Friday night Grouplove and Portugal. The Man played Merriweather Post Pavilion as a part of the 2014 Honda Civic Tour. In a great bit of double billing, both bands brought something unique to the stage and were a nice complement to one another, giving the audience two different types of performances.
Of the two headliners Portugal. The Man went on first amidst a sea of smoke and space lights, playing their take on “Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2.” They played a selection of songs primarily from last year’s Evil Friends, but also had a few older tracks like “People Say” pop up throughout their set. For a bit of added fun, they threw in a handful of covers in addition to the opening song. They played a bit from “The Dayman” from the “Nightman Cometh” episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Oasis’ “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” which always makes for a fantastic sing-a-long. They turned in a great performance that somehow mixed an aesthetic you would associate with a jam band, but was still well-balanced with a much more focused set of music than you may find with that type of act.
When we covered Grouplove earlier this year as a part of our Firefly Festival coverage, I went on at length about how impressed I was with the band, and thankfully not much has changed since then. They played a mix of songs off both of their releases including all of their most popular songs like “Tongue Tied” and “Colours.” This is just one of those bands who are so on point in a live setting that if you let yourself be into what they’re doing onstage you will have a great time. Sure, some may argue that it’s too catchy or too pop, but I think it’s ok to let yourself have some fun at a show every once in a while.
The set also featured their cover of Beyonce’s “Drunk in Love,” and most notably they played their theme song from Bojack Horseman, complete with band members wearing horse-head masks. For their encore, they brought out most of the members of Portugal. The Man for a cover of The Who’s “Baba O’Reilly.”
In the end, I couldn’t find much to criticize with these two bands. Both of them put on a great performance in one of my favorite venues on a gorgeous late summer evening. When it comes down to it, what more could you ask for in a live show?
GROUPLOVE
PORTUGAL. THE MAN
