Tricky Review
Tricky's first live gig on British soil for five years had been anticipated by fans as the event of the year. Knowle West Boy, his new record released in July, contains the sort of punchy lyrics and introspection he became known for in the mid-90s, and here was the chance translate live via the wonderful acoustics of the Barbican Hall.
After a phenomenal opening set by Croydon DJ Skream, who came on like Massive Attack’s more aggressive brother; and a rather bewildering appearance by Wild Beasts, Tricky began his set by intriguing the audience with Phil Collins’ ‘In The Air Tonight’, the stage remained empty and pitch black and each drum beat resounding throughout the hall. An instrumental version of ‘You Don’t Wanna’ from 2001 album Blowback followed as the band made their way onto the stage. Tricky, cigarette in hand, staggered on and stood facing his drummer with his back to the audience while the song played on, a position he would assume whenever he wasn’t required on vocals.
He kicked into action with a cover of the Cure’s ‘Love Cats’. As passionate as ever Tricky embraced the microphone, and would knock over his stand several times throughout the night. Material from his back catalogue was interspersed with the new songs, and to the delight and applause of the crowd he included classic tracks such as ‘Pumpkin’ and ‘Black Steel’ from debut album Maxinquaye, ‘Christiansands’ and ‘Makes Me Wanna Die’ from Pre-Millennium Tension, as well as ‘Girls’ from Blowback, originally recorded with the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Despite the obvious wonder of hearing and seeing such brilliant pieces played out live, it was the new songs that made Tricky shine. ‘Slow’, a cover of the Kylie Minogue hit, was transformed into a hard, rocky number, and was possibly the highlight of the night.
As vocalist for the evening Francesca rapped on ‘Black Steel’ and sang through ‘Overcome’ one couldn’t help but wonder that some of his best, most momentous tracks were sounding a little flat. The trouble is, most, if not all, of Tricky’s songs rely on his vocalists. There is no denying the genius of the man who wrote Overcome, and who transformed Public Enemy’s ‘Black Steel’ from an urban rap ditty into an industrial, Indian tabla-enthused manifesto. But unfortunately, when performed live without Martina Topley-Bird and with little interaction from the man himself, the songs seem somewhat disappointing. Whilst Francesca displayed a very credible vocal range she did not help matters by also keeping her back to the audience when not singing, and remaining expressionless throughout.
After the encore things did pick up andTricky appeared to have a new lease of life taking turns to whisper and screech his tortured lyrics. The closing track, ‘Joseph’, saw him at his most intense, while he repeatedly screeched the line “you’re so special” into the mike and then at the audience before thanking us all for coming.
A slightly anti-climactic set from one of Britain’s most talented musicians. However having heard tonight a small part of what Tricky is capable of creating, we can forgive him for this.
