Portrait by Christian Espinoza

A beautiful afternoon at The Getty

Portishead - Vector Arena, November 10th

Haunting, intense and dangerous.

Portishead absolutely smashed the Vector last night, filling our ears with gold. It was the percussive chaos of Silence that led the way with Beth Gibbons, Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley owning the stage staunch with passion.

We were standing about five rows from the front; right in the centre so had a great view of the entire band. Beth was front and center opposite us, visually sharing the stage with a large video screen projection. A combination of live images, pre-recorded digital artwork and illustrations morphed in and out, perfectly synced with the band – it was magic. A special thanks to both John for the visuals and the sound technicians - it was without a doubt the best sound I have ever heard at the Vector.

The show really kicked in with the space-age Mysterons, seamlessly followed by The Rip. Hearing ‘White Horses’ howled through the microphone whilst grinning with my girlfriend almost melted me to the floor. Another highlight of the night for me was the quiet, and eerie performance of Wandering Star, performed seated by the band. It was followed by a song I like to dance jerky to - Machine Gun from Third, with Gibbons’ delicate vocals mashed into industrial beats to create a fierce little number. Clive Deamer who recently featured on Radiohead's King of Limbs did an excellent job of drumming in this song and actually, I was impressed by Geoff and his drumming throughout their whole set.

With plenty of incredible tracks to fill the spots between my favourite tunes, Portishead remained poised and powerful to the end, closing the curtains with a favourite of Geoff Barrows and mine - a terrifying version of Threads.

The crowd went crazy, throwing all our appreciation into hands. Whistles and shouting followed with people in the seats drumming their feet for an encore. About a minute later, the talented Beth Gibbons and her entourage appeared onstage, notably overwhelmed by their warm reception. Straight into Roads, a number the audience had been waiting to hear, Portishead played out their encore with what they do best, eerie intensity. It was so beautiful; the whole evening was like nothing I’ve ever heard before. 

True Love