Sach O had been waiting to catch Portishead live for just over 10 years.
At the risk of of being redundant, here’s what you need to know about seeing Portishead live: first, their back-catalog is essentially flawless and second, their live versions are note-for-note perfect as well. There weren’t too many surprises at last night night’s outdoor concert at Quai Jacques Cartier but that’s just the way the mostly late 20s and early 30s crowd (yours truly included) liked it – the combination of Trip-Hop torch songs and post-rock angst anthems making for a perfect fall evening. Beth Gibbons is intensely protective of her privacy and we’ll probably never know what happened during the band’s 10 year hiatus but whatever the case may be; her voice was absolutely perfect last night and when she delivered a wordless operatic turn to complement the shrieking guitars during one of Third’s extended freakouts, I think I saw the entire audience gasping and trying to catch its breath. Throw in excellent sound and a rare smoker-friendly concert setting and that was definitely one to scratch off the bucket list. If you have the chance to catch this band, do not hesitate, they are worth every penny. Oh, and check out the band’s rare remix of The Gravediggaz’ Nowhere to Run after the jump for a bout of intense 90s nostalgia – courtesy of DJ Lexis and Music is My Sanctuary.
