Music

M.I.A. arrives fashionably late and political in Toronto

by Anne T. Donahue

Publicity stunts, diva-like behaviour, total disregard for anything outside of her blatant political agenda: these are the things you’ve come to expect from M.I.A., but if you descended on the Sound Academy last night, what you experienced was something quite different.

After spending nearly 20 minutes waiting for her to take the stage, expectations for the show itself were mixed.  Between MIA’s Twitter rants and recent purchases of various domain names, you couldn’t help but wonder if her set would be dedicated solely to angry rants or a lacklustre performance.  However, from the moment she stepped onstage, it was obvious why – despite her controversy – M.I.A.’s remained a force to be reckoned with.

Photos by Jess Baumung, AUX TV

Opening with The Message, the artist also known as Maya hypnotized everyone from onset.  At one point being held back by a bouncer as she threw herself into the front rows of the audience (which, at the Sound Academy, is rarer than a reasonably priced bottled of water), M.I.A. became the preacher to her congregation, offering words of wisdom (“I don’t give a fuck who buys my shit – [music] should be free!”), shocking imagery and even going so far as to baptise her subjects (with a bottle of tequila she passed around the audience).

Her political ideals were obvious, but not surprising.  With her background singers dressed in burqas and the looped footage consisting of computer-generated blood splatter, explosions and skulls, M.I.A. had a message to send – one for politicians, society, haters and even Google.

Taking requests, dancing like her life depended on it and re-iterating her no-bullshit image through everything from lyrics to her request that bouncers return her cousin’s weed, M.I.A. was undeniably likeable, leaving most of us to justify her tirades and publicity stunts because like so few artists of her genre, she is who she is without shame.

But though her energy could be commended, her short set could not, and even after an encore that featured Paper Planes and Boyz, her superfans were left confused and without an outlet to channel their energy (because believe me – they had lots).  Taking the concept of “leave them wanting more” to a whole new level, she was one of the few performers would could’ve kept interest peaked for hours, but instead of taking advantage of her position, chose to cut us off cold turkey, leaving everyone in harsh dubstep withdrawal.