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The Supper Club, New York, NY 4/30/95

MTV Online: Portishead

Elegant, but not too intimate, Manhattan's Supper Club proved the perfect venue for the much-anticipated New York live debut of British ensemble Portishead. Just as their stunning first album, "DUMMY," relies on an incredible attention to detail--the discrete, poignant use of sampling in the tracks crafted by Geoff Barrow, the emotionally taxing vocal precision of Beth Gibbons--so too every aspect of their stage show seemed clearly thought out and tightly controlled. But the question hung in many fans' minds: Could Portishead recreate their carefully constructed sound in a live performance? And if so, could they preserve the numbing impact of "DUMMY" without boring their audience?

Guests on the ground floor were seated cabaret-style at small tables set with votive candles (required on the band's rider). A taped set of selections from film soundtracks and various low-key instrumental albums, coupled with subtle oil gels projected onto a screen above the stage, complemented the ambiance of the space, evoking a nostalgic feel of the late '60s or early '70s. Half an hour before the band's set, a DJ spun hip hop tracks at a booming volume ill-befitting the murky mood. Just before the live set, we warmed up with a screening of "To Kill A Dead Man," a ten-minute film without dialogue created by Portishead from which the "Sour Times" video was culled.

The five piece band--guitarist Adrian Utley, a drummer, a keyboard player, a bassist, and Barrow (mixing vinyl test pressings of his own beats behind the turntables)--opened with an instrumental. The venue's acoustics suited the group perfectly, balancing the sound with remarkable clarity. Then Gibbons entered; all focus was on her voice as she started "Numb" An added layer of vocal warmth shone through in her singing, as lines like "I tried to reveal what I could feel" underlined the aesthetic Gibbons has articulated in her rare interviews: she is consumed with a passion to explore the emotional extremes of every lyric she writes, and she communicates that in her singing. In the studio, she records extensive multiple takes until she captures the exact mood she desires for a song; it was obvious from her reluctance to bother with any choreography or attempts to "entertain" the audience, in addition to her intense concentration on stage, that she was determined to achieve that same level of perfection even without the luxury of retakes. Her attire (a long, simple burgundy sheath over black leather pants) and her nervous, subdued stage manner revealed that Portishead's motivation for a live show is not to "perform", but simply to elevate that emotional core of their songs to a level of greater intensity.

The band took advantage of the live setting to spin certain tracks out to longer lengths, but the overall sound stayed remarkably close to the album. Utley showed himself to be a top-notch guitarist, with a stylistic fluidity encompassing everything from reggae to Duane Eddy. The tight ensemble provided the perfect backdrop for Gibbons, and with each progressive number she squeezed more and more from her limited range, eschewing volume or vocal pyrotechnics in favor of shifting colorations. For "Stranger" she offset the moody, ambient accompaniment with a bluesy delivery; on the seductive "Glory Box" she alternated between a purring sex kitten a la Eartha Kitt and a lost little girl. At every turn, she went further out on the limb, offering enigmatic glimpses into the life behind her lyrics. She parlayed her vulnerability into a strength, leaving the audience enraptured.

The 45 minute set was capped with an encore culminating in the hit "Sour Times." As the backdrop of starry lights began flashing bright white, Gibbons uncharacteristically exploded, riding atop the surging waves. After so much restraint, her unfettered wails of "Nobody loves me/It's true/Not like you do" hit hard. It was a climactic, and draining, finale to a brief but intensely rewarding set.

Kurt B. Reighley

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The Supper Club, New York, NY 4/30/95