(All photos by Nicole Berlin Photography: @nicoleberlinphotography)
Pretty good? Yeah. Curiously programmed? Also yes.
When a highly successful alt-pop act like Portugal. The Man has a two-hour set ahead of them, and one hit of theirs still towers above the rest — not only commercially, but culturally — it’s usually a given that you’ll hear that hit. When you don’t, depending on who you are, it’s a major surprise at minimum and a major disappointment at maximum.
Perhaps the longtime PTM die-hards — the ones who have followed the Alaska crew since their debut album dropped almost 20 years ago — didn’t even register the absence of “Feel It Still” during Portugal’s set last Friday at the Moody Theater. Maybe they even applauded said omission, as the earwormy song’s mega-success during 2017 across several different charts — and every manner of working sound system — is exactly how “sellout” accusations start. For the rest of us, it was a little wild to hear husband-and-wife duo John Baldwin Gourley and Zoe Manville (and their touring buddies) leave their career-defining track off such a packed musical agenda — even in a set that featured its share of rousing rock moments in ACL Moody’s signature darkness.
This is nothing truly personal, mind you, as “Feel It Still” isn’t my personal favorite PTM song. But I’ll belabor the point just a little longer because my favorite Portugal is 2009’s alt-psych anthem “People Say,” probably their best-known song prior to 2017 … and the band didn’t play that, either. Collectively, it was a weird 1-2 punch of omission on a couple of pivotal pieces of the band’s career.
What we did get, though, was mostly solid. Opening the show with a narrated video montage touting a return to connecting with nature and other humans, PTM then launched into the first eight tracks off most recent album Shish. During the first handful of performances or so, muddled sound seemed to be something of an issue. It was a benefit, though, that the band quickly got some of the least interesting material on its setlist out of the way upfront — particularly the ill-advised doom-shouting of “Pittman Ralliers,” featuring post-hardcore vocalist David Marion. That dramatic departure for Portugal probably shouldn’t have seen the light of day either on record or in concert. But after that low point two songs in, things picked up and the sound clarity seemed to improve.
Other Shish features — like “Kokhanockers,” for which the band unleased a barrage of pink balloons — went over with much more impressive psych-rock sweep, and the album’s title track was about when the set hit its stride. Gourley, present since PTM’s creation, and Manville, who joined midstream, have always been a perfect vocal marriage as well, their high-register pipes melding as one to create a sound both nostalgic and almost unmistakably distinctive. Working on opposite sides of a square table placed at center stage, where they were flanked at various times by members of their touring companions, Gourley and Manville stayed blended in, never stepping out as the visual center of any song performance.
My favorite moments came on older stuff, particularly with the weird visual augmentation on “Purple Yellow Red and Blue,” during which an analog-looking camera somewhere on the table shot up on Gourley as he performed, giving the look of found ’80s VHS video. The off-center social outcast anthem “Creep in a T-Shirt,” off the same 2013 album, was another clear highlight, with its loopy pop-rock charge and woo-woos serving as a good example of how Portugal’s long-standing adventurousness translates well live. And “Got It All (This Can’t Be Living Now),” another personal favorite in the catalogue, is in the sonic vein of “People Say,” and the band performed it well.
After the lights came on and the filing-out began, I saw one presumed die-hard (wearing a Portugal tee) say to a friend, “Great show, huh man? We’ll talk tomorrow,” before exiting the back door leading off the Moody floor. Safe to say that dude likely had no issue with the signature songs Portugal. The Man left on that big square table. I say this high-B/low B+ performance could’ve had A- upside had those two hits made their way into the party. As it is, though, Portugal. The Man showed they had the catalogue and the chops to deliver a fine set without them.
See more photos from Portugal. The Man’s performance below:
