It’s fair to say most people at the Belvoir didn’t notice that Geoff Barrow messed up the scratch intro to Mysterons, my wife certainly didn’t. I did, I was waiting like an eager teen for the first scratch of the show. There’s something about THAT sound, that sound that got me into Portishead in the first place. DJ and general superhuman Q-Bert reckons by scratching he’s channeling the gods and alien lifeforces, I just think it’s a fucking great noise.
Technical issues swiftly addressed and CDJs fixed, ppppppp…portis..head were aaaaaa…ma…zing. Like, REALLY amazing. The feint whiff of jazz cigarettes and a slight chill in the air added to the eerie atmosphere, Beth Gibbons voice chilling, crackling and emotionally charged, sent goosebumps up and down my spine, arms, legs, wrists, fingers, toes… you get the point.
The new songs sounded excellent although, and I don’t have a valid excuse here, I’ve not listened to Third that much, has anyone? The electronic drums of machine gun smashing the air with a video backdrop that was mesmerising. Wandering star was my highlight, Geoff Barrow playing bass guitar sat opposite Beth Gibbons. Voice and rhythm perfectly combined.
A nice combination of tracks from all three albums were included in the set, “All Mine” was the only obvious omission. “Cowboys” was left until three songs from the end, sonically perfect and the scratching exemplary.
The switch from samples and loops used on record to full live instrumentation was astonishing, perfected over a pretty full-on touring schedule.
As a spectacle they smashed it, they had 4500 people transfixed and never lost them. It was special and I was there, at Belvoir when for two hours Portishead owned Perth.
