Originally started as a side project for frontman John Baldwin Gourley, Oregon’s Portugal. The Man has risen to prominence and gained a reputation as an ever-evolving experimental rock band over their near decade long career.
Their most recent album, "Evil Friends" has pulled back some of the stretched out ambient jams and psychedelic interludes in favor of more tightly constructed pop songwriting and elegant, polished production. This is due in part to the inclusion of Grammy award-winning studio wizard Dangermouse (Gnarls Barkley, The Black Keys, Sparklehorse) as executive producer on the album.
This shift in approach was evident on Friday although the band managed to maintain their niche for periods of fuzzy ambience while still seamlessly transitioning into driving sing-along anthems.
Opening band Guards got things started with an entertaining yet derivative set of mid-tempo songs that seemed to excite the crowd into an early frenzy. Apparently, it’s been doing too good of a job of this on tour, as lead singer Richie Follin announced that the audience in Chicago the previous night had been too tame for Portugal. The Man’s performance after an explosive Guards opening set. As we later found out, this would not end up being a problem in Milwaukee.
There was an unusually long set-up period after Guards finished and the crowd was starting to get anxious after waiting nearly an hour for Portugal. The Man to take the stage. Ultimately, the wait would prove to be worth it.
As the house lights dim, the crowd erupted as panned keyboard loop launched the band into its great new single, "Purple Yellow Red and Blue" and saw everyone in attendance singing along instantly. While the band was incredibly tight, and the house mix was perfect, animated sketches and choreographed lighting helped make the performance visually stunning, as well.
Portugal. The Man predictably relied heavily on its new album cuts but managed to work in the thrilling echoes and spacey delay transitions of its previous work. One of my favorite moments of the show featured the tripped-out synth warbles of "All Your Light" which appears on 2011’s terrific LP "In The Mountain In The Cloud."
The ability to move so flawlessly from sections and songs allows Portugal. The Man to always keep audiences guessing and incorporate unexpected songs when the timing is right. The band managed to splice in bits and pieces of Beatles classics like "Helter Skelter" and "Hey Jude," as well as a cover of the theme song from "It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia."
Clearly, John Baldwin Gourley and company have a good idea of the demographic they’re playing for. The covers were all that anyone was talking about as I made my way through the lobby to head to the bathroom midway through the set.
Portugal. The Man has always been a difficult band to classify, as its influences are vast and identifiable, but it proved Friday that it has found a unique voice of its own that is worth more than the sum of its parts.
