PORTUGAL. THE MAN - Terminal 5, NY, 20th October

Having been introduced to, ‘Portugal. The Man’ in March of this year and listened to their music fairly heavily since then, their music can best be described as psychedelic pop rock. That said, there are some diversions that has one second guessing. It’s fair to say that, Portugal. The Man are not that easy to tie down to a genre.

Recent album, ‘In The Mountain In The Cloud’ (reviewed here in July - http://scoaustin.blogspot.com/2011/07/album-review-portugal-man-in-mountain.html) heralds the bands half dozen mark in terms of albums. Notably, this is the band first on, Atlantic Records. Rolling on from the momentum sparked by their rise in 2006, and significant radio play of, ‘People Say’ from, ‘The Satanic Satanist’ in ‘09, ‘In The Mountain In The Cloud’ continues the intense release cycle of one album per year. This feat is made all the more remarkable when you account for the band’s hectic road schedule. They have played over 800 shows ranging from freight elevators and small record stores to huge festivals like, Bonnaroo. ‘In The Mountain In The Cloud’ is arguably the first recording by the band that captures their onstage energy fully. That onstage energy will be further discussed in this review.

Smoke galore and ping pong ball type lights strewn across the Terminal 5 stage, ‘Portugal. The Man’ took the stage barely visible in the cloud of smoke. The band opened with the first track from their latest album, ‘So American’. I really like this tune which begins with soft, high pitch keys before developing in to a sweet little guitar riff in which lead man, Gourley howls, “so who broke the rules? Who broke the rules? Who broke the rules” to begin the chorus. Before continuing with further new material, the band ripped through four tracks of previous releases.  ‘Work All Day’ from ‘09 release, ‘The Satanic Satanist’ emphasizing that the band were going to mix it up and ultimately run the gamut of their spectrum of albums. This one has the rhythm of a steam train in motion. ‘The Devil’ (which I had never heard before as I haven’t given their debut album a listen yet) kicked off with drummer, Jason Sechrist leading the crowd applause to assist with the tribal beat before leading beautifully in to a surprise rendition of, ‘The Beatles’, ‘Helter Skelter’. The cut over was impressive and the version was okay if not sublime.

With the crowd already in fervent mood, ‘AKA M80 The Wolf’ was next up. Just when you think you’ve nailed the band to a genre, this song comes along and destroys that feeling. This tune is more in the, PJ Harvey, Flaming Lips, Bjork style. It works though. ‘The Woods’ swiftly follows and I love the filthy guitar riff in the middle of this tune. It’s like, Hendrix meets Zeppelin. The song itself is fairly aggressive and although I’m not sure about the lyrics, it sounds like a political rant. The mood is softened a little by another of the offerings from the recent release in, ‘Head Is a Flame’. I suspect this is as high pitched as, Gourley can go. Another surprise cover again mixed in beautifully came in the form of the ‘Mott the Hoople’s’, ‘All The Young Dudes’. Good stuff and perhaps some further insight to the band’s influences. 

Another track from debut album (which I’m going to have to give more of a listen), ‘Waiter: “You Vultures!” in the shape of ‘Elephants’. A crashing beat in which an animated, Gourley jammed out intensely throughout. There was a lot of jamming during this set and why not? Another massive shift to the more recent stuff in, ‘Floating’ which is a very well composed and constructed piece by a perhaps more experienced and talented, Portugal. The Man. ‘All Your Light’ kicks in with a dark and moody organ that belongs in a horror movie and the track itself with backing vocals from, Ryan Neighbors sounds like something from, David Bowie or, Talking Heads. It’s one of my favourite tracks on the current album and the live version extended that status.

‘1989’ was the first track played from, ‘Censored Colors’. There is a plethora of sounds on this one from keyboards, synth, guitars and strings. This is a band who doesn’t mind getting complex. ‘Do You’ and ‘Everyone is Golden’ that follow are another of my all time favourite songs from the band. They are a little more simplistic, but if any sound ever does epitomize this band, these could well be it. Perhaps this is driven by the fact that these hail from the album I’ve heard most since my first experience of the band at SXSW. They’re happy go lucky songs that provide a feel good factor when listening.

   

‘Got It All’ from the current release is simply amazing live. If the previous songs provided ‘feel good’, this takes it to ecstatic proportions. For me, a certain highlight of the set, “we’ll shake shake shake the night away”. I am sure I felt my normally rigid hips swaying to this one (Jerry and KLowe may be able to confirm). ‘Mornings’ shares the tribal type beat of, ‘The Devil’ previously and it’s another wonderful vocal display by, Gourley who has some wonderful lyrics in his repertoire and insatiable vocal chords. The cosmic sounding, ‘The Sun’ led us towards the sets end. More smoke churned from the smoke machines before ‘Senseless’ with it’s, “what is a man to do?” chorus and ‘Sleep Forever’ with its gentle and aptly sleepy tune concluded the show momentarily.

The crowed bayed for more and weren’t disappointed when the band reappeared for a five track encore which again featured some old, some new and yet another surprise cover. ‘Created’ was first up with, Gourley taking the mic in his soft and sultry manner on this harmonizing track from, ‘Censored Colors’.  This was followed by the phenomenal, ‘People Say’ which actually starts out with a riff that reminds me of a Rod Stewart song (don’t know which one. It’s just familiar as I grew up on his stuff thanks to my Mum who adores Rod). This is epic, ‘Portugal. The Man’. One of the songs that really grabbed me when I saw them for the first time at SXSW. This morphed in to a track that was, for me, the biggest surprise of the evening. A rendition of, ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ from my all time favourite band, Oasis. Not the best track from the Manchester band in my opinion, but a well worked version from, ‘Portugal. The Man’ that had the Terminal 5 crowd signing along in delight.

 

‘Guns and Dogs’ was next up before ‘Chicago’ closed proceedings. This, another song that I had never heard before was like two songs within a song. It was frantic, loud and fast from the outset. Something like a ‘Rage Against The Machine’ tune with crashing drum beats and aggressive lyrics before submerging in to a calming melody and then jamming out again to conclude a superb show. The crowd needed some persuasion to leave, but eventually left with smiles on their faces.

With no specific roots, this band offers an huge capacity to alter audibly…perhaps something that some of their peers can offer. Gourley, who oftentimes pens the songs from isolated locations such as his parents’ home in Alaska recently noted that “Even if I’m writing a song by myself, it’s constantly written around what the band does and around the things that they like.” 

Following a brilliant hour and a half plus set including a five song encore that incorporated a clever mix of their hit, ‘People Say’ into a cover of Oasis’, ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ there’s no doubt that this band have found the recipe of success. Perhaps the recent move to, Atlantic Records is a factor in this. Thousands of bands play the big apple each week (particularly when CMJ is on), but only few capture a crowd like, ‘Portugal. The Man does’. In this, their biggest headlining show to date, the were extremely humbled and honoured…those who attended probably feel the same. Rating 8/10

Set List:

So American 

Work All Day 

The Devil

Helter Skelter

AKA M80 The Wolf

The Woods 

Head Is a Flame (Cool With It) 

All The Young Dudes

Elephants 

Floating (Time Isn't Working My Side) 

All Your Light

1989/Our Way 

Do You 

Everyone Is Golden 

Got It All

Mornings 

The Sun 

Senseless 

Sleep Forever 

Encore:

Created 

People Say 

Don't Look Back In Anger

Guns and Dogs 

Chicago