere that hangs over their latest album Mezzannine, they almost never managed to generate on the big stage. Not that they were often at fault or nonchalant in their performances. If you listen carefully to the CD and then think for a moment, you will realise that this delicate sound mix is impossible to reproduce in a hall the size of Forest National.Massive Attack's strength is the use of all kinds of subtle and distorted sounds in between or on top of the slow beats. Live, however, those sounds never come into their own: either they drown in the overall sound, or they are blown up and the original effect disappears.A difficult explanation, just to say that the concert almost had to lead to mixed feelings. In all fairness, when the atmosphere did feel right, like in the old Safe from harm, we immediately felt a shiver down our spine. And also nothing but good things about reggae singer Horace Andy, regular guest on Massive Attack's CDs and also on tour. He opened beautifully with Angels and was behind the microphone for almost half the songs.Elisabeth Fraser, known from the Cocteau Twins, was also present, of course primarily to sing the hit single Teardrop. Which, by the way, she did much less convincingly than on the CD, due to unsteady voice and perhaps a bit overwhelmed by the huge public turnout.Rapper Robert Del Naja (3D) sounds in songs like Risingson like an assassin whispering angelic things in your ear, when you saw him on stage, however, the tension and suspense was gone.And so we end up back at the beginning of the review. Musically, everything the Englishmen brought was right, but one of their strongest assets was impossible to play live: the gift of penetrating the darkest regions of the listener's soul. (added 27 aug. 2023 by me)