M.I.A., Die Antwoord @ MetroTheatre, Sydney (28/1/11)

Mon 31st Jan, 2011 in Gig Reviews

You’ve got to give Lees & West credit for taking a couple of risks when it comes to the smaller names on the Big Day Out bill. At the time of booking, there was a good chance that next to no-one had heard of South African hip-hop ravers Die Antwoord. By the time they strode onstage one by one in front of a sold-out Metro Theatre, however, they were easily one of the most talked about acts of the entire festival – and if they did anything with their time on stage tonight, it was validate exactly why that was so.

After an extended intro in which we were informed how “*DJ Hi-Tek* will fuck you in the ass,” the trio of Ninja, Yo Landi Vi$$er and the aforementioned Hi-Tek took their seemingly endless levels of energy and threw it in the crowd’s face, who were very quick to reciprocate. In-between learning Zef phrases such as “wot pomp” (what’s pumping?) and “Jou ma se poes in ‘n fish paste jar” (your mother’s private parts in a fish paste jar), the hits from the band’s $O$ album came quick and fast.

Rich Bitch swaggered and bounced, complete with an entirely gold costume change from Vi$$er; while Evil Boy sent the crowd into a frenzy with both a blow-up replica of Ninja’s tattoo of the Evil Boy character, as well as Ninja himself using a giant penis microphone dangling from his Spongebob boxers. Things like this are completely gimmicky, but instead of distracting from the music they simply emphasised the reckless-abandon fun that Die Antwoord bring to each performance. They really couldn’t give less of a fuck whether you think they’re “real” or not. As long as you’re watching them, you’re a believer.

It was a very simple set-up for M.I.A.’s live performance – a drum kit (which was already set up), a DJ booth (already set up) and wireless mic that would occasionally be attached to a pulpit (again, already set up). You might be wondering why it’s being emphasised that everything was basically already set up as soon as Die Antwoord had left the stage, and here’s why: the audience was left waiting around for nearly an hour for something – anything – to happen on stage. It was frustrating and insulting, but the least we could do was hold onto the hope that Ms. Arulpragasam would be worth the extended wait. Said hope was quickly lost in a blaze of annoying noise and flashing lights, never to be seen again.

Kicking off with the clanging Meds and Feds from last year’s /\/\ /\ Y /\ record, the crowd were quick to get lost in a frenzy of dancing the very second the beat dropped. Energy levels were high, but it didn’t excuse the significant lack of substance when it came down to the actual performance. For starters, why on earth would you employ a drummer if their only purpose was to bang along on their floor tom in time to the song’s rhythm? The only time that they could actually be heard was during the snare-roll introduction to single Born Free, and when you think about it, that hardly seems worth it.

On the other side of the stage, the burqa-covered DJ was arguably doing even less than the drummer. Essentially, pressing play on the backing track was all that they provided, aside from occasionally – and quite annoyingly – interjecting gun-cocking sounds or Mac sounds like the “ding” sound when a message is received or the “quack” sound when turning up the volume. Ironic or not, it got old really quickly. As for Maya herself? Well, the competition might have been stiff, but she proved to be a solid contender for the laziest of the three. Slurring her words, talking through songs rather than keeping up with the beat and throwing off the singing to the audience whenever possible, it was pretty clear that the for-the-people activist was ready to get the pay cheque and bail as soon as humanly possible.

What’s more, M.I.A. was in serious need of distractions throughout her set. In one instance, she mimicked fellow Big Day Out attraction Iggy Pop by getting several audience members up on stage to dance (all girls during the track Boyz – genius!). Another saw her go off-stage entirely as the audience raved to thudding, pre-recorded music with what sounded like M.I.A.’s vocals. With the strobelights flashing enough to make anyone succumb to an epileptic seizure and more smoke onstage than a Cypress Hill concert, most hadn’t even noticed that she and the drummer had wandered off, probably to finish off what was left of the rider. To leave an audience waiting around for an hour and then not even stick around for all of your allocated time on stage was the final nail in the coffin.

Die Antwoord taught their audience how to put on an energetic, fun and consistently engaging hip-hop show. M.I.A., as if from some parallel universe, taught her audience how to do the exact opposite.