“Roadrunner Roadrunnerrr/going a hundred miles per hour/with your radio ON,” sings M.I.A. in a low pitch that echoes through the audience. Decked out in a large Tupac t-shirt, white lace-print leggings and Converse tennies, she yells, “Turn it up! San Francissssco!” before throwing down another line.

The sold out Fillmore show on November 7th started out slow with “Bamboo Banger”, but Sri Lankan artist Maya Arulpragasam and her legging-clad back-up vocalists looked like the ladies of early 1990s hip hop—with the moves and stage presence to match.

Girls screamed when she called to them to dance on stage. M.I.A. pressed on the gunshot sample as they weaseled their way through the crowd and climbed onstage, leading into "Paper Planes.” It was an odd juxtaposition: girls screaming while gunshots fired and images of dancing b-boys flashed on the screen—do M.I.A.’s dance beats overshadow her music’s political message?

The controversial and upbeat “Sunshowers” off her first album, "Arular" was lackluster, but she brought down the tempo and our spirits with “$20.”

Lights out and straight rays of red light streamed over everyone. Then singing “Where is my mind”, the DJ transitioned into the first synth beats of New Order’s “Blue Monday.” But M.I.A. left us hanging, and here I thought she was going to do a cover.

The opening chicken squawks of “Bird Flu” and trumpets in “Boyz” transported everyone from the musty San Francisco venue to a hot jungle block party, water sprayed over us while we danced mimicking M.I.A.: legs butter-flying and arms in the air pushing forward.

Rounding out the evening she performed "Bucky Done Gun" and even though "Galang" is certainly played out on my itunes, tonight "London-calling-speak the slang now-boyz say, 'what-what'-girls say, 'what-what'" over the buzzing base line sounded fresh.

It certainly felt like a school night… two encores and the lights went up at 10:30 p.m.