Live Review: Portugal. The Man - O2 Kentish Town Forum, London 24/07/2018

Portugal. the Man have been smashing out records for nearly twelve years now, and their massive world tour came to an end at the O2 Kentish Town Forum this month in London, and they were exactly as explosive as you’d expect.

Having followed the band closely for a couple of years I absolutely jumped on the opportunity to see them in London, and by the length of the queue outside The Forum, I wasn’t the only one exited to see them either.

With the sweat, heat and the apprehension of the crowd, the atmosphere inside the Forum was tangible - you can imagine fights breaking out in these conditions but there was none of that tonight. The band successfully brought the mood up before making their entrance by playing a hilarious clip of their new music video with a Beavis and Butt-Head short criticising it. They continued playing to this self-criticism throughout the show with random subtitles popping up at times exclaiming that ‘Kyles got a boner!’ or ‘Real bands don't need singers!’.

Portugal. the Man finally came out with a wicked cover of Pink Floyd’s ‘Another Brick in the wall’ followed shortly by their hit single ‘Feel it still’ which currently has almost 500,000,000 plays on Spotify, made only more huge with the help of the crowd singing every word right back at them. Their set was intense, and far heavier than I expected from listening to their albums, however this just gave the band more drive and energy behind their performance. This, supplemented with their trippy visuals and 9 piece set up, made for a massive experience.

Their set was diverse - touching at times and then almost too intense at others - there really isn’t a quiet moment watching Portugal. the Man. They really do make it impossible to pull your eyes away.

You really can tell when a band are well practiced, but Portugal. the Man are something else, performing together for such a long time really has its benefits - the band were energetic, engaging and effortlessly tight throughout the night. It really is stunning to watch a band perform so supremely well together.

If you ever get the chance to see them, do it. Seriously.

Words and Photography by George Pitt.