Portals Festival 2024 – Sunday
As day two of Portals Festival 2024 starts, I am filled with equal amounts of joy and scepticism.
Joy, as today is the day that above all, I get to see Midas Fall perform again and scepticism because after Saturday being so monumental, will Sunday live up to the groundwork already in place from day one. I needn’t worry though, as through the course of the day, any concerns are quickly dissipated and replaced with an internal happiness at what is happening right in front of me.
Getting to the venue just before one gives me the perfect opportunity for a front row seat to a wonderful lunchtime set from day two Bar Stage openers Qariaq. The duo welcomed in the day with a set filled with eclectic electronic soundscapes, over-laced with live drums, cool post-rock guitar and an other-worldly vocal, just ideal to usher in the second day of music.
A swift relocation puts me squarely in an optimum position to witness the immensely cool Jaguar Throne on the Hall Stage, with a band who are somewhat of an underground supergroup. Amongst the quintet, the most recognisable element to me is vocalist Simon Wright, an enigma who I have watched a couple of times at previous Portals Festivals, assuming vocal duties with the iconic Bossk. Jaguar Throne present themselves as a very different beast to Bossk, less stoner, with an urgency and ferocity unmatched at this year’s event by any other band as they pummel the stage and leave the audience quaking in their wake.
Next up is the band who were at the top of my list to see for the weekend, the band who I adore, and are the very reason that I even had an awareness of Portals in the first place, and that band is Midas Fall.
My whole Portals journey started with that band and without them, I wouldn’t have stumbled upon this life changing yearly experience, which has become so dear to me. I owe everything to Midas Fall really, and with today’s performance, it was time to give something back through my words. Not only are they one of the more criminally underrated bands on the planet, but they have such a uniqueness that if you don’t have this band in your life, you are truly missing out.
Being able to see the band perform unhindered, catch them on camera performing, and share with you just what an experience it was, means so much. They
played a beautifully melancholic set, filled with both new tracks along with several old favourites and for me it was completely mesmerising. I didn’t at any point check to see how full the Theatre Stage was, I was too lost in my own private moment, unable to look away, and soaking up every last note as they poured their hearts out on the stage. Over the course of the half hour set, it felt completely endless and I would have happily spent the whole day in that environment.
By the time it was over, I was an emotional mess inside, I needed a little sit down to recompose and get mentally prepared for the next band on my list, Overhead, The Albatross and as they took to the stage, I was refreshed, invigorated and ready to be rocked. The band started the set in a very calm, and focused way, getting their footings and tantalising at what was about to explode forth.
For me, the band remind me somewhat of Saturday’s Din Of Celestial Birds, but that isn’t meant in a bad way. Both bands are so phenomenal at what they do, and each feels so resplendent in quality, that while they play, it’s impossible not to be transfixed by their very being. Each sonic soundscape is lavishly articulated, pitches and tones work to create textures of not only sound, but emotion too, and the set never gets bogged down or directionless. An absolute joy to have caught live, it was a real shame to have to see them finish their set when it became time to wrap things up. That’s the thing with festivals though, with so many bands on the line-up, for the most part, you only get a snapshot of the full experience of any act. It’s like getting a polaroid of a moment, to remember and follow up at a later date.
Next up, on the downstairs Hall Stage, it was the turn of the French Year Of No Light to wow the masses with their unique brand of alternative, mind-numbing intensity. Having only had a limited exposé to the band meant that I was somewhat going in blind, and it could have gone either way. There are bands that you wait to see, wanting to be blown away by and they come up short. Mostly it’s the expectation over the reality, and I was so glad I stuck around to see them as Year Of No Light were incredible. Intense dark musical monologues filled the air, and it made it impossible to turn away. Watching this well-travelled band show their talents was an absolute blessing to see and to say I was surprised is an understatement.
One of the things that always gets me with planning to attend a festival is when there are clashes. Two bands, one time slot, it can be heartbreaking to have to miss one for another. For me, this year it was the prospect of sacrificing catching Lost In Kiev, as I was desperate to see Dystopian Future Movies. As much as it broke my heart that they had to pull out the evening before, it made the decision that much easier, as I got to see the one band I was gutted at the thought of missing.
