REVIEW: Portishead, PNYC - Portishead Live (London)
- Simon West
Portishead kicked off the 1997 tour in support of their self-titled second album with a now legendary one-off concert at the Roseland Ballroom, New York City, backed with a 30 piece orchestra. The show has now been released on a videocassette and, in edited form, on PNYC.
A couple of songs on the album were taken from concerts later in the tour, notably "Sour Times." Grittier and slower here than in its original format, it prowls around for four minutes like the soundtrack to some otherworldly Western before exploding into a faster approximation of the studio version, Gibbons' voice wailing and growling above the guitar. Great stuff.
For the most part, the 11 songs presented here stay pretty true to the original versions - the orchestra does a fine job of emulating the studio tape loops and beyond, adding a new layer of atmospherics to the band's haunting songs.
On top form as expected is Beth Gibbons. Possessed with a truly astonishing voice, she does full justice to these songs live, rising from a whisper to a scream, and all points along the way, clenching the microphone and puffing endless cigarettes.
The crowd is enthusiastic and knows the material, but lets itself down occasionally - the people responsible for the clapalong during the magnificent "Roads" should have been shown the door immediately.
Portishead fans will want to snap this up, but the video is obviously a much better souvenir of the actual Roseland concert, providing the unexpurgated set and also the accompanying visuals. If anyone at London is listening, this concert would be absolutely perfect for release on the DVD format, so that both sound and vision can do justice to this most unique of bands. Meanwhile, the album is highly recommended to fans of the first two albums, and the video is essential. A surprisingly great live band.
