At around 5:30 PM I took what was the "last" trip from the edge of Manhattan to Governor's Island on a ferry driven by a maniac, who I'm almost certain must have missed his days of being a crazy sea captain of a ship. Minutes later I arrived at my destination, shaken up, but still in one piece, ready to listen to the band that I came for, Portugal. The Man.
Based in Portland, Oregon, but originally from Wasilla, Alaska, this band plays music that is a mix of psychedelic and experimental sounds.
At the beach, I was told that the show starts "no later than 6PM."
At 6:17, I wondered over to the stage where I was blinded by bright colored hipsters, who decided that sitting directly next to the barricade was better than standing in the scorching sun. Not wanting to feel like the odd-man-out I joined them in their sun protest, and waited for the lingering show to start.
At 8:15, the first opening band, Hopwell, came on. I stood up to listen, but wasn't too sure how I felt about their music. The crowd seemed similarly perplexed.
On my left was a group of people who somehow managed to fall asleep while standing up. But, to my right were kids bopping their heads so aggressively to Hopwell's song "Boat Ride Over the Mountain" that they came very close to tragically breaking their necks.
Alberta Cross followed soon after. The band is a mesh of Rock with blues, and sounds like The Smashing Pumpkins, with vocals that are in the range of Jane's Addiction's Perry Farrell.
As they began to play, the sun started to set, and the lead singer, Petter Ericson Stakee, who looks a like Neil Young in his heyday, serenaded the still antsy crowd. Eventually he won them over with his slow hand clapping, harmonizing, and subtle vocals.
At 10:17, Zachary Scott Carothers, the bassist of Portugal. The Man, brought the guitars on stage. He was greeted with cheers, and girls professing their love for him. He tuned the guitars and went backstage.
Eventually, all the members slowly walked onto the stage, the drummer, Jason Sechrist, the keyboardist Ryan Neighbors, the bassist Zachary Scott Carothers, and the guitarist/lead singer John Baldwin Gourley.
The band played a total of 13 songs, with some of their songs sounding slightly better live.
When they finished, they walked off the stage, and the crowd cheered for "One More SONG!" The bassist came back, thanked the audience, and told everyone that they would play "two more songs." Portugal. The Man then jogged back on stage and played what turned out to be three songs, "Created," "1989," and "Our Way."
They thanked the crowd again for coming out, and the show was over.
I highly recommend going to see Portugal. The Man, if you like Psychedelic/ Experimental music. You can hear more about them on their myspace page Myspace.com/portugaltheman or via their website www.PortugaltheMan.net
Set List
The Mind
The Sun
Guns & Dogs
Chicago
Do You
New Orleans
Shades
Marching
Stables
And I
People Say
AKA M80 the Wolf
Encore: Created, 1989, Our Way