Festival Review: Massive Attack Open LIDO With Powerful Performance Of Protest

Taking place over 10 days in East London’s treasured Victoria Park, Massive  Attack brought together a heavenly collection of artists for day one of LIDO. 

Arriving at LIDO Festival you find yourself bracing for yet another influencer-saturated, Coachella esque spectacle- but what you find is actually quite the opposite. While the festival is entirely made  up of food, drink, and music, it holds its own with surprising poise and intention. Much of this is  down to Massive Attack’s masterfully curated lineup; favouring experimental, creative artists such  as Tirzah and The Alchemist, over formulaic crowd-pleasers.  

As part of the Bristol band’s event curation, the festival served only vegetarian food, aligning with  their views on climate change. The absence of meat certainly didn’t subtract from the experience- in  fact, the food lines were a little too long! In addition to this, the main stage was entirely battery  powered, with LIDO x Massive Attack raising the bar for sustainability at large scale events.  

Kicking things off at Stage 2, Mad Professor delivered a heavy yet mellow set beneath the intimate  big top. Playing ‘Mezzanine in Dub’ served as the ideal precursor for the event’s headliners warming the crowd for a night of tantalising music. The Alchemist and Yasiin Bey are FORENSICS  unfortunately fell victim to poor scheduling- with their set massively overlapping with Air, the  crowd began to thin and their performance lost momentum. They just didn’t quite find their flow.  

Seamlessly blending nostalgia with experimentation, Air followed with a transportive performance  inside a sleek white box- designed by Pierre Claude and Joel Antoine. Opening with the first half of  ‘Moon Safari,’ we were launched into a pensive, celestial world.  

Stretching beyond just live music, Massive Attack presented a piece of powerful, politically charged  art.  

Opening with ‘Risingson,’ questions flashed up in computer-style text on screen: “Do you cry? Do  thoughts have shadows?” From this very moment, it became evident that we were about to witness  a headline act like no other. Collaborating with filmmaker Adam Curtis, the entire performance  featured visuals throughout, depicting images of Palestine, politicians and corporate companies;  exposing some harsh truths.  

As the set progressed, various esteemed collaborators rotated on and off the stage to perform their  particular tracks. Horace Andy made an appearance for ‘Angel’ and ‘Girl I love you,’ bringing the  same energy and disposition to the songs nearly 30 years later! Also making an appearance,  Deborah Miller breathed new life in to sanguine, cult classic ‘Unfinished sympathy.’ Following this,  Yasiin Bey made their 2nd appearance of the night to perform ‘I against I’- seemingly refreshed  since a shaky Stage 2 performance. However, Elizabeth Fraser was probably the most impressive,  putting on a truly touching performance, her alluring voice created an atmosphere like no other capturing everyone’s undivided attention. 

Everything about the set felt intentional. The visuals; up-close black and white shots of the  vocalists- paired perfectly with the dimly lit stage. From the crowd, all you could see at times were 

silhouettes of the musicians and their instruments. This performance was about something bigger  than all of us, and Massive Attack managed to capture it perfectly. Hardly any phones in the air,  people were tuned in, really present. When ‘Teardrop’ closed the set, friends were seen wrapping  their arms around each other, caught in this unexpected yet beautiful moment of unity and  connection. This was one of those rare shows that actually changes how you see things.