Saturday, March 14, 2026
Portishead Live @ Mr. Wolf's, Bristol, 2007-02-25
Wandering Star
The Rip
Portishead have performed two new songs at a small unannounced Bristol city centre gig. The songs were played by Geoff Barrow, Adrian Utley and Beth Gibbons at the Grumpy Man DJ night at Mr Wolfs on Sunday. Fan Hector told us: "Portishead main-man Geoff Barrow had been advertised as a guest Grumpy Man for the night. However not even the venue management had any idea what was really going to occur - they even charged Beth Gibbons entry as she came in to do her sound check! After a couple of hours of eclectic sadcore classics from the likes of Tom Waits and Joy Division, Geoff and Portishead guitarist Adrian Utley began to play 'Wandering Star' from the first Portishead album - Geoff playing bass. A few bars in Geoff picked up the mike and asked 'Anyone here know how to sing?' At this point Beth walked on stage and started singing. Hector added that the people who attended the gig looked as though they had seen aliens: The second song was brand new, presumably from the forthcoming album. Rarely have I seen a room full of people all wear exactly the same facial expression, but when I looked at the crowd everyone had their mouths gaping and eyes wide open as if they were witnessing an alien landing. It was wonderful. The new song was completely gorgeous, carried by Beth's vocals and with very low-key instrumentation. They didn't say what is was called. The new songs were confirmed on Geoff Barrow's Myspace blog which thanked the people there for "the response to the live stuff. He added: Sorry we didn't tell everyone about the gig but it's good to do things like that every now and again.
BBCUnder the guise of Grumpy Man DJs, band members Geoff Barrow, Adrian Uttley and Beth Gibbons surprised both gig-goers and venue staff with a shortset which included Portishead classic such as ‘Wandering Star’, in addition to trying out brand new untitled tracks on the crowd.
Saturday, February 21, 2026
Wednesday, February 11, 2026
Portishead Live @ Coliseu do Porto, 2008-03-26
Recorder's (j.mart) notes: First show of Portishead's 2008 tour, their first after an hiatus of 10 years. Living on one of the edges of Europe, I get to see many shows that are either the start or the end of a tour. As far as the beginning of a tour goes, this one was arguably the best I've ever seen. The band is locked and loaded, Beth's voice is still *the* best out there, and being a fan of dark, moody songs, I dare to say that their new material is their best ever, a belief that was cemented after seeing it's live renditions. The Rip, Silence and We Carry On were the highlights of the show for me, enough said... Beth, discrete on stage preferring gestures to words, yet charming and unable to hold her smile throughout the show. She was enjoying every second of it, and so was the crowd which got a bit overenthusiastic from time to time, forcing Beth to make some gestures for them to cool off. It's quite typical of Portuguese crowds, to interrupt the band with a overwhelming cheer halfway through a nice, calm song. Never mind clapping and woohooing after the end of a song, we need to do it every time Beth finishes singing a verse. And Lisbon was SO much worse... But, nothing could possibly ruin this concert going experience. The stage aesthetics are simple, but refined and very fitting of the Portishead's sound, with lots of erratic camera work going through the screens. The Lisbon shows featured some videoclips that Oporto didn't for some reason. I guess it's something still in the works. This recording is amazingly clear. Some editing was done on the bass department and on a few moments of annoying crowd presence, other than that it just might be my favorite tape of the year. The mix is very clear, but I thought the sound was very low on this show, and there were some problems with feedback and a high frequency buzz on the P.A. which really never got addressed properly. If you like Portishead, don't miss this tour.
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