Easter Sunday wasn’t just about family diners and chocolate treats, it was about the re-birth of live music. The Coca-Cola Coliseum in downtown Toronto, hosted a packed house of eager music fans. On the bill was Portugal. The Man and Alt-J.
Waiting in line to enter the building, listening to the fans speak, it was apparent that there were two separate fan bases for the show. Some people raved about Portugal.The Man while others were elated to see Alt-J.
The opener for the evening was the Los Angeles band Cherry Glazerr. The Indi Alternative female fronted act warmed up the sparse crowd. They perform an 8 song set. The crowd was slowly making their way into the venue, but the little bit of time the band had on stage the crowd reacted warmly.
Cherry Glazerr performs at Coca Cola Coliseum in Toronto photo Sue Hebert
What turned out to be confusing, next up was Portugal. The Man. Based on the advertisements, people assumed they were the headliners, but in reality it was a co-headlining show. Before the set started bassist Zachary Carothers came out spoke about the plight of indigenous people and how awareness is the first step towards change. He introduced 4 young indigenous women onto the stage. They spoke about Land Acknowledgement. It’s a formal statement recognizing the unique and enduring relationship that exist between Indigenous people and their traditional territories.
After a fun video montage of Beavis and Butthead, the band started their set with an unlikely mashup of three metal songs from Metallica (For Whom the Bells Toll), Slayer (South of Heaven) and Pantera (Cowboys from Hell). It was a great start to pump up the crowd. Surprisingly, their 70 minute set comprised of multiple covers, ranging from Pink Floyd, to the Beatles.
Portugal The Man performs at Coca Cola Coliseum in Toronto photo Sue Hebert
To add to the show, the lights and fog engulfed the stage. Throughout most of the show, the band was barely visible, not a front light to be seen anytime.
Portugal. The Man performed from one song to the next without much chit chat between, which kept the set flowing.
My personal favorite performance was Portugal. The Man. They were energetic and their music was tight. The downfall was the lack of ability to see the band, as well as the stage props from Alt-J hung low which encroached on the video screen at the back of the stage, making it difficult to see the story lines unobstructed.
At 9:20pm, right on time, Alt-J hit the stage. That massive stage prop that I spoke of previously was a huge screened box. The band stayed static within the box, in their specific areas. Drummer Thom Green flanked stage left, singer/guitarist Joe Newman was center while keyboard/bassist Gus Unger-Hamilton flanked stage right. I had never seen anything quite like it. It turned out that the screen acted as a backdrop for so many different lighting effects. During their opening song “Bane” Joe was surrounded with huge lit candles. (not actual but virtual) As the evening went on, the graphics changed to assorted random stuff. However the highlight from this spectacle was when it appeared that the box was a tank being filled with water. The band looked as if they were performing within a massive tank. It was actually quite spectacular. The crowd went absolutely wild as it was happening. Props to whoever was the brainchild of this idea.
Alt-J performs at Coca Cola Coliseum in Toronto photo Sue Hebert
Confession time, I honestly had never heard of Alt-J. I didn’t recognize even one song. Although I certainly wasn’t singing along, I did appreciate the musicianship, they performed like a fine oiled machine. They are obviously well loved by their fans, as displayed by the vast amount of people in attendance.
Gearing up to perform “Matilda” Joe asked the crowd to sing along, and that they certainly did!
The entire set comprised of 18 songs and the encore an additional 3 songs. To view the setlist see HERE.
The show in Toronto wrapped up a two month long tour. To commemorate the Dream Tour, members from each act got tattoos within an hour of the start of the show.
Looking around at the crowd, it was obvious they were excited to be witnessing live music again. The fans in attendance were certainly elated in the moment of normalcy.
To connect with ALT-J please visit here: WEBSITE || FACEBOOK || INSTAGRAM || TWITTER
To connect with Portugal. The Man visit here: WEBSITE || FACEBOOK || INSTAGRAM || TWITTER
