Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)
WHEN the lights really dimmed and the music finally slowed down it was time to take a breather.
And then came the tears.
Having watched some of the most moving drone footage shot in Gaza, inter-spliced with bomb factories in the US and politicians, signing armaments, I was already tingling.
And then came out Liz Fraser with the most beautiful rendition of Massive Attack’s hit song Teardrop.
She wrote the original lyrics (even though Madonna was meant to sing it) and clearly knew how to move the crowd on the main stage at Bilbao’s superb BBK festival.
And hers is some voice; the former Cocteau Twins star warbling with ingenuity and grace, the song having been recorded when her former partner, tortured genius, Jeff Buckley had just drowned.
It was one of many high points of a headline Massive show in Spain, the first since Madrid in 2019.
With all the key singers in situ, Shara Nelson and Horace Andy, in particular, plus Robert Del Naja on top form, what could go wrong?
Well nothing. This was superfluous. In the blistering two-hour set the Bristol collective delivered an incredibly impressive range of styles and sounds.
From trip hop classics, such as Karmacoma, to more reggae-fused heavy bass numbers, like Angel, a touch of rap and even almost-punk rock at times, with Girl I Love You, a great example.
The West Country crew – who fused in the West Indian suburb of St Paul’s and have long been close to graffiti artist Banksy – are impossible to pigeonhole and, all the while, their political message is very compulsive, be it highlighting the risks of face recognition software or the horrific war in Palestine.
It is literally impossible to understate quite how good the backdrop video and graphics were. Indeed, with the exception of perhaps the Chemical Brothers, I can’t remember watching anything quite as cutting edge and moving.
Horace Andy, a Jamaican, who got involved with the Trip Hop scene in Bristol, sang a blinder on the likes of Angel and he was particularly good on Safe from Harm and Spying Glass.
The undeniable takeaway though was the voice of Fraser, who was simply delightful on Teardrop as well as Black Milk.
But, as comebacks go though, this was both joyous and groundbreaking and showed, exactly, how Massive have many important decades left in them.
Later in the evening, we got to enjoy the Prodigy, easily the most popular British festival band in Spain.
Perhaps the sixth or seventh time I’ve seen them headline a festival, it amazes me how many local Spanish love them, going absolutely nuts for the big hits Breathe or Firestarter.
The next day it was the turn of Grace Jones, the icon blowing everyone away with a wonderful repertoire of classics through the years.
Then it was the turn of festival stalwarts Underworld, who emerged at 2am and had thousands jumping about until heaven knows when.
There were certainly tears the next day!
