Nothing's Missing in M.I.A.'s Set at the Palladium

Who knew there were this many M.I.A. fans in North Texas? The British female rapper of Sri Lankan descent doesn't get a lot of airplay around these parts. Her cacophonous blend of booming electro and hip-hop beats with South Asian and African rhythms punctuated by gunfire -- the whole thing often sounding like a riot in progress -- doesn't exactly fit on a playlist between Daughtry and Mary J. Blige.

But not only did M.I.A. attract a huge crowd Friday night, it was one that enthusiastically knew the lyrics to the songs on her two albums, Arular and Kala. And it was a crowd that spanned the social spectrum. Black, white, Asian, Latin, trendy, preppy, all were out in force. In fact, when M.I.A. put a call-out for ladies to come up onstage during an extremely funky 10, those who swarmed the stage looked as much as ready for a sale at NorthPark as a concert by a British cult pop figure.

Still, for all of the surface sense of noise and rhythmic anarchy, M.I.A.'s music is actually very accessible. The beats cut through, offering an anchor of groove. Backed by a DJ, a dancer, and a back-up rapper/singer, M.I.A.tore through her near-90-minute set (including an opening 15-minute set by her DJ) playing a good variety of tracks from her two CDs. Though it wouldn't have been surprising if she couldn't pull off live versions of her songs, most of the tracks actually worked better live. M.I.A. didn't offer much of a glimpse into her personality during the show but with beats as convincing as these, that didn't matter too much.

---Cary Darling