As it turned out, Lost In Kiev were amazing, so much more than what I was even expecting, and as I stood there witnessing the quartet blow up the stage, I smiled inside at the chain of events that had led me to that point. Yes, I am still reeling that Dystopian Future Movies had to cancel, but if there were any one band who lessened that blow, it was Lost In Kiev. Vibrant, exciting, and versatile, the band proved just what a force to be reckoned with they really are, and they left me utterly speechless.
It was at this point I had fully intended to go and catch Elephant Gym, but as is the case sometimes, when your body is telling you to take a break, you really need to heed those warnings, and so instead of pushing myself too far, I sat back and watched BIG|BRAVE get set up, while I enjoyed a little downtime with some food and a drink, both of which were an easy process. As the venue has a catering service that serves within, food is always close by and with bars stocked with a great selection of drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, weighing up priorities is sometimes a decision that’s best left to the forces of nature.
As 7:30pm approached, and the lights dimmed, the band took to the stage, curtained in pretty much total darkness, save for a couple of spotlights to add to the intensity of the band’s vibe. Having seen BIG|BRAVE a few days before at Ramsgate Music Hall, I knew this was going to be something special, it was all that and so much more. With an intensity which sets them apart and an understanding of each and every note and gesture, the band were enthralling as they played their set. Mixing in a few older moments amongst the tracks from the new album, it’s nigh on impossible to know where one track ends and the next begins.
The whole dynamic is an all-consuming wall of noise, at all times, and if it isn’t when there are moments of broken-down ambience, each and every note will have you hanging off of it, thirsty to see where it will go next. I swear to God, watching the dynamic of Mathieu Ball and Liam Andrews thrusting their guitars towards amplifiers, while Robin Wattie pours her soul down the microphone, and Tasy Hudson pulls it all into some semblance of control using those rhythmic gestures, is like watching an artist paint. This isn’t just music, it is very much art being created, each and every time they play.
Wanting to catch every second of B BIG|BRAVE’s performance meant that by the time it had finished, and I chased to get downstairs to see If These Trees Could Talk, the room was already filled to bursting. Not wanting to be ‘that guy’ that pushes through to get a prime position in the room meant that I could only view the band from afar, and while I was a little gutted at the time, I took stock of everything I had seen over the weekend and instead headed up to the Theatre Stage to make sure I was in a good spot to watch the closing act of Portals 2024, Wang Wen.
After last year’s double whammy of both Mono and Jambinai, I had my reservations on if Wang Wen would live up to that benchmark, or if I would end up reminiscing for times gone by the power of the moment, and thankfully even by the end of the soundcheck, I was happily ready to see the band perform. I stood, alongside some very passionate fans to much excitement as the band began.
For the fifty minutes they played, they were simply joyous to watch. The beauty of Portals is the vast array of bands who get invited to play, and seeing all manner of weird and wonderful items, and instruments that get used to make these incredible sounds. For all the times I’ve seen beer bottles, bows and even pint glasses used as slides, I’ve never witnessed a screwdriver being used to create such wonderous noises,. Add to that trumpets, a trombone, xylophones and samples over the backbone of drums, bass and guitars, what was produced was absolutely show stopping. Just when I thought I had seen all there was to see, Wang Wen stepped up and raised the bar even higher.
As the show ended, and we, the audience, filed out, all that was left was to silently think back over the past 48 hours, and appreciate just how lucky we had been to witness so many mind-blowing performances. Yes, I had missed out on a couple of acts, and yes, that was it for another year, but what it left me with was another weekend of incredible memories, a camera filled with thousands of photos and a lot of love in my heart.
Now looking towards Portals 2025, who knows what will be on the agenda for next year. It would be easy to speculate or put forward a list of ‘I want to see’ bands, but the reality is, whoever the team aims at, it will be guaranteed to be phenomenal.
Four years, four festivals, and four years of new friends, new favourite bands and new experiences. This event is everything to me, and long shall it continue to champion the world of alternative and fringe bands, with love, respect and virtue to the arts.
Qariaq
Jaguar Throne
Midas Fall
Overhead, The Albatross
Year Of No Light
Lost In Kiev
BIG|BRAVE
Wang Wen
Words & Photos by: Lee Beamish
