The Mission occupy the middle slot of tonight's Alice Cooper bill and spend forty-five minutes making a fairly persuasive case that they shouldn't. The songs aren't necessarily the problem. The performance is. Dull, listless and strangely disengaged, the band plays as though getting through the allotted time is the evening's principal objective.
The reliance on backing tracks doesn't help. With much of the rhythm and percussion apparently running on tape, the drummer is reduced to an almost decorative role, sitting behind the kit waiting for the occasional opportunity to throw in a fill. Rather than adding weight to the music, the arrangement drains it of whatever physical energy it might have had.
The nadir is an anaemic version of Neil Young's “Like a Hurricane,” a song whose title becomes increasingly ironic as it limps along. There is no danger, no momentum and precious little indication that anyone onstage is particularly invested in what they're playing.
Perhaps it's simply an off night. Bands have them. But judged on these forty-five minutes alone, The Mission are badly out of place on a professional arena bill, let alone in the slot immediately preceding Alice Cooper.
