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Re: MIA Discussion
Singer wins stand-off with security in triumphant festival set
MIA played a controversial Coachella set tonight (April 26), that saw a mid-gig stand off between the singer and the festival authorities.
Packing out the Sahara Tent, MIA - backed by a DJ and vocalist - attempted to orchestrate a stage invasion that nearly brought her show to an early close.
Ahead of 'Bird Flu', the singer called on the sweaty crowd, some of whom had climbed the marquee's rafters to get a better view, to join her.
"We want some people up here," declared the singer, who features prominently in the current Future 50 special issue of NME. "We want the leaders to come up here and support people coming up here."
On cue, nearly 50 people rushed the stage and danced while MIA delivered her vocals from the pit.
This move upset the tent's security, resulting stand off at the end of the song when the house lights were turned on as attempts were made to clear the invaders.
"Can we turn the fucking lights out?" she repeatedly asked, before explaining: "I want to go back to [warehouse rave scene of] London town in 1992, unless the lights go out I'm not getting on with the show!"
After a long delay the lights were finally dimmed to loud cheers, and half the crowd members left the stage as she got on with 'XR2'.
Despite the controversy, MIA was on top form, with the likes of 'Boys' and 'Galang' getting the capacity crowd pumped up.
As she reached her set's curfew, she announced, "We've got five minutes, I'm going to do two songs", but managed to pack in even more.
First she sang the chorus of The Verve's 'The Drugs Don't Work' deliberately out of tune, before tearing into a short version of 'Sunshowers'.
To rapturous applause, she introduced MC Afrikan Boy to provide guest vocals for a snippet of 'Hussel' before the pair reunited again for The Clash-sampling triumphant closer 'Paper Planes'.
"I'm sorry, I've got to go," explained MIA as she left the stage. "Enjoy your Saturday night."
MIA played:
'Bamboo Banga'
'Boys'
'Galang'
'Bird Flu'
'XR2'
'Sunshowers'
'Hussel'
'Paper Planes'
Re: MIA Discussion
Her performance at Coachella is getting extremely bad reviews. Only by fans so far, but when the media picks up on it, I'll post an article. The original article sounds like a spin job. "Deliberately" out of tune? Try shit faced drunk. No wonder her set was so short.
The "rapturous applause" was likely due to the fact that going by the altered songs in the setlist that it was going to be a short night for her.
I cant wait for footage of this to surface.
She was just an opener at Coachella. Whats she going to do if she pulls a stunt like this in a sold out club as the headliner filled with hardcores who have paid upwards of hundreds of dollars from scalpers to see her perform a killer show?
Not going to be pretty.
Cant wait for Frisco.
Re: MIA Discussion
She's turning into this generations version of Axl Rose. Never know what's gonna happen when she takes the stage, or even how long it will last.
M.I.A. Evokes Total Madness at Coachella
Ok, so yesterday i know I hit you all with an image of M.I.A. to tide you over (if that's possible), but here I am now to deliver all the real goods.
The crowds were headliner material. Why M.I.A. didn't secure a bill at a later time or on the Main Stage is a complete mystery to me. Some fans had been in the Sahara tent for 5 hours prior to the show to secure a good location, so the level of interest is very clear. I even must admit that I was the first photographer lined up to get in the pit. This is something I did for you'¦ mostly.
You could tell that the swarming masses were itching to get the show started. One single 'gun-cock' sound from 'Paper Planes' set the crowd berserk, chanting out for M.I.A. And this'¦ this is where I should have noticed that things may go in a bad direction. After that single auditory tease, I spotted two separate girls being pulled from the audience, exhausted from being crushed against the barricade. People were doing just about anything to get closer to the stage.
Gun-cock one. Gun-cock two. Blam! Blam! Blam! Away we go!
Blacklights burst on and the stage blazes into action. Dancers start throwing out horns into the audience and M.I.A. takes the stage like a futuristic peacock, trailing a plume of neon strands from her backside. Her energy rivals that of the entire crowd, each feeding off one another as she bursts into the first track from Kala, 'Bamboo Banger.' She shakes, stomps, and dances all over the stage while playing to every corner of the crowd. There's one thing she seems to be certain of, everyone is there for her and she knows just how to deliver.
