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the audience once, they prefer to
focus more on their flawless per
formance than the crowd enjoying
it.
Portugal. The Man is touring
throughout the summer and fall
in support of their latest effort,
Woodstock, released in mid-June.
Although the album produced the
band’s biggest mainstream hit to
date, “Feel It Still,” Woodstock
left some fans and critics feeling
as if they had missed the mark in
redefining themselves. Pitchfork
rated the album a mediocre 6.6.
The band poked fun of this rating
by displaying, ''Pitchfork gave our
album a 9.9” on the screen behind
them, to a roar from the audience.
Despite this, Portugal. The Man
had no problem selling out two
nights at The Orange Peel and
countless other stops on their tour.
The Asheville audience certainly
took no offense to what Pitchfork
accused of selling out. The thump
ing bass rose through the floor to
meet the stomping of the crowd’s
feet. This audience was just here
to have a good time and listen to
good music.
As the show moved to a close,
another message appeared on the
screen to deafening cheers from
the audience: “Y’all like smoking
weed? Getting fucked up? Dis
cussing politics at a family gather
ing? That’s badass.”
For a few more moments, the
audience danced as one until the
band finally seemed to realize they
were playing to a packed venue
rather than jamming out with each
other at home.
“Thank you guys again so much,
goddammit,” Carothers said. “It’s
been a wonderful two days. We’re
going to fuck these next few songs
up.”
Before the audience could even
respond, Carothers had cast his
gaze down, once more becoming
one with his fellow band members.
As they played the last few songs
of their set as well as an electric
encore, the audience jumped high
er and screamed louder than they
had before.
The final notes of the last song
rang out into the streets of Ashe
ville, marking the end of Portugal.
The Man’s two-night reign.
Alaskan rock band Portugal. The Man performs a sonically seamless
show at The Orange Peel on Aug. 23, the second night of a sold-out
2-show run.