M.I.A 2011

Sorry it's been a few days since my last blog entry - I currently don't have a phone line connected at my home so the only internet I can get there is mobile broadband, which  I can't justify the cost of using.

Anyway, I noticed shortly after revealing that I would be sharing my live music experiences with you all that I left one of my favorite artists off the list....M.I.A.

I saw M.I.A. at the 2011 Big Day Out Festival in Sydney on Australia Day where she performed in the boiler room.

I don't remember how I first discovered M.I.A. but believe her songs 'Galang' and 'Sunshowers' would have been how I first learnt of her. According to Wikipedia it was a combination of college radio broadcasts, local clubs and file sharing (Gasp!) that got M.I.A. and her music recognized...I wonder if she'd speak out in favor of file sharing?

I like M.I.A.'s music because it is unique, catchy and...real?

I absolutely love 'paper planes' and hear it (usually unexpectedly) in clubs, which seems, are filled with other people that like the song.

Another thing I like about M.I.A. is her style, the clothes she wears and how she represents herself - She doesn't appear to be someone that is hung up on how others see or think of her, she just is.

When I saw M.I.A. live it was 11pm at night in a large makeshift dance hall with thousands of other people. M.I.A. was wearing what I would describe as Mother Teresa's clothes with an attached hoodie...it was awesome.

Up on stage were tonnes of strobe lights that went off at different intervals, which was seriously trippy. With so many people in a dark structure with short bursts of light, it seriously played with ones head...especially if you tried to walk anywhere - I can't describe it, besides it wasn't unpleasant :)

I'm really glad I got an opportunity to see M.I.A. and I can't believe I forgot to mention her on my earlier list, especially seeing as she was so good live and that it wasn't all that long ago that I saw her.

Highlights were her songs 'Galang', 'Boyz', 'Born Free' and, of course, 'Paper Planes' which was pure delight to share with a whole bunch of other fans, old and new alike.

Just on M.I.A. the most I'd heard about her leading up to this event was that her 'Born Free' music video was booted off YouTube (which made seeing it that little bit more rewarding), and that her and the Mars Volta bickered at the 2006 Big Day Out festival where M.I.A. stole the Mars Volta's champagne and wrote on their wall "thanks" to which they responded by throwing all M.I.A. and her acts stuff out during her performance writing on her wall "don't mention it".

Whilst I'm speaking trivia I always believe that Rhianna borrowed a lot from the 'Galang' music video for her own video for 'Rude Boy' - Check them both out and let me know what you think.

Since it was dark and crowded I regrettably didn't obtain a good photo of M.I.A myself, but because I like this blog to have a bit of photo-tainment I have lifted one from a Google image search, have mercy on my soul.

Thanks for reading, please keep an eye on this blog as I will be going through my original list, as well as providing usual blog entries as I feel the need :)