Tricky Welcomes Stage Invaders, Covers Motorhead in New York

The greatest and most direct contribution Tricky made Thursday night to his performance at New York City's Le Poisson Rouge came midway through the set, when he beckoned to fans and invited them to storm the stage.

Two or three dozen folks together moved like a mass of liquid, filling the spaces between Tricky and his five backing musicians, covering every inch of the tiny stage. The audience participation spurred the band to play harder and faster, which was fortunate, as the British trip-hop legend and his crew were burning through a cover of Motorhead's 'Ace of Spades.' Tricky has been doing the song for years, but Thursday night, after the six syrupy electro-punk bangers that had preceded it, the speed-metal diversion came as something of a shock.

Sadly, Tricky offered no impression of Lemmy Kilmister, Motorhead's iconic frontman. As with most of the night's 14 songs, he deferred to the female singer in his band, preferring to either dance with fans or stand with his back to the crowd, bobbing his head. In the studio, Tricky serves as a producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and speak-singing vocalist, but live, he's mostly a face for the music. On instrumental opener 'You Don't Wanna,' he did little more than take off his shirt, hoist a beer and light a cigarette, and still he had the packed house in the palm of his hand.

He took a more active role on 'Really Real,' one of several tracks from his recently released ninth album, 'Mixed Race.' Tricky is known for his whispering delivery, and given the sheer volume of the guitar, bass, keyboards and drums blaring out of the PA, his cries of "I don't feel anything" might as well have been "I don't hear anything."

He spoke up some on highlight 'Council Estate,' refusing to be overpowered by the searing garage-rock guitar. It's a song about growing up in the projects of Bristol, England, and Tricky's chorus -- "Can't break it, can't take who you are/remember, boy, you're a superstar" -- played like a self-affirmation.

During the encore, 'Past Mistake,' Tricky once again opened the stage to fans, although the vibe this time was quite different. The Motorhead thrash of 45 minutes earlier had given way to drowsy keyboard and bass, and given that it was pushing 1AM, this was quite welcome: a comedown, not a letdown.