M.I.A

I saw M.I.A last night in Leeds. It's the 2nd time I've seen her. I think she's soooo ahead of the game with her music and performance.

There is a ton of seriously cool production in the gig and she carries the whole thing off so effortlessly. The live show also gives a strong nod in the direction of performance art when she is on stage.

Both times I have seen her she pulls about 30 people from the crowd up on stage with her, which makes for interesting viewing as people react very differently to being unexpectedly put in the limelight.

She also came back on stage after the encore by going up to the balcony and climbing back down the rigging on to the stage. And perhaps most interesting were the two male dancers she had who danced really aggressively like they were on ecstasy and made it look cool.

The third album is really gutsy and shows that she is keen to stay ahead of everyone else rather than churn out a cool but safe record. I like this interview that she did for Nylon recently. It's only short but gives you an insight to how smart and endearing she is.