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Show DCC03- - 1998 RED bands opens with "6 Minutes," Unsure of what is going on, the crowd seems disoriented until Tricky steps forward to add his e voice to mellow beats. Almost in the darkness, .Tricky's raspy voice comes through haunt-inglMoving straight into "Overcome," this time allowing Martina to take over on voice, the show opens by disorienting the audience, preparing it for the frantic energy which will later be released. Through the first half of the show, songs from his earlier albums help set the mood and get everything moving into an intense groove. "Overcome" acquires a steely menace that is missing on "Christiansands," Maxinquaye. which was disappointingly brief, comes through the darkness with shimmering beauty. Martina's edgy vocals on "Bad Dream" anticipate the fury of Tricky's encore, while s "Ponderosa" the audience into motion. But it is Tricky's reworking of Blondie's "Heart of Glass" in the wicked "Antihistamine" which grabs the audience's attention with bewitching force. It is pure seduction with Martina singing each chorus with a wise - COVER - 7 unde-finabl- y. Facing page: Vocalist Mar- tina Topley-Bir- d seduces the crowd with her smooth voice and enigmatic stage presence. Below: Tricky confronts both the microphone and his psychological demons. Left: Tricky's guitarist and drummer match his intensity by getting lost in the music. clink-tink- Photos: OUSTIN HARDIN DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE smile. Bathed in red light, Tricky lets built-ufury on "The Moment I Feared." It is an intense and disturbing sight: gripping the microphone, Tricky shakes violently, each chorus gaining more strength and wrath as he shifts the gears of the show into full throttle. The audience watches in awe as the man begins to release his demons. Unsure how to respond, the audience stands quietly, with very little motion despite the frantic rhythm, as Tricky paces around the stage like a crazed boxer waiting, for his next opponent. Even when he is not at the microphone, Tricky maintains the same intensis and prowls ty as he around the stage, encouraging each band member. His frantic motions contrast Martina's seductive moves as she sings and gets into the music. It is quite honestly too much to take loose his p H ill 11 V. f A vv chain-smoke- in. Tricky's sparring with drummer Perry Melius propels the concert; however, the pace at times seems The determined grace of "Carriage for Two" (a haunting song for his young daughter which incorporates lyrics from "Porgy and Bess" and Billie Holiday) and the apocalyptic brutality of "Demise" were among the strongest songs in the set. However, some songs, like "The Moment I Feared," got lost in their own complexity. Visually, the show did not rely upon complicated lights to impress the audience; rather it used brief, intense bursts of colored light to bathe the band. The first half of the show was basically surrounded in darkness, but as the momentum of the show increased, so did the use of light. Drama was added by flashing images (modern art or random images) on Tricky's body that cast large shadows upon the walls. The gyrating shadows became the demons of Tricky's mind that descended upon the show. The crowd remained involved and appreciative throughout the performance's nearly two hours. Though the show was a mix of older, less familiar material with tracks of his new album, Angels With Dirty Faces, the crowd was receptive to everything, especially the opening of "Christiansands" and the encore tracks. Lasting over 10 minutes, the final song attempted to match the madness of the Apocalypse as it pummeled the audience with a fierce chorus and e. driving bass. Tricky's albums have gotten successively more difficult. He continues to move forward, but by taking two steps back. Angels With Dirty Faces relates the same stories and fears as his previous albums, but he incorporates organic instrumenta- tion and hardcore techno into the mix. Like Maxinquaye and Tension, this album is yet another attempt to represent the sound of his consciousness. Tricky is primarily known, along with Massive Attack and for bringing the heavy to the fringes of beats of trip-homainstream pop music, but what sets Tricky apart is his varied use of drums and guitars, along with requisite samples and syncopated beats. Also, he is not shy about reworking other bands' material, such as Public Enemy's "Black Steel" on Maxinquaye, or about integrating other people's lyrics into his raps. But like everything else, they are treated and constructed with his own psychodrama. As a member of the Bristol scene that emerged in the early '90s, Tricky started mixing and rapping with The Wild Bunch, a crew of DJs which included the members of Massive Attack and Neneh Cherry. Tricky went on to collaborate further with Massive Attack by rap Por-tishea- d, p ping on both Blue Lines and Protection. However, due to disagreements over the tracks on Protection, Tricky began working on solo material, which resulted in the lush Maxinquaye. With Martina Topely-Biron vocals, Maxinquaye has become one of the benchmark albums in sound. Tricky's critical success with Maxinquaye led to production and collaborations with a variety of recording artists: Bjork, Elvis Costello, Terry Hall and Bush. In 1996, Tricky released the beautiful but desolate Tension, which further established him as an artist willing to push sonic boundaries. Simply, Tricky's music is not for everyone. However, he should be recognized for his attempts to change today's banal world of pop music. Speaking with a journalist from The Boston Globe, Tricky said, "I'm no one's dancing monkey. That's what artists have become. All artists and R&B these s Alanis these and all artists like performthey're really ing monkeys. Record companies have reduced artists to dancing minstrels." Perhaps what is needed are more Pied Pipers of his kind. d trip-ho- p hip-ho- p Moris-sette- J |