Massive Attack and Adam Curtis collaborate for cinematic live show

Bristol trip-hoppers Massive Attack are collaborating with renowned film-maker Adam Curtis for an interesting experiment in mixing live music, cinema and journalism, with it all set to take place at a derelict railway depot in Manchester.

The pair have installed a stage, 11 giant translucent screens, lighting rigs and more bass speakers than their audio hire company has ever supplied for a event.

Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja elaborates in an interview with the BBC: “We’ve brought in loads of sub-bass, Wigwam were like, ‘You don’t need that much.’ We said, ‘We do.’ We’ve brought in more bass than they’d ever specced at a gig.”

Screens will surround the audience on three sides, showing Curtis’ video collages made using clips pulled from archive news footage, TV shows and home movies and, at one end, the band will appear in and out of view. Singers Horace Andy and Elizabeth Fraser will join the twosome to sing a set of covers; ranging from Barbra Streisand to Siberian punk.

According to Curtis, the show will not just serve the purpose of entertainment. He explains that he is trying to mould a new kind of journalism that isn’t ”boring and dry” mainstream reportage.

“I’m convinced that the future of journalism is a form of reporting that is as emotional as it is factually correct, that actually conveys to you what it’s like to experience something,” Curtis continues. “I’m going to tell you a story which will be quite surprising about the world in the last 30 years and some of the characters that have emerged in this rather strange world that we’re now living in.”

This experimental show is one of the most anticipated events at this year’s Manchester International Festival, opening on Thursday.

Massive Attack v Adam Curtis is on at Mayfield Depot in Manchester from 4-13 July