Lido Festival: Massive Attack

I first heard Massive Attack while sitting around a campfire at Reading festival in 1998. I’d spent that day watching Roni Size, Bentley Rhythm Ace, Asian Dub Foundation, The Prodigy (Foo Fighters and Supergrass, too) and, to wrap things up, The Beastie Boys. What a day.

Weirdly though, hearing the bassline from ‘Safe From Harm’ for the first time ever, soaking up that late night festival atmosphere (aged 16), is what has stayed with me most. Since then, Massive Attack and their early output — up to and including Mezzanine — has been a mainstay in my listening repertoire. I’m taken somewhere when I hear that music.

Now, here at the inaugural LIDO Festival in London's Victoria Park, I’m waiting for them to take to the stage, having never actually seen them live. And I’m in a great mood, because Air — another band from my youth that has stayed with me on my journey to mid-life-crisis — just did a set and they were absolutely the light this evening needed. The French outfit delivered a beautifully atmospheric flow of songs — largely from their classic Moon Safari — filled with warm synths and the ever-so-subtle grooves they became so well known for.

But when Massive Attack takes the stage, the mood shifts to something far more serious: the war in Gaza. Actor-activist Khalid Abdalla delivers a pre-set speech urging solidarity with Palestine, which is a message echoed by waving flags in the crowd. It’s a heavy intro to the set but one that seems to resonate with (most of) the audience. Also, this is what Massive Attack has always been about.

This is the first festival day run entirely on battery power — a bold green milestone — and their 90-minute set is immersive and confrontational. Opening visuals, co-produced by Adam Curtis, lay bare images and statistics from Gaza, the Congo, data exploitation and institutional failure. These are not background art but integral to the performance: hard-hitting, unwavering, and emblematic of the band’s dedication to protest art.

Their expanded live line-up included eight on-stage members alongside rotating guest vocalists — Deborah Miller, Horace Andy and Elizabeth Fraser — whose appearances felt powerful and right for this moment. Horace’s delivery of ‘Angel’ is as beautiful and haunting as ever; Fraser lends ethereal grace to ‘Black Milk’ and ‘Song to the Siren’; and Miller silences everyone with vocals on ‘Safe from Harm’ and ‘Unfinished Sympathy’.

‘Inertia Creeps’ and ‘Risingson’ are smoldering throughout with intensity, while covers like Ultravox’s ‘Rockwrok’ and Avicii’s ‘Levels’ supply some unexpected highlight moments. The closing sequence — ‘Unfinished Sympathy’ into ‘Teardrop’ — is like a collective exhale that unites everyone there, younger and older.

Still, it’s hard to ignore that it’s been a long time since Massive Attack released new music with the same cultural weight as their political message — probably two decades or so, really. Their principles remain sharp, urgent and right on the money — but artistically, they need something bold. As a live experience, though, their music is utterly absorbing, with few bands matching their ability to balance atmosphere and moral clarity with such conviction.


Photo credit: Sophia Carey