Portishead

10-04-11  |  New York City  |  Hammerstein Ballroom

by Danielle Mathieux - MOVEMENT/NY

When a band announces a tour after an extensive hiatus, there’s always a bit of apprehension causing you to wonder if they can still do it. Will this show be the band I’ve loved for years or will it sound like a sloppy imitation? Portishead’s performance at the Hammerstein Ballroom, show #1 of a two-night affair in New York CIty, quashed these thoughts, exceeding the expectations of everyone in the audience—not only did they not disappoint, but they put on a show that left me with chills. From the snippets of conversations overheard while smoking a post-show cigarette, I knew I wasn’t the only one who knew I witnessed something special that night.



The 90-minute setlist was a well-rounded mix of songs spanning their three studio albums, with each eerily composed song sounding better than the last. It was a collection that pleased both new and old Portishead fans alike, leaving us all satisfied, yet craving more.

Spanning the stage was an impressive collection of gear, revealing how the band creates their signature sound that’s simultaneously delicate and abrasive. Projected behind the band was a reel of animation spliced in with visually distorted real-time shots of the band members captured by cameras propped by their feet or on their equipment. For those sitting further from the band, the projection brought the members closer, showing them playing their instruments and magnifying the subtle anguish on Beth’s face for all to see.



Rarely moving from her center-stage spot, Beth Gibbons’ delicate, yet powerful voice carried throughout the ballroom as she sang in a slightly hunched-over stance, clenching the mic stand as if she would disappear into her own sound if she loosened her grip.

The only oddity of the night had nothing to do with the band, but the audience. As a spectator in the balcony I had a clear view of the pit below. If I had seen Portishead play a decade earlier, all eyes would have been glued on the band with no light coming from the audience below aside from a cigarette or lighter flicker; however, the audience was a glowing sea of smart phones and iPads. There were so many people snapping iPad photos and filming with their phones that they were emitting light pollution as they watched the entire show through their devices. Many people never looked away from their phones and tablets to see the band in the flesh—a band that most of us thought we would never have the opportunity to see at all.



The setlist was as follows:

1.       Silence
2.       Hunter
3.       Mysterons
4.       The Rip
5.       Sour Times
6.       Magic Doors
7.       Wandering Star
8.       Machine Gun
9.       Over
10.   Glory Box
11.   Chase the Tear
12.   Cowboys
13.   Threads
14.   Roads (ENCORE)
15.   We Carry On (ENCORE)