Concert Review: Portugal. The Man

By Sarah Pacitti

Portugal. The Man
House of Blues
September 30, 2011

“Bring It On, Man!” On Friday night, September 30, the House of Blues in downtown San Diego added another win to the list, as Portugal. The Man tore up the stage and hyped up the crowd to such epic proportions. Everyone waited in anticipation, and when “The Man” was ready to go… there was no stopping them. Their sound can be best described as, well,  “indescribable.” But, if one had to put it into words, one might say it is the perfect combination of alternative, psychedelic, electronic, the type of rock that will keep you on your toes, with your hands in the air while your heart is racing, causing your ears to tingle from the unbelievable sense of glory they are witnessing…or something along those lines.

Lead vocals and guitarist, John Gourley, along with all band members, appeared to have sent chills up the spines of many audience members, people in the crowd reacting in very different ways to the music; some staring mindlessly at the stage with their jaws dropped, some lip-syncing the words into a fake microphone in front of them while bopping around back and forth to the beat, while others simply…crowd surfed.

Focusing on performing jams from their most current album, In the Mountain In the Cloud, released in July, the band’s performance of their song,  “Got It All (This Can’t Be Living Now)” really did have it all. The words rang out clearly through Gourley’s mic and really resonated well amongst the crowd. “We’ll shake, shake, shake the night away…” went the lyrics, and indeed that is just how the night played out.

Alas, the dreaded time finally came when all the members of the band sincerely thanked the audience, and filed off the stage. Nope, the crowd was not going to take that. They were not ready to accept this goodbye, as they were much too energetic, rambunctious and far too sweaty to call it quits. After lots of cheering, clapping and yelling from the masses, it was then that their favorite men came back to the stage to sing a few favorites to their adoringly energetic and sweaty fans. The ever-favorite “People Say” off past album, The Satanic Satanist, of July 2009, was one of the final songs performed, leaving the band’s performance off on a really high note with San Diego. Thank you, Portugal. The Man. We all asked you to bring it, and man oh man, did you ever.