Portugal. The Man at Hoxton Bar & Grill
Hoxton Bar & Grill, 27 October 2009
So tonight I decided on the man I want to marry: Portugal. The Man. Except it's not a man, it's a band (although we could adapt the vows to say "do you take this band?"). Sadly though, aside from legal concerns, it's a one-sided romance and my newfound unrequited love for them only occurred midway during their gig at the tiny Hoxton Bar & Grill (which lived up to the grill part of its name tonight, as it was horribly, swelteringly hot inside) as admittedly before tonight I only owned a couple of their albums and didn't even know what they looked like (I even had to look up the singer's name to write this). It was probably during the middle of one of my favourite tracks of theirs, Church Mouth, a mammoth rocking beast of a number, that midway broke down and went into a tender, whispery version of the Harry Nilsson song One (Is The Loneliest Number). Rocking but sensitive, and with a sense of humour too. Does it get any better?
Sounding like a cross between The Mars Volta (partly due to singer/guitarist/songwriter John Baldwin Gourley being something of a soundalike to Cedric Bixler) and Dr Dog or even My Morning Jacket, there's definitely a deep rooted love of 70s rock in their music (apparent even in their look of baker boy caps and brown slacks) although their audience in the venue tonight is a noticeably young crowd. Two teenage girls near me particularly stood out, sporting outfits straight out of the 1983 wardrobe of Paula Yates or Bananarama, including flowery scarves in their hair (whoever brought back this look, and 80s fashion in general, I hate you.) The 80s girls seemed to be having a good time though apart from when the band broke into a storming version of Bowie's glam rock anthem, Moonage Daydream (then they looked confused and bored - I guess, as 80s girls, they only really know Let's Dance Bowie) but gasped and squealed when Gourley threw in a snatch of MGMT's "classic" hit Weekend Wars, bless 'em. They looked slightly less impressed when it segued into a booming Hendrix-style blast of heavy guitar playing, which, to my ears, sounded awesome.
Sounding like a cross between The Mars Volta (partly due to singer/guitarist/songwriter John Baldwin Gourley being something of a soundalike to Cedric Bixler) and Dr Dog or even My Morning Jacket, there's definitely a deep rooted love of 70s rock in their music (apparent even in their look of baker boy caps and brown slacks) although their audience in the venue tonight is a noticeably young crowd. Two teenage girls near me particularly stood out, sporting outfits straight out of the 1983 wardrobe of Paula Yates or Bananarama, including flowery scarves in their hair (whoever brought back this look, and 80s fashion in general, I hate you.) The 80s girls seemed to be having a good time though apart from when the band broke into a storming version of Bowie's glam rock anthem, Moonage Daydream (then they looked confused and bored - I guess, as 80s girls, they only really know Let's Dance Bowie) but gasped and squealed when Gourley threw in a snatch of MGMT's "classic" hit Weekend Wars, bless 'em. They looked slightly less impressed when it segued into a booming Hendrix-style blast of heavy guitar playing, which, to my ears, sounded awesome.
Like The Mars Volta, their songs have obviously evolved into different beasts live and many turned into extended guitar solo-filled jams and I have to say Gourley is a an absolutely superb guitarist, amazingly handling many licks while also singing (and barely seeing under his cap, which kept dropping over his eyes). Apparently they've toured with more members in the past but at the moment they are an extremely tight four-piece (with just drums, keyboards and bass in addition to Gourley on vocals and guitar) but there's something about this parred down version of the band that seems more intimate and filled with chemistry. Even relatively softer numbers such as My Mind and Everyone Is Golden felt full of good feeling and there was a particularly lovely moment in Work All Day when the music broke down, leaving the band singing in unison "We'll pick it up and pack it up, And put it in a bag", like a quartet of chirpy folk singers, before picking the beat up again and bursting back into the music.
Ending on an epic version of one of the band's loudest numbers, Chicago, the guys seemed really excited to be in London, it's only their second time here they told us, but despite a rather subdued, too-cool-for-school crowd, hopefully it won't be their last.
Ending on an epic version of one of the band's loudest numbers, Chicago, the guys seemed really excited to be in London, it's only their second time here they told us, but despite a rather subdued, too-cool-for-school crowd, hopefully it won't be their last.
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