Caster Sugar Blog

We went to see MIA on Tuesday night. So here’s a short review and some thoughts I had while trying to fend off the usual loons who think that a packed crowd is the place to get spotted for Dance X.

Sim arrived back in Newcastle on Monday, after three months away. Most of that time was spent in India learning how to spongebob & making collages. After catching up briefly we ended up at Digital at about 8.30 (1.5 hrs after doors) intensely worried that we had missed Rye Rye. It got to 9.15 and we were pretty sure we had missed her. This, combined with the fact that I didn’t get into town early enough to get Lewis’s ticket (resulting in a £4 price hike on the door! and I worry about adding 50p on), left us feeling very tense and worried, and on the verge of being devastated.

Buraka Som Sistema came on stage and we were totally confused, as Rye Rye seemed to be fading further and further into the distance. The MC’s dancing was quite good, and reminded me of a stalker I used to have back in 1998 when I would be the sole inhabitant of the drum and bass room upstairs at the Riverside. I don’t even like drum and bass. BSS’s bass was horrible, they had it pushed so far up on the mixer it was heavily distorting even through Digital’s sound system. It felt like standing inside a wind tunnel and was just generally bad. My ears actually felt like they might start to disintegrate. The sounds they were making apart from the bass were ok, the sections of carioca with more midrange sounds were obviously more enjoyable than the minimal basslines that seemed to drag on through the latter part of the set.

All I had had to eat that day was some spring onions and a slice of vegan cheese, so combined with the excitement of seeing Sim again and the super strength cup of tea I’d had before I came out, I was starting to feel twitchy despite all this.

After some more waiting around and the crowd getting tighter and tighter, we were pushed to one side by MIA’s entourage (consisting of several rude boys and a 7 foot tall orthodox Jew). Sim suddenly became animated as she spotted the glittered hat on the head of Rye Rye. It looked like all would be good in the world. But at 10.30, we wondered how much we would see of Rye Rye at all.

As soon as MIA got on stage, there was a surge of people pushing to the front. Unfortunately, these were not people who respect the unwritten rule of minimal dancing in an overcrowded area. These were people who were intent on showcasing their drunkenly self conscious moves for an imaginary audience. This got pretty ridiculous at times, and as we had made the foolish error of putting our bags between our feet, pretty soon the contents of mine had been scattered across the floor. I hold no grudges for that because I know it was incredibly stupid, but there is nothing worse than over egging the pudding on the dancing front. Especially when this entails trying to do some sexy moves that look out of place even in misogynistic rap videos, never mind when you’re on stage with three incredible female forces who dance because it’s about the way they feel, and about releasing energy, having a good time - in MIA’s case, it seems to be a way of expressing her power - but certainly not because they want to seek the wrong kind of attention.

ANYWAY, whinge aside - it was amazing. I don’t think I’ve been as close to a woman who exudes that kind of powerful energy before. She’s one of those people who have a real presence, which is always amazing to behold. Sinden kept it really intense all night, URAQT sounded better than I’d ever heard it with an almost bubbling mid section - to be honest, I’ve always been more of a fan of remixes of MIA tracks than originals, but everything sounded so good live.

Rye Rye looked pretty shy, and stayed at the back of the stage for a little while until she got used to the crowd. Soon she was up and did a verse and chorus of Shake it to the Ground, and Whassup. During the Encore she also did her duet with MIA on Paper Planes, and another one.

Sim was up on stage dancing on the first request of MIA to get some ladies up there, in a world of her own at the back of the stage. We were too busy searching for Sim’s lost bag at the end to meet Rye Rye, or get any real flyering done, but apart from that it was pretty much one of the gigs of my year.