Portugal. The