Awkward Pose

Really just the name of the beer here, but it’s fun to say. Had a day off in this treasure of a city. Lisbon is bowl shaped, neighbourhoods creeping up the steep sides, the majority of the action sitting center. The buildings are so beautiful here. There’s a lot of decay (being the oldest city in Europe), but color tiled and sun bleached and viney. There really is a sense of the very old world combining with the newest. Art and fashion popping up in empty ancient spaces. And maybe because it’s such an affordable place, there’s a lot of interesting stuff going on. The affordability is even more extreme here than Montreal. On every corner a laeteria- the old the young and the workers leaning against glass counters sipping fresh melon juice,  lunch tostas, dynamite strong espressos and sweets for a few euro coins. Getting lost in Lisbon is exhilarating- out of breath from the cliff like steepness, such dramatic views, and the neighbourhoods changing from shops and cafes to residential to seedy and back with every twist and turn. For a few seconds here I remembered that being a woman alone and wandering aimlessly is not always the brightest plan. 

It’s a good thing Portugal sits at the near end of this tour. The troops are weary in many ways, and we need the extra excitement from a dynamic audience. I remember the first time we played in Portugal, around 2005. I’d never seen such an outward physical reaction before- and the colours- looking out over a sea of open mouthed jumping faces, bodies wearing the colours of the sun. Shocking really, and then it happens again, and again, every time we’re here. But this being such a long tour we weren’t thinking with any expectation. We watched the tense heavy beauty of the Portishead set, the crowd perfectly in tune. Silent and still and then erupting. And then we went on at 1am and were totally picked up by the crowd. There’s this lovely mist hanging over the sea of people, and from the first noteeverybody’s arms were in the air, picking up flashes of light. That’s the kind of show that rushes by, and it feels like we’re playing everything a few bpm fast, there’s such adrenaline in the air. 

We lingered outside in the early morning hours, post show sipping and snacking. 3 am after a show feels the same as 11pm after a show. Our bodies have gotten used to having no clocks. And then we’re on the bus for the last long drive of the tour, 4am start to a 13 hour haul to Valencia, where I plan on finding an orange and a beach.

There have been less awkward poses since the Bilbao pavement. The sanctity of having a hotel room to do your own thing in has been good timing for the end of tour rope. I eased the visiting virus out through sweating up the Lisbon hills, taking my time and drinking as many melon juices as I could. My yoga practices were classic between the business desk and the bed, adjust the air con and select aplaylist. Total environment control for an hour here and there, good medicine for the weary body and soul. 

I noticed a few things while watching Portishead. First, it amazes and impresses me what people will go through to see their musical heroes perform live. It’s an extreme opposite to the plight of the recorded album. But it really does gladden me to see living proof of how much it means to people to be a part of the performance. Second, Portishead are really, really good. They don’t over perform, they under-perform if anything. It’s the heaviest music coming from that stage and there they are, barely moving. Wandering Star in a stripped down trio of bass chords, that chameleon guitar and Beth’s voice floating over the whole thing like a theramin. Third, this tour is bookended by Portishead, playing right after them at the first 2 shows and again for the last 2. And Pulp in the Serbian middle. So there we are, in a sandwich with some of our biggest heroes of the 90’s. And these are some of the best shows I’ve seen in years.