Portishead
Roseland NYC Live

THE REVIEW

A cold and foggy morning wraps the city, an ideal climate for a mystical walk to the sound of Portishead; my eye falls on their latest work, the Live in New York, dated a too distant 1997... I immediately understand that it will not be an ordinary walk through the chilled streets, but a pilgrimage of sensations...

A shiver, the air is definitely cold, but it's not the temperature that shakes me, rather the first notes of "Humming", I am immediately engulfed by a sense of unease, enveloping and paradoxically reassuring, that will never leave me throughout the listening; the presence of the orchestra in the concert doesn't take anything away from the original arrangement, but instead adds fullness to the entire structure, culminating in the mythical voice of Beth Gibbons, a voice that in "Cowboys" is at times hysterical and imploring... the sun, shy and respectful, tries to pierce the misty blanket but doesn't succeed, everything remains muffled like the smoky black and white film atmospheres given to me by "All Mine"; time passes without me realizing it, instead, I notice the blatant melancholy conveyed by "Mysterons", a feeling I don't try to chase away but instead, I relish and let myself be pervaded by; I decide to stop and sit on a cold wall, thoughts wander quickly, "Only You" on the other hand is calm, with delicate and sinuous sounds, the only moment where unease gives way. "Half Day Closing" with its dramatic progression, and its ending full of horror screams makes me turn around abruptly to check that no one is behind me, the involvement is now total.

"Over" brings me a certain tranquility, so I decide to get up and resume my emotional journey, just the time of a scarf wrap and already the notes of "Glory Box" spread through me, and here the ideal atmospheres are embodied in a girl who crosses my path, in her, despite the fog, a deep melancholy is perceived and her eyes sing like Beth "Give me a reason...", I feel like reaching out my hand to her, but our paths go in opposite directions... I watch her disappear into the gray mist and her sad thoughts. I try to resume my path, it's almost time to return and Beth's lament in "Sour Times" insistently insinuates itself in my head. "Nobody loves me", she repeats it so many times that I almost start to believe her. The ending is chilling, the lament becomes heartbreaking, obsessive and deeply heartfelt. Moving; I head home, with "Roads" you enter roads of disarming beauty, sweet sounds and a sweet voice evoke melancholic yet romantic images, I let myself be cradled, and without realizing it, one is almost moved by the delicacy of this song. I find myself outside my home, the journey is over, I remain to listen to the overwhelming finale of "Strangers", the rush of the violins, the exasperated scratch. An unconditional reflex, is to find my applause joining that of the NY audience, I stand on the sidewalk clapping my hands, some passersby give me sideways looks. But who cares.