M.I.A. @ Terminal 5 in NY, September 27th 2010

My heart pounded and stomach dropped at the sight of her, onstage in a "Fuck Google, Ask Me" shirt, dark sunglasses, and fabulously nonchalant way of carrying herself. This being my, what, fourth time seeing M.I.A. in concert, I fully expected a good show... let me just tell you, blog readers: THIS WAS THE BEST SHOW I HAVE BEEN TO IN A LONG TIME. And that's saying a lot. My god was she amazing... I admittedly had my doubts, as I have heard rumours that she has taken her live shows in a "preachier" direction, whatever that means (RE: stfu new album haters). Either everyone who has been saying negative things is trying to stir up controversy or she has taken a hint, but I swear to god I have never seen her so engaged with the crowd before, nor have I ever seen a more pleased and energetic group of fellow onlookers since, well, since I saw her at Coachella in 2009. I might be a bit biased, seeing as I held her hand when she crowd-surfed, drank out of her bottle of Patron, and sang in her microphone with her.... but I digress. Wow. I fully expected her to sing songs mostly off of Maya, but to my great surprise she did an astonishingly large amount of her old stuff.... I was utterly elated to watch her play favorite after favorite, songs like "World Town", "Galang", "XR2", "Boyz", and "Bird Flu". Despite what some have been saying, I am also a really big fan of the new album, and quite enjoyed dancing (well, more like being pushed in a crowd of overly sweaty, extremely energetic superfans) to "Story to be Told", "Lovealot", and my personal favorite, "Teqkilla"... hence the bottle of Patron. In my opinion she should have played "XXXO" to please her fans, as well as tracks like "Tell Me Why" and "Believer" which have proven to be some of the stronger new songs, but whatever. She killed it, she is a legend, and I consider myself honored to have stood so close and interacted with a woman I think will remain an icon of our generation. Let's just hope she doesn't give me another heart attack and threaten to quit music for the purpose of expanding her family...sidenote: having Ickett did ANYTHING to her body, it's completely inhuman and unfair, as made evident in the following photos:

Oh yeah, Rye Rye kicked ass too. Obviously not as much as M.I.A. (sorry girl), but she is an incredible dancer and I have new found respect for her. I really enjoyed listening to her perform "Bang" (which, if you haven't heard, features M.I.A. in the chorus), and songs I had never heard before like "Wassup Wassup" and "Shake it to the Ground". If you are new to Rye Rye and like the sort of music played at this show, definitely check out her Myspace. I am hesitant to say she had a better outfit than M.I.A., but she looked damn good with her extremely white hair and neon 2- piece sweatsuit:

All in all, it was a mind-blowingly memorable show; one I will most certainly never forget. They're still on tour, so if you happen to be near any of the places listed on the tour dates (check them out at miauk.com) definitely get tickets. And for the love of god, if you have not listened to M.I.A.'s new album, please check it out (and keep an open mind!).