Review: Hello? This Is M.I.A.!

I'm only today done with my last final, but that didn't stop me from going into the city to see M.I.A. last night. I had heard different things about her live, so I wasn't too sure what to expect. Thankfully, my friends and I were in for a high-octane marathon of a show. The venue itself, the Concourse at the SF Design Center, was definitely not made for this kind of concert. Basically a huge open warehouse layout, the place had no ventilation or crowd control of any kind, meaning that the audience was nothing but an overheated, shoving mass of out-of-control underagers (the ceiling was literally dripping sweat!). After waiting in the inferno for what seemed like forever (or two hours), M.I.A. at last came out to start the show, preceded by an outrageously fun Oakland girl trio called Hot Tub and her excellent tour DJ Bun B. The thumping bass of "Bamboo Banga" announced her entrance in style after a funny (but overlong) political speech spoof played on the video screens. With loud siren calls and some of the best beats I've heard live, the show got off to an awesome start. The momentum didn't stop for a few songs, notable among them Kala track "XR2" and "$20." Things got a bit less impressive midway through, when her invitation to bring audience members on stage distracted somewhat from the music. Ironically, the girls on stage added to the show and made for awesome live versions of "Jimmy" and "10 Dollar," but the next round of stage invaders, the boys, kind of bogged down "Boyz" with their lesser enthusiasm. After kicking them back into the crowd, she regained focus and brought the house down with favorites like "Galang." She saved perhaps her most popular track for the final encore, though. "Paper Planes," in a drawn-out and highly energetic performance, was worth the admission price alone and capped off a very exciting show. The only real problem, which persisted throughout, was that her voice was sometimes buried in the mix. While I'll be the last one to ask for lower volume anywhere, the bass and backing track were just too overpowering in a lot of instances, often making her lyrics and even the beats themselves blend together (which is hard to do for such a distinctive artist like M.I.A.!). Of course, the venue's poor acoustics probably had a lot to do with it, but despite the sound imbalance, the concert was remarkable. M.I.A.'s energy and charisma are undeniable, and her passion is evident and contagious live. She's definitely someone I'd recommend seeing (as long as it isn't at the Concourse, of course!), and it will be very interesting to see her again a few years down the line when she has more material under her belt and has developed her live persona a bit more fully.

Concert Highlights:
"Bamboo Banga" [YSI] (from Kala)
"XR2" [YSI] (from Kala)
"Paper Planes" [YSI] (from Kala)
"10 Dollar" [YSI] (from Arular)
"Galang"/"M.I.A." (Hidden Track) [YSI] (from Arular)

***Note: Links removed***

Save to del.icio.us!