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May 23, 2008
M.I.A, Live @ Fillmore, Denver 05.17.08
[Photos by Merry Swankster]
M.I.A.'s fiery political persuasions are threaded into every fiber of her being. This is after all, an artist whose debut full length was teased by a mixtape called Piracy Funds Terrorism. Her second album Kala (our consensus runner up to best album of 2007), was as accidental in its globetrotting outcome as it was charged with a loose narrative of being barred from America by paranoid officials. Though never all that angry, Kala's first track, and Fillmore show opener "Bamboo Banger", does find a tenacious and unshakable "M.I.A. coming back with power power".
The unintended consequence of her access denial yielded an exotic effort fostered by global collaborators when planned sessions with Timbaland got sidetracked - an eventual associate that ended limited to one song, arguably the weakest track on Kala - as well as further fueling, and actually justifying M.I.A.'s distrust of officialdom. That Timbaland song was regulated to the tail end of the album and unsurprisingly not where it belongs as a b-side due to the hundreds of thousands of dollars it conceivably cost in producer fees.
M.I.A. (featuring Timbaland) - "Come Around"
However, the biggest difference between the political comportment of M.I.A.'s lyrics and her performance conduct, is she never underestimates what her audience's motivations are. Which, I can safely say from experience, is to throw down heavy to her voracious body of beats. The energetic and colorful Fillmore crowd didn't care about her Tamil Tiger father, or bother thinking intellectually on the true meaning of "Paper Planes"'s gunshot chorus. When music is this unconventionally irresistible, the presented package is enough to sweep you into her patented brand of revolutionary rhythm.
In other words, the jadedness, idealism, or third world realities don't matter a lick when a show is this much fun. Easily the most fun I've had at a show in Denver this year, hands down. Looking at the faces of the people on stage dancing with their hero (of the night) and nobody can disagree. It was truly an unstoppable display of people power. Much to the dismay of Fillmore security and the Denver police for sure. For the record it didn't look nearly as sketchy as whatever went down at Coachella, but regardless I'm pretty sure M.I.A. could care less about ruffling the feathers of venue staff more interested in a neat, tightly controlled show.
That's something I've been slow to realize myself and something that for M.I.A. seems like an impossibility, risk assessment be damned. Revolution in its truest sense may not always be practical, required, or prudent, but if the aspects of stripping control from the administers of order is the principle undercurrent fueling the fun of even small scale chaos, then that is the least she can bring to the table. Or in this case, the stage. It was pure craziness. And it was awesome.
Bonus points go to M.I.A. for the crowd baiting creative twist to the oft-heard comments from artists suffering the effects of Denver's elevation. "Denver Colorado! Every performer that plays here is out of breath. So we'll have to try that much harder! Is that ok?"
Posted by Merry Swankster at May 23, 2008 11:37 AM
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Comments
A vague reference to the PLO in a sea of vapid lyrics doesn't make her a political artist/activist.
Posted by: x at May 23, 2008 02:54 PM
Thats right, her "work" her makes her a political artist/activist. Activism is in her blood. Like she's gonna come out and tell all ya'll suckas all the shit that and her family/friends do. Do you know how many governments are watching her???
Do your research son, before you get put on blast, hold up, you just did.
Posted by: Anonymous at May 23, 2008 03:16 PM
I dunno, I think there's geopolitical insight all over Kala that goes far beyond the reference in "Sunshowers". The whole album is basically the story of people in cultures barely represented in western pop music.
If you wanna get wonky about, repositioning bits of indie rock classics like "Where is My Mind" or "Roadrunner" into world music production techniques is a bit of a political statement in and of itself...
Posted by: Jeff K at May 23, 2008 03:18 PM
I felt that by giving the audience what it wanted: a party, she totally betrayed her activist roots. I was extremely disappointed that she said nothing of any note beyond the throwaway Vote Obama. By not having a message on stage it makes all the words on her albums seem like fashion choice, not a belief.
Posted by: Ben! at May 23, 2008 04:36 PM
Exactly when did she say "Vote Obama"? I'm fairly certain this was never uttered.
Posted by: Sebastian at May 23, 2008 04:51 PM
This show was amazing. If you want to cap on her for not being an 'activist' during her concerts, go right ahead, but she is no more of self-proclaimed activist than Dylan ever was, and her message is in her music, not her in-between stage banter. Rebellion and chaos is part of true activism, and Maya both embodies and reflects that.
by the way, I'm the guy with the glasses in the picture above...it was one of the best musical experiences of my life, and you can tell by the touch of gray that I've had plenty....
Merry Swankster, nice write-up and awesome pics!
Posted by: Jim Klar at May 28, 2008 12:00 AM
