Setlist:

Review:

I didn’t imagine the gear and the formation I could see on stage going to a Massive Attack concert. Was it “all electronic”? How much singers will be there? I wasn’t disappointed discovering the stage before the arrival of the musicians. 2 drum kits! On the Right and left. 6 vocals microphones! Bass guitars, guitars and acoustic guitar on their stand, a square of keyboards and a DJ set. It was promising! The surround scene was magical, an outdoor in circle theatre in Carcassonne, a great medieval city at the sunset.

Daddy G and Yolanda Quarty voices joined together with this powerful rhythmic behind on the first track and here is my first thrill. There is a first distinct line with the singers, the sound mechanic grouped behind, and the lightshow on the back side. The singers succeed one by one when Daddy G and 3D aren’t in the front stage. So we see the appearance of a white angel with long hair, heels and a white guitar: Stephanie Dosen coming to sing “Tear Drops”. Everybody gets up, the track is cute, she is cute, but her voice is little weak on my own opinion. Horace Andy (Angel, Spying glass, Man next door’s voice): a real contrast between this (it seems) old reggae man with this jerky, quavering voice and the electronic – metal sound behind, amazing! But my prize is to the moving, soul, powerful voice of Yolanda Quarty.

The highlight of the show is “Inertia Creeps”. Two drummers, monster bass, waves of keyboards, distorted guitar riff, electronic sounds and Yolanda’s magic voice getting up crescendo to musical orgasm! The light show is of course part of the show. Most of the lights come from behind the musicians. There is this large railing screen surrounding covered with light pixels displaying a large scale of visuals: light paths, flashes, geometrical figures, giant or mini words, graphics, and so on. An innovative new light tool.

What else all in all about this band and this music. It’s for me the best when musicians can be so innovative mixing more influence than never (soul, electronic, hip hop, progressive rock, reggae, and more) creating a real new category. It’s very brave now days. It’s very courageous! And it’s so humble for all these musicians to take the risk to be just a part of a work of art, to be diluted in the collective.

Review by islandis from Last.FM dated 23rd July 2008

Additonal Notes:

N/A

Venue Info:

The official site for the Festival de la Cite is located here.

Pictures:

These photos were taken from the site http://ombresetlumieres.com. Click on the thumbnails below to view a larger image.