Massive Attack set to return in July, free of legal woes
Just days after a local promoter announced that the pioneering British act Massive Attack will include two Greek dates on its current world tour – July 14 and 15 at the Lycabettus Theater in Athens – band member Robert 3-D Del Naja spoke out for the first time about his recent arrest and subsequent clearing on Internet pornography charges. Late in February, as the top-selling and critically acclaimed group was preparing to embark on a world tour in support of its latest album, «100th Window,» detectives seized computer equipment and suspected narcotics during a raid at Del Naja’s home in Bristol, as part of a national crackdown on child porn. The allegations were subsequently dropped by police and all Del Naja’s property returned while the band had already begun touring. «It was the hardest time in my life. I had to go on tour with those allegations in the air, which was horrendous,» Del Naja was quoted in the British daily Guardian, in an article published late last week. «I didn’t want to wallow in self-pity or martyr myself on stage. I decided not to get involved with making comments in the press, so I made a statement to the audience each night – ‘If everyone’s here, I guess you don’t believe these ridiculous charges’ – which got a big cheer. That’s how it went down,» he added. Del Naja said he considered taking legal action against the police but decided not to proceed as «I don’t want to get involved in it because I don’t want to spend my life focusing on it.» Before the charges were dropped, Massive Attack’s opening shows of their current tour, in Australia and New Zealand, were rescheduled. Del Naja told the Guardian that his life had become «more difficult» despite the favorable verdict. «Now I walk into a shop or pub and I can’t really be myself. I have to look everyone twice in the eye,» he said, while noting that «you can say that it’s a load of bollocks, but once it’s written down, it’s written down. It could come up in my obituary.» Massive Attack has performed in Greece on two previous occasions, both times at the open-air Lycabettus Theater, where the group’s two latest shows will take place this coming summer. A spokesman at Anosis, Massive Attack’s local promoter, said yesterday ticket sales are expected to start at the end of this month.
