M.I.A. hits the Roseland
November 16th, 2007 by joshk
MIA dropped her Kala bomb on Portland tonight at the Roseland. We watched from the floor fearing the balcony mess to grab a beer or two. The 80’s infulence never sounded less cheesy. The Jimmy track started with the first 2 minutes of Blue Monday. Cue crowd madness……
I applaud MIA for sticking to her sound. I hear she recently turned down Timbaland as a producer because they had no desire to sound like everyone else in the hip hop pop world.
On a final note the visuals were excellent. Very low fi but they created a texture for the entire show. It felt like another key member of the band as opposed to an effect that was added on.
So, these are some random thoughts. MIA is for real. I hope they stay that way,
MIA - Hit That [MP3]
Josh k
November 16th, 2007 at 10:42 am
It was the best hip hop show I’ve seen. She had a ton of energy, fantastic visuals (did anyone else notice they seem very E*Rock inspired?), and got me hyped up.
November 18th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
http://www.ultrapdx.com/zero/2007/02/16/ultra-q-erock/
nice little E*Rock interview…..
“I love design that doesn’t look like design. ”
best quote in the interview :)
November 18th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
I was in the balcony a section away when she came bounding over the rail and I was taken in–thrilled– by her unflappable demeanor. It was reminiscent of a Hollywood celebrity wading into the desperate outreached hands in some dusty African country, a moment of innocence and trust. Only the security at the Roseland seem alarmed! I happened to be listening to KEXP in my office Friday afternoon when she was interviewed live (and performed, playfully inserting “CIA” in place of KGB in the lyric from Paper Planes) her discerning intelligence revealed in how she chose to field the questions. A Gang of Four song was nicely juxtaposed just prior to her coming on for her interview.
November 18th, 2007 at 10:12 pm
oh yeah. that moment was great. she is fearless. i wasn’t sure how she got down. she just popped back on the stage.