I cannot draw from any other word
to describe the sheer intensity
and manic excitement of his live performance
last night at the Hammerstein Ballroom
in the Manhattan Center, NYC.
The opening act was some DJ,
I didn't catch the name
nor most of the set
since I was waiting for a tardy friend
in the front of the concert hall
(that's you, Bruce, ahem).
But what I did catch seemed to be good.
It was some sort of jungly beat mixture,
the stage was darkened
with a dusky blue spotlight on the mixing table.
The crowd was revved up for Tricky tho'.
There were chants of his name going around
the hall before the
enlightened saviour
appeared on stage.
He was dressed simply,
in a white tee and black pants.
I couldn't really tell,
but it looked as if he had shaved off his hair.
Martine Topley-Bird and another female vocalist
rounded out the trio of singers on stage.
I couldn't tell you the songs he sang
from his newest album, Angels with Dirty Faces
(Island Records, 1998),
since I am not as familiar with his new work.
But he did a lot of sets from the one
from last year, Pre-Millennium Tension
(Island, 1996),
including Christian Sands, Bad Dream,
Makes Me Wanna Die, and (I think)
Lyrics of Fury.
I was surprised that he didn't do
Tricky Kid or Ghetto Youth.
He did a few tracks from
Maxinquaye, including his version of
Karma Coma.
And a couple from Nearly God.
I was disappointed that he didn't do
Black Coffee, since Martine was there.
For the most part,
Tricky had his back to the audience,
Miles Davis style.
He twitched around like a spastic,
autistic child,
forever doodling with the amps
or adjusting the mic.
At a few points,
a stage hand had to intervene
and pull the stand away from his
neurotic spasms.
He was like a fly
who had his wings pulled off.
Spasmodically buzzing around the stage,
like a wasp.
He came back for an encore and
roused the audience
with something from the new album
(again I dunno the title).
It was an incredible performance.
Stupified, the audience expected more.
There was general milling around after the encore,
people just didn't want to leave.
Flyers were being passed out
for the Planet V happening with Roni Size
at Twilo on Thursday, July 30th.
And the Massive Attack concert
on Saturday, September 12th
at the Manhattan Center
(I think tickets go on sale today).
Guess where I'll be on those two nights...
Keep on truckin',
_Yvonne_
==
" A naked lunch is natural to us,
we eat reality sandwiches.
But allegories are so much lettuce.
Don't hide the madness. "
-- Allen Ginsburg (1954)
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