The crowd on the second day at any festival is always a little slack as the stragglers haul themselves out of bed, but no so at Portals; there’s healthy numbers here to watch Jaguar Throne open day two and I’ll wager they’re glad they pitched up early because the band are bang on the money and get the day off to a thunderous start. It’s a sonic assault of the highest calibre with the vocalist looking particularly dangerous and delivering a vein-popping performance. Saturday at Portals raised the bar exceptionally high but Jaguar Throne are well up for the challenge and not only match the ferocity displayed by the likes of Hidden Mothers, but throw down the gauntlet for the rest of the day.
Opening up the Theatre stage in some style are Midas Fall; they’re a band who bring it like Chelsea Wolfe and deliver a sound that’s equally thunderous. There’s a rustic quality to their sound that captures the very essence of nature; the vocals wisp as if wind through the trees whilst the drums roil like an angry sky that’s about to unleash a streaming torrent. A crowd’s response is always the litmus test for any band and the reception that Midas Fall receive is high on the scale of affirmation. In fact, the band feed off the crowd’s energy and when coupled to an energetic drummer, the result if fairly explosive. It might be half-past-two on a Sunday afternoon, but things don’t get much better than this.
Maybe it’s the malt vinegar and salted chips that Standards have been munching on, but there’s definitely a fire in the bellies of this duo and they hit the ground running to present a set full of songs that tie the listener up in all sorts of knots. Mixing up rhythms and tempos with (not so) reckless abandon, Standards soon win over the crowd with their good natured performance and, like Hasidic kids rocking the Wailing Wall, get the whole venue bobbing in unison. The musicianship on display is enough to make any amateur throw down their instrument in exasperation, but the band’s genius is making the complexity sound simple and while much technical music can be sterile, Standards operate with a lot of soul…and that’s what really counts.
Like the bird in Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s epic, Overhead, The Albatross hang in the sky and blot out the sun. This band have a big sound, but it’s at the expense of the song; there’s nothing here which reaches inside the listener to connect on an emotional level. With no overall strategy their songs seem rudderless and rest as idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean. Bouncing around the stage, the band’s bassist reminds one of Spinal Tap’s Derek Smalls, and I’m expecting the band to launch into ‘Sex Farm’ (or more appropriately ‘Jazz Odyssey’) at any moment. A wasted opportunity.
Maybe they’re refugees from Overhead, The Albatross’ set on the Theatre stage, but over in the Hall Year Of No Light have pulled in a big crowd for their soundcheck and the band look like an intriguing proposition. With two drum kits, three guitars, bass and keyboards this Parisian ensemble promise a big sound, and that’s precisely what they deliver. In fact, just as the band’s albums are so heavy they can’t be prized from the turntable, the same applies in the live environment. With riffs that are the stuff of Tony Iommi’s dreams (nightmares?), the band create monolithic sonic structures that tower over the crowd and create the feeling of something so large that it can barely be comprehended. It’s a nowhere ending sky, or the force of an ocean bearing down on a shipwreck, but whatever feelings the band generate within you, it’s very nice. Le Big Mac (with cheese).
Lost In Kiev are a band who play to the venue’s strengths and subsequently their sound bounces around and fractures in every direction like light in a prism. Eschewing the usual rock stereotypes, Lost in Kiev adopt a more original approach and play music how it should be played (i.e. with full stops, semicolons and full stops) and with a defined beginning and end, and that makes for a satisfying listen from start to finish. The band place great emphasis on the riff, they’re delivered with razor sharp precision and they slice through the air as such. It all makes Lost In Kiev seem slightly dangerous, but endearing nonetheless.
There’s been some stellar bands this weekend but in terms of excitement and anticipation Elephant Gym take things to the next level. When the band appear it is to a huge roar, each pair of eyes are turned towards the stage and are held there for the next sixty minutes. The band often get tagged as math-rock but in truth they are about so much more and the thing stitching ‘Midway’, ‘Finger’ and ‘Witches’ together is a jazz sensibility (in its purest definition) with each song being forward facing and innovative. The band look absolutely delighted to be at Portals and they deliver their set as such. Bassist KT attacks her instrument like Eddie Van Halen, yet her persona is so bubbly you fear she may pop at any moment. Drummer Tu is like a Taiwanese Frank Sinatra; he’s the king of cool and keeps impeccable time whilst guitarist Tell (interviewed here) is the studious scientist holding the sound together. Three distinct personalities coming together in a cohesive whole, and therein lies Elephant Gym’s magic.
The enchanting set that Elephant Gym performed in the Hall is a hard act to follow, but if any band are up to the job then it is surely Big | Brave. It sounds as if someone has detonated a bomb in in the Theatre and the band send shards of shrapnel shooting in every direction. If a band was deserving of their moniker, then it is surely this bunch; there’s something of the artist about them and they treat the venue as their canvas, throwing bold splashes of colour around to create a post-modernist masterpiece. Using distortion as an instrument in its own right, Big | Brave create sounds which resonate with the listener on a primordial level and ingratiate themselves deep in the psyche. Think the darker, more experimental side of Siouxsie And The Banshees and you’d have a sound somewhere in the region of Big | Brave, but it’s too the band’s credit that they sound like no one but themselves. This is a quasi-religious experience; part gig, part performance art and one that will live long in the memory.
I’m sure there are many less stressful ways to make your UK debut than headlining the Hall at Portals, but if the pressure is on, then If These Trees Could Talk aren’t showing any signs of nerves. In fact, there are some technical issues that cause their set to get off to a stuttering start and while these could throw some bands into a tail spin, If These Trees Could Talk take them in their stride. Of course, having a discography full of stellar songs helps and with three guitarists dredging riffs from fertile soil ensures that the band can simply plough through any technical issues. Opening shot ‘From Roots To Needles’ is the spark that lights the tinder and soon the whole venue is ablaze. The following ‘What’s In The Ground Belongs To You’ turns the Hall into a smoking ruin, yet the band keep adding fuel to the fire with each track being of combustible nature and the audience the flame. There’s a lot of love flowing between crowd and band, with many present willing this gig into existence, and you can almost feel the waves of mutual respect radiating between the two. Therefore it’s with a touch of sadness when their set comes to a conclusion, but one thing is for sure; this might be If These Trees Could Talk’s first UK gig, but it won’t be their last.
Well, it seems it has all been leading up to this moment; right here, right now, and a headline set from China’s hardest working band, Wang Wen. As the amphitheatre starts to fill up an announcement is made for the crowd to pack in more tightly, such is the demand to catch this most enticing of Chinese institutions. When the band finally appear something magical happens; it is almost intangible, but you’ll know it when you feel it. It’s a connection that maybe only happens once in a lifetime, and it’s happening now. The cheer that welcomes the band is the greatest act of affirmation, and it almost takes the roof off. The introduction of some xylophone and some brass instrumentation might lead you to think that this will be no ordinary gig, and you’d be quite right. It’s a set characterised by huge sonic shifts that are startling and unsettling, along with sudden stops that are equally arresting. It’s a constant shapeshifting that demands your full attention; and it is precisely this which creates the bond between band and crowd. It’s also an eclecticism that gives Wang Wen a lot of freedom meaning that when some tuba appears in a moment of surrealism (straight from left field) it sounds perfectly normal. Yet, for all their invention Wang Wen are wise enough to marinate their sound in delicious melodies and catchy grooves and makes a fitting finale to the weekend, which means that even as the distortion fades and the band leaves the stage, we’re already think about tickets for next year’s Portals Festival.
