Review: Portishead live at Vector Arena, 10/11/11

What the fuck has happened to my ears? I feel like my head is inside a fish bowl, people are talking to me but their words sound like aural cushions, nothing is totally clear but I'm smiling, smiling a lot. I have never had such a musical assault as I did last night from Bristol band Portishead at Vector Arena. Pin-drop clarity was combined with awe inspiring volume and spleen rattling bass. From the opening bars of Silence the whole audience was sucked into the bands musical womb and there we all stayed, enraptured until the final bars of We Carry On an hour and half later.

Mostly jumping between Dummy and Third, with only two songs from their eponymous second album, this was no trip down memory lane. Instead it was a lesson in musical polygamy and effortless cool. The main players, Geoff Barrow, Beth Gibbons and Adrian Utley, were occasionally picked out in the lighting design or by onstage cameras but spent a majority of the night bathed in shadows, allowing the music and the impressive visuals to take centre stage. The only exception being when the three key players took centre stage for a stripped down, beat free version of Wandering Star, even then Barrow almost had his back to the audience whilst Gibbon's head was bowed so low her microphone disappeared into a curtain of hair. This lack of ego onstage takes the individual personalities out of the music and makes the band the entity, we are watching Portishead, not Barrow, Gibbons and Utley.

The rest of the band are technically hired hands, but it's hard to imagine a Portishead without Clive Deamer safe guarding the rhythm with his slick, super fast and highly technical drumming. He frees up Barrow to throw in beats, scratches, samples and all the other complex musical wizardry he does. John Baggot's keys added layers to the soundscapes and depth to the rhythm, the best example being the John Carpenter meets Kraftwerk back bone to Chase the Tear (released in 2009 as a charity single for Amnesty International). On bass Jim Barr seemed to effortlessly glide through whatever complex time signature was thrown at him. At the same time he continued the eternal search for the “brown note”, the note so deep and heavy that it makes you lose control of your bowels. And last night he came closer than any other that I have heard and for that he should be applauded.

It's hard to see Portishead as the trip-hop pioneers they were labelled as back in 1994, their doom, post-rock and hip hop inspired sound has outgrown the genre they invented. Musically, they have never been apologist or conformists, they have always followed their own path and it is with that in mind that their audiences are willing to put themselves in the bands hands and let them take them where ever they want to go. It is the sort of trust you don't find at your average “play the fucking single!” rock show. It reminded me of a quote from David Simmon (creator of the Wire) when asked about how the complexity of his shows story might scare off the casual viewer “Fuck the casual viewer.” was his succinct response. And here I say fuck the casual listener, you must allow them to take control of a couple of hours of your life, if you do this you will be greatly rewarded, the show, like their albums and like the band themselves are a complete package and should be digested, understood and enjoyed as such to get the full benefit.

The sound cushion around my ears has faded and I'm back to normal now, the physical memory of the bass is still bouncing around my insides and I intend to hang on to it for as long as possible.

Steve Wheadon

For the purists amongst you the shows set list is below, I stole it from someone else as I am terrible at track titles, it's always “The fourth one of Dummy” or “The opening track from Third”. Thankfully Marty Duda over at 13^th Floor is far more organised and put this together along with a proper review of the show rather than a hungover waffle, check it out: www.13thfloor.co.nz

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

Tiny Ruins & Artisan Guns – 18th June 2011, The Wine Cellar, Auckland

Having failed to get tickets for the Tiny Ruin’s album launch the night before it was a relief to find a second night had been arranged due to popular demand. As was expected the dilapidated sofas of the Wine Cellar’s back room were overflowing and it was standing room only by the time Artisan Guns set got going. Despite having sacrificed their headline show to accommodate the demand for Tiny Ruins it was clear that crowd were here as much for them as for the next band.

 Artisan Guns

A mismatched looking bunch of grungy, hipster, skater chic with a Jason Schwartzman look-a-like, channelling the wobbly headed joy of Mickey Dolenz on drums. The look, or lack of it offered a relaxed stage presence which was complimented by the sometimes uncomfortable inter-song banter, private jokes and throw away lines mumbled into or often off the microphone which set off small ripples of laughter from the front rows, but were often lost by the time they reached us at the back. Beach Boy harmonies with a Steve Malkamus drone and loose but confident musicianship combined the slacker attitudes of the 60’s and 90’s together with genuine warmth and charm. Clearly worthy of the headline show they were originally scheduled for Artisan Guns are way above the indie pop label they are bound to be stuck with, cerebral, witty and warm, they are what all those “generation x” garage bands of the 90’s could have been if only they had possessed some self awareness and a sense of humour. 

In true Wine Cellar style, Tiny Ruins (Hollie Fullbrook) had to wait for one of the members of Artisan Guns to replace her on door duties before she could start setting up for her performance. This extended change over gave me an opportunity to queue for the one men’s toilet available and check out the newly re-furbished bar. Whilst it looks more open and cleaner it has reduced the beer options to two choices or bottles. For a pint drinker this is most distressing, but with a name like The Wine Cellar I'm not sure what I I was expecting beer in the first place.

  

 Tiny Ruins photo by Georgiebird

Before the show began I had no expectations, I had been persuaded to attended by a friend and when I asked “What are they like? “ the only answer offered was “Mellow”. It was Saturday night and I hadn’t been out for a while, a couple of glasses of red at home and a few quick beers during Artisan Guns set had not geared me up (or down) for “mellow”. Mentally I was prepared to listen to three songs, give them a chance, then make my excuses and go to the bar, I was fidgety and impatient. Then Hollie started singing and for the next 45 minutes I only moved when requested to by someone trying to squeeze their way to the toilet. A singing voice that is a warm soulful blanket of lazy vowels and a Joanna Newsome meets Emily Smith accent silenced the crowd for the entire set. Her unique vocal charms are enough to add depth to what could be a twee fest of singer-songwriter self indulgence. But the dark accompaniment from the band and clever lyrical journeys push this even further away from anything remotely saccharine. Alex Freer (the same Schwartzman look-a-like from Artisan Guns) dispensed with his Monkees impression, and sat still and controlled occasionally keeping time on tambourine and bass drum or, with the help of the bands beautiful and subtle bassist, built atmosphere and added darker, deeper shades with the marching bass drum by his side.

References to Southland and road trips conjured up images of some the stunning scenery New Zealand has in abundance whilst references to the true stories of a South American priest’s ballooning exploits and ballet dancing traffic cops in Eastern Europe reveal a taste for the absurd and an eye for the inspiring and comic moments often missed in a world filled with news of tragedy and disaster.

Beautiful, distracting and charming, from the first note to the last my initial fears of being bored by mellowness were banished and replaced by the involuntary, and possibly gormless grin of a person completely transfixed. I was so distracted that my beer remained almost untouched until the end, a rare achievement indeed!   

Check out Tiny Ruins here: www.tinyruins.com

Check out Artisan Guns here: www.artisanguns.com

 More on The Wine Cellar here: http://www.viewauckland.co.nz/pubsandbars/wine-cellar-review-58843.html