Portishead Review

Surrounded by trees, seated on grass at the Belvoir Ampitheatre, the venue felt beautifully fitting for a band such as Portishead. The mellow vibe was probably helped by the six pack me and my companion shared on the way up, as well as the ever present plumes of white smoke emanating from all points in the crowd. Thank heavens for a contact high, because eight dollars for a can of Carlton Draught is fucking extortion.

Mercury Rev came on stage to a semi filled crowd, and was probably surprised at the sheer number of people who knew their songs and sung along to classics like "Holes" and "Endlessly." Jonathan Donahue's dreamy, wandering presence on stage was a joy to watch, while his wracked and emotional voice carried well over his band's waves of beautiful, melodic fuzz. The highlight of the set for me, however, was their faithful cover of Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill," which was a perfect suit to Donahue's voice.

Portishead came on stage to rapturous applause and a decent plume of white smoke, and wordlessly took command of the stage with a tight, groovy performance. The sound quality was impeccable, the perfect mix of dense beats and Adrian Utley's tasteful guitar, with Beth Gibbons' unmistakable vocals mixed to perfection hanging just above them. With barely any movement, she commanded total attention from behind the mic and never missed a single, tortured note.

Highlights included the industrial unease of "Machine Gun", the smooth jazzy groove of "Sour Times" and an amazing rendition of "Wandering Star," stripped down to its bare bones of Geoff Barrow's haunting bass chords, Gibbons' pained whisper and Utley's slinky, melodic guitar lines. The best moment of the set, however, was "The Rip," slowly growing from acoustic fingerpicking via more Gibbons-brand angst into a hypnotic, synth led conclusion.

Despite being such a "studio" band, the music of Portishead translated incredibly well live. There was no pyrotechnics or crowd surfing, but the music doesn't call for it. Instead, the show was 6 incredibly talented musicians playing some of the most unique and defining music of the 90s and 2000s.