Do we want our musical heroes to also be political activists? Or should they just stick to playing the songs we love?
Massive Attack have always had a way of combining performance with political activism and they’re unlikely to change - unless the world changes.
And for last weekend’s gig at the Lido Festival, Victoria Park, London, (picture above) I knew we would be in for forceful messaging from the Bristol collective about the horrors happening in Gaza. And that’s what we got.
But they also managed to outrage many people who have subsequently seen shared footage on social media in which the band’s video montage behind the stage shows a three second shot of Yahya Sinwar filmed from behind in an underground tunnel.
Sinwar was the Hamas leader who presided over the unspeakable atrocities against Israelis on October 7th, 2023.
I readily admit that I didn’t notice the brief shot of Sinwar, and I’m not sure I ever could have done from where I stood. So I have rewritten this article to accommodate the subsequent controversy about the Sinwar footage.
During the concert, Robert “3D” Del Naja spoke to the crowd in uncompromising terms. Palestinians, he said, are victims of an Apartheid regime, a genocide is unfolding, Britain and others shouldn’t be arming Israel, and a ceasefire was needed now. Some in the crowd were waving Palestinian flags.
Of course, this was never going to be the stage for the provision of much context or impartiality. Nobody is going to stand up and say something more nuanced, like: “Obviously Israel has a right to defend itself against barbaric atrocities like October 7th, but the response has gone way beyond what was reasonable….”
Del Naja also said that many Jewish people around the world were also against what the Israeli government is doing in Gaza.
Massive Attack have been hugely committed and consistent in their support for the Palestinian cause over very many years, but was it really wise to show Sinwar in a video behind the musicians?
The band themselves have put out a statement strongly defending the video. The statement said: “Massive Attack categorically reject any suggestion that footage or reportage used as part of an artistic digital collage….seeks to glorify or celebrate any featured subject.”
In relation specifically to the shots of Sinwar, they say: “…the entire sequence interplays with scenes from Jean Cocteau’s film “Orpheus”, creating both a placement and implicit tone of horrified lament; that an individual of power can take people down into hell.”
“Would (any) observer suggest we sought to glorify Vladimir Putin, who appears in four loops? Or Donald Trump who appears in several? Or indeed the IDF soldiers who feature in the same location reportage as the Yahya Sinwar footage cited by various social media accounts.”
The band accused the critics of “context removal.” But there will be many who think it might have been wise not to have used pictures of Sinwar at all, to avoid the “horrified lament” some Jewish people are likely to have.
Politics and protest have never been far away from music, especially since the era of Pete Seeger, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan and concerns about civil rights and the Vietnam War.
Dylan’s Blowin’ in The Wind has the line: “How many times must the cannonballs fly, before they’re forever banned?” Notwithstanding the anachronistic use of “cannonballs”, it’s a song that’s just as relevant today.
John Lennon’s Give Peace a Chance and Imagine were also protests against war and entreaties for peace, and I’m sure he’d still be protesting today if he’d not been murdered.
The Live Aid concert in 1985 was also an example of concern by scores of major artists to take action over famine in Africa, and both Bob Geldof and Bono of U2 extended that activism to support Africa into the next century, culminating in a deal to cut debt made at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, in 2005.
Marvin Gaye’s songs contained messages about the environment and war, Bob Marley was also a protester, as were many punk bands and hip-hop artists. Bruce Springsteen has waded into politics throughout his long career, and Rage Against the Machine did just that.
Artists who have a conscience or a cause they care about will always want to use the voice they have to project that.
I have always loved Massive Attack’s music and have seen them multiple times. Highlights of this concert were Angel, featuring the remarkable voice of 74-year-old Horace Andy, Unfinished Sympathy with Deborah Miller on vocals and those incredible, soaring string arrangements, and the final track Teardrop, with Elizabeth Frazer’s voice still sounding as delicate and crystalline as when she first recorded it 28 years ago.
But unfortunately this concert might also be remembered now for the political row that has subsequently ensued. In world politics today, there is surely nothing more divisive than this awful war.
Which reminds me of the lyrics to Edwin Starr’s protest song of 1970”: “War, huh, yeah. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing.”
The criticism misses the point. It may well have been unwise to use footage of Sinwar. But the killing continues. That point should be made forcefully by all of us Massive Attack included. Nice piece Peter.