m.i.a. @ terminal 5, 10/18/2007

With the paint still smelling new in this weird and cavernous venue, MIA and her crew rocked steady for five whole hours. Technical problems cut Blaqstarr's set short so MIA had to go on a little early - starting things up with an absolutely mind-bending performance of "Bamboo Banga" - but no one complained.

Teens in stripes, zebra prints, neon wigs, oversized shirts, huge chains, and tight pants were the dominant crowd and they really made the whole place bounce.

Gunshot samples and 90's references abounded - Afrikan Boy must've called for a "Whoomp There It Is" response about 15 times. And of course, the whole thing pulsed like an awesomely bad website from 1996. The Mario / Arcangelesque visuals for "Paper Planes" were awesome and blended well with the live-action dance shots from other countries she had so much fun shooting.

In the middle, she invited the audience onstage, and guess what, they came.

My favorite part of the night, though, was when MIA called for all of the lights onstage to be killed, and Afrikan Boy told everyone to put up dey cell phones, cameras, anything that glowed. Really magical!!! I forgot what song she played after that but it was awesome.

The whole thing was awesome. Terminal 5 needs to get better ventilation if they want to keep having serious dance parties, though.

26 photos | 1,303 views

items are from 18 Oct 2007.