Setlist:

Review:

It seemed strange at first to see a band as groove-heavy as Massive Attack playing a theater like the Orpheum instead of a club. For all of its heaviness, however, the pioneering trip-hop act isn’t the easiest to dance to, and Sunday’s performance showcased a deep, rich concoction whose effect was more hypnotic than kinetic. The stage setup helped, with the band ensconced in fog and backlit behind a huge wall of moving lights. But Massive Attack’s music sufficed on its own, with drummers Damon Reece and Andrew Small pounding away in unison and Winston Blissett’s bass low and loud enough to be felt almost more than heard. The bulk of the set was given over to eight songs from 1998’s “Mezzanine,” and they had a palpable density, from the soundtrack-to-an-imaginary-spy-film “Black Milk” to the nearly space-rock “Angel,” which switched from portentous ticking to loud guitar.

With core member Grant Marshall sitting out the tour, leader Robert Del Naja proved a generous frontman willing to share the spotlight with three other singers. His vocals on the opening “False Flags” and “Inertia Creeps” were calm and sinister, leaving soulfulness to Horace Andy and Deborah Miller and ethereality to former Cocteau Twin Liz Fraser. Fraser struggled to gain a purchase on the delicate “Teardrop” but recovered nicely by the closing of “Group Four.” The others had no such problems, with Miller proving invaluable. Her breathy vocals on “Unfinished Sympathy” complemented the song’s foundation of nothing more than keyboards and percussion, and her duet with Andy on “Hymn of the Big Wheel” suggested Pink Floyd handing their cosmic probing entirely over to their gospel-influenced backing singers. Best of all was “Safe From Harm,” which juxtaposed the song’s heavy rumble and the lightboards’ listing of statistics from the Iraq war. It wasn’t clear whether the music added weight to the stats or vice versa. But as the song rose in one giant wash of sound, all that mattered was the bliss of sensory overload.

Review by Marc Hirsh from The Boston Globe dated 3rd October 2006

Additonal Notes:

This was the final date of the North American leg of the 2006 tour to not feature Daddy G, as he was away on paternity leave. He would return for the performances in New York two days later.

Venue Info:

The official site for the Orpheum Theater is located here.

Pictures:

These photos were taken by ScreamingSlave and skamhi. Click on the thumbnails below to view a larger image.

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