Portugal. The Man
October 9, 2009 at the Majestic

Madison, WI – by Ankur Malhotra and Mister Bill

A packed Majestic Theater had Portugal. The Man in the house. Opening for them were Drug Rug. Both thoroughly enjoyable bands to listen and see live.

I’d been excited to see P.TM in this venue for some time. They’ve been getting good underground buzz… and as soon as they started to play, I understood why. Do do catch them live any time you can!

P.TM’s music has been described as “a densely-layered blend of indie rock/Motown/soul/prog-ish synths/70s classic rock’n’roll” … That’s about right. Their new album – The Satanic Satanist – was released July 21st and its been in heavy rotation on my system over the past few weeks. In fact, I’ve given five of the tracks a 5-star rating.

P.TM is comprised of guitarist/vocalist John Baldwin Gourley, bassist/singer Zachary Scott Carothers, keyboardist/singer Ryan Neighbors, and drummer Jason Sechrist. Lead man John Gourley gets a lot of attention, and deservedly so. But bassist Zach Carothers also thrilled me, rockin’ out like I’ve seldom seen. And nobody in this band is a slouch.

(above) Portugal. The Man…. (below) Drug Rug

– all photos by Ankur Malhotra. As always, we love to hear from you so drop us an e-mail with your comments and requests. If you were at the show, we’d like to know about YOUR experience!