Portishead Overload
Sure, I was excited at the thought of a new Portishead release. But it was going to take more than a record for me to believe they were really back. The new album (Third, released yesterday in the states) was merely a declaration of Portishead’s long-awaited return. Their Coachella performance was the affirmation.
Although I was only able to attend Coachella on Saturday, I say with confidence that Portishead’s performance was by far the best of the night (sorry Prince), and speculate that it may have been the best performance of the entire three days. Here’s some video I shot.
I think it was either Geoff Barrow or Adrian Utley who merely uttered, “…thanks for waiting,” at the end of the set, and these were the only words spoken by the band the entire time they were on stage. In a way, they were also the only words that needed to be said. When the set was over I didn’t care that I’d had to stand in the face-melting-heat for hours. I didn’t care that I wasn’t going to see The Verve. I didn’t care about any other show I’d ever missed. I didn’t even care that I had waited nearly 7 years to see Portishead perform live. It was at once the single, most completely inspiring and mind-blowing show I’ve ever seen, and I’m totally bummed that it’s over.
Now for the nitty-gritty: Portishead opened up with ‘Silence,’ off of the new record, Third , and Beth Gibbons kicked my ass during, ‘Glory Box.’ If you’re wondering what they played, the a(fucking)mazing setlist went a little like this:
1. Silence
2. Mysterons
3. The Rip
4. Glory Box
5. Wandering Star
6. Machine Gun
7. Over
8. Sour Times
9. Cowboys
10. Threads
11. Roads
12. We Carry On
For those of you who didn’t make it out to see Portishead–I offer you the next best thing! Thanks to Deaf Indie Elephants, you can download mp3’s of Saturday night’s Coachella performance. So now all you gotta do is close your eyes and pretend you were there. Fortunately, I don’t have to pretend. HA!
Oh, and you also should quit lagging and go buy yourself a hard copy of Third. And in case you forgot: trip-hop ain’t dead.
