Copenhagen is waiting for them, such is the world... And Syria is waiting for us.

Edging towards the status of "institution".

This is what The Copenhagen Post has to say about the British band, that I, humbly, little nomadic woman who sometimes forget which is her mother tongue, think is one of the most creative and engaging groups of musicians that has been releasing music and more in my lifetime.

You can read the whole article below.


Meanwhile, this mini-tour of theirs has become a snowballing series of sold-out nights and a long series of acclaiming reviews.

This is what the band has to say about our world, our crisis, our main issues, that too many people refuse to see as the definition of our era.

Massive Attack on refugees in their first TV interview since 2008 - with Krishnan Guru-Murthy for Channel 4 News

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On the journalist's blog:

http://blogs.channel4.com/gurublog/massive-attack-putting-refugees-centre-stage/4712

Massive Attack: putting refugees centre stage

Massive Attack performance in 2016 is a polished affair, more like a recital. Nothing seems left to chance. It is note perfect. And in the intimate setting of the Brighton Dome I wanted to applaud the end of each song, not cheer or jump up and down.

Rob is the one who does the talking for Massive Attack. G, his creative partner in the band, is utterly charming backstage, but has no interest in doing interviews. Fair enough. Rob clearly hates it too, but does it – very occasionally.

He’s a thoughtful artist and I get the sense he dreads the idea of sounding like a rock star with a cause. Bono perhaps has a lot to answer for.

Massive Attack always had strong political threads running through their performance but Rob hates the idea of preaching. He wants to provoke thought, not, he says lead it. This was to be his first television interview in several years.

Our “in” was the photographer and television journalist Giles Duley, who was blown up in Afghanistan and lost two legs and an arm.

Giles has spent months working for the UNHCR photographing refugees from Lebanon and Jordan through Greece and across Europe. His remarkable images, all shot on old fashioned film cameras, are arresting.

Before covering wars Giles was a music photographer so knew Rob anyway. When he saw the pictures he wanted to feature them strongly on the tour.

The images are put up on the traditional Massive Attack LED screen – once during a song but most strikingly at the end, in musical silence.

It was a risk – they didn’t know if people would stay to watch or just shuffle off towards the bar.

But if Brighton and Brixton are anything to go by the crowds are moved too. They stay, concentrate, cheer moments such as an image “Refugees Welcome”.

If, as Rob says, our humanity will be judged in history by our response to Syria’s refugees, the response of the Massive Attack crowd is a good sign. Better perhaps than what is being achieved in reality by our leaders.

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Copenhagen Post review:

Already massive, they’re edging towards institution status

February 6th, 2016 1:00 pm| by Jonathan Mackley

They may be three decades old, but Massive Attack are still selling out venues like it’s the early 1990s. It’s a testament to the calibre of musical prowess this band still wields.

Some of their most notable songs don’t even have choruses, but who needs them when you’ve got such dramatically atmospheric dynamics!

Their debut LP, Blue Lines, was included in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. You’ve heard the standout track ‘Unfinished Symphony’ a zillion times, even if you can’t quite remember its name.

These and other psychedelic, soundtrack-like and DJist sonic techniques formed a much-emulated style journalists began to dub ‘trip hop’ from the mid-90s onwards.

Their more conventional shows remain awesome spectacles too. With giant LED screens allowing them to apply their music to political and social backdrops, and an expanded live line-up that features a revolving selection of guest vocalists, the brooding disquiet of their most recent studio effort, Heligoland, has been weaved in seamlessly alongside cuts from ‘90s classics Mezzanine and Blue Lines.

Having evidently mastered both the recorded and live elements of their craft, Massive Attack’s staying power has moved them beyond simply being one of Britain’s most vital musical groups – they’re edging towards institution status.

You leave their concerts happy, energised and with a new-found need to get involved in righting the wrongs in the world.