As the first song dies down, I suddenly feel a wet hand clamor at my shirt, as it tries to pull the body attached to it out from the barricade behind me.
Where is this going? More pics? Jump!
Two friends are trying to push the girl over. She's terrified, crying, and makes it over the barricade, collapsing on the ground behind me--fainted. All around me the stage staff are busy with other people in the same situation. Not knowing what to do, I prop the girl up against the inside of the barricade, alert the staff, and continue shooting photos of the spectacle in front of me.
M.I.A. busts into 'Down River' and mid-track she takes out onto the amps that line both sides of the stage. Her presence pumps into the crowd, trumping any doubters that the multi-"album-of-the-year" artist doesn't deserve the moniker. Are there doubters still?
And then everything changes, again. M.I.A. invites the crowd up on stage. If I had thought that things were a little scary before, I had no idea to expect what happened next. While shooting off photo after photo, a fan actually stepped from the barricade, onto my back and up to the stage. Sounds almost graceful, felt really painful.
The bodies clamoring to the stage, crushing many, set off a chain of events that brought my own ethics into question: Do I continue taking pictures of an outstanding performance, or do I help the struggling staff?
It ended up as a little of both. In exchange for extra time up front (I didn't barter, it was understood), I pulled limp bodies from the audience and handed them off to other officials. Where I stood, all I saw were faces of peril and all the while my eyes continued to be drawn to the exuberant show on stage. I'd say it was with the utmost irony that, standing in that crowd, matched the tone of Kala to the T: The subject matter at hand is absolutely desperate, yet here we are at the biggest party of the year.
And there I was right in the middle of both sides.
Re: MIA Discussion
What was M.I.A. thinking?
On Saturday night, the Sahara tent witnessed one of the all time great meltdowns in rock history. Ashlee Simpson's SNL hoedown has nothing on MIA's Coachella debacle. Never has an artist with so much to gain slipped so far in one performance.
Don't get me wrong; I'm still a fan. MIA has given us two of the most exciting albums of this decade. She still has the potential to go down as a great voice of the third world in an age when global capitalism rules the roost. But, Saturday's performance compromised the quality and safety of this great festival and for this she has lost a great deal of credibility.
I was so looking forward to watching a coronation. MIA's 2006 Coachella performance was almost completely void of the charisma she often shows in her recordings. She needed this to go down right.
And it couldn't have gone done more wrong. Something wasn't quite right from the moment the overweight, bearded guy in the zoot suit (we assume her manager) started barking orders during the setup. "Roadrunner" got the party started. But was it really MIA's job to go to her station every time she wanted a new song? Isn't that the DJ's job?
After song 3, for some unknown reason, MIA stepped stage right and asked if someone from the crowd wanted to "come on stage". That tuned into some diatribe against security and how she wanted "people on stage". The fans on stage left took their cue and the floodgates were open. The next thing we knew there were about 40 people on stage and another 40 waiting standing to the side waiting for their chance. One more song was played with fans and stage dancing and groping. MIA's backup singer thought that maybe order could be miraculously restored by throwing horns to the audience. Of course this didn't work and only turned a dangerous situation into a dangerous, noisier situation.
The house lights then came on so that the stage could be cleared, which, to the credit of security, they did in about 3 minutes. Of course, there is no more surefire formula for killing a vibe then turning on house lights during a show. MIA hadn't a clue what to do next. So she retreated to her station and tried to start another track. That tape loop ran for about 8 minutes with MIA insisting that the lights be turned off. Meanwhile, a once enthused audience was becoming increasingly bored (some of us really wished we had picked Kraftwerk). The bearded manager guy came on stage and started shouting at some other guy, but the lights stayed on. Finally the lights went off and MIA finished her last songs bringing the total setlist to 6 1/2 tunes.
So what did we learn from all this? We already know MIA is a musical genius. Now we know she is a completely incompetent stage performer. Can she ever be a global superstar with a voice for the third world? Or should she just stick to writing jingles for car commercials.
source: Coachella.com
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