portugal the man

portugal the man/photo found on web

i stumbled upon this band while doing my normal cd safari at the library. they had passed thru eugene not long ago so i checked them out. and i really liked what i heard!
after listening to them for a few months i saw that they would be playing in portland... and tickets were super cheap.
so, i drove to portland that weekend trying to have low expectations to avoid being disappointed but secretly i kept hoping that it was going to be super awesome.
my sister in law was able to join me which was a lot of fun. the show was at the roseland theater. i had never been before and though it looks a little rough it is actually a decent venue. we chose the balcony which is 21 and over plus it provides short people like me a better viewing opportunity. don't get me wrong, standing on the floor looking at the someone's back while stuck in someone else's armpit can be a ton of fun...yes, i'm being sarcastic :)
we missed the first opener but the second opener was stellar! the builders and the butchers. i had never heard of them but they totally owned the stage. the entire audience was engaged. the lead singer is visibly passionate and his voice sounded like it had been smoothed with bits of sandpaper. i really enjoyed it.
knowing the recorded style of portugal the man i was actually a bit worried as to how they would keep the energy of the crowd alive. there is nothing wrong with sedated shows but it just seemed drastically different than what the opener presented.
so...we waited for the stage to be set up, ordered another drink (remember many of these places ONLY take cash at their bar)
the smoke rolling onto the stage cued the crowd to realize Portugal the Man was about to reveal themselves...but there was such a cloudy haze, i couldn't see the band, but their light show started with beams of magenta and blue and yellows shining thru.
and then the music began. while this may not seem like a very mature expression, i was like holy cow!
not so much a holy cow this is awesome...nor was it a holy cow this is terrible.
perhaps it was more of a "holy cow this is totally unexpected!!"
they were jammin'
and i realized quickly that while the entire time i was afraid they would be too lethargic for a show...they were actually quite opposite...and i wasn't prepared for that. 
don't get me wrong, they were good...and their light show was superb but it seemed like they were trying too hard to be the rockers that they probably are but not what they have conveyed thru their recordings.
they are a local portland band and maybe i'm just out of the loop and this really is more of their style than i am aware of. who knows. 
at any rate, it was a great show and i would certainly see them again...what is most exciting is that their opener was great...which i've blogged about before...when you get an opener that can almost surpass the main act, i feel like i totally got my money's worth and then some.