CMJ Madness: M.I.A. @ Terminal 5, Oct. 18, 2007
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First off, Terminal 5 is HUGE. It is just massive. Really, really, really big. For those of you that don't know, the brand new mega club is the latest addition to the Bowery Presents family, and is situated in the building that used to house the dance club Exit.
Staying true to its loungey roots, the two balcony levels have couches and tables strewn across the floor — although to see the treatment they received on Thursday night, I wonder how long those pieces of furniture last; kids (your correspondent included) were standing on anything and everything they could find some balance on just to get a glimpse of the stage. Which, brings up the point: The sightlines in the club are not optimal. If you don't get a spot on the railing, it's pretty hard to see from upstairs. Lower level is your basic open box; feels similar to the floor at Hammerstein.
So, yeah, to sum up: Space is big. But M.I.A. totally took control of the room. Her global, world beat, dance rock, hip-hop sound got everybody grooving, and she seemed to be devoting every ounce of energy she had to her performance. There was not a moment she was up there that she wasn't dancing her little butt off and/or inciting the crowd to frenzy. She's an engaging force of nature, basically. The breaks between songs were filled with chanting with the crowd, over that ubiquitous machine gun noise she uses so well.
more after the jump...
Her onstage crew consisted of another female dancer/rapper, a DJ and various singers. Everyone was in motion at all times. In her spangly silver outfit — "I'm in a freaking dress!" she exclaimed — M.I.A. was the pint-sized orchestrator of a spectacle that filled the airplane hanger environment that is Terminal 5.
The audience was dancing like I've never seen before at a "rock show." They've really got some moves, the kids today do. There also were an awful lot of really drunk young co-eds. Like sloppy drunk. Like I was worried for them climbing all over the furniture, because balancing on the ground seemed challenge enough. I'm not sure what that means.
At one point, M.I.A. invited the audience to bring the dance party up on stage. After a bit of hesitation — you could feel people being like, "really?!" — people thronged to her. They slithered and grooved in almost a tribal manner up on stage as M.I.A. sang her heart out.
It occurred to me at this point that M.I.A. is a great strong woman performer that, refreshingly, is not defined by that fact, if that makes any sense. She just does her thing and everyone loves it ... and no one tacks on the phrase, "well, for a girl." (Pitchfork issues aside.)
She wrapped up her set with a rousing rendition of "Galang," and said good night. "New York, you are a country unto yourself!" she told the crowd. I was feeling old and tired — and the fresh paint smell of the place was starting to give me a headache — so I skipped out on the encore (if there was one), but I left the show feeling like I had seen something special.
I only wonder how The Shins are going to do with this space later this week...
eh.www.amNY.com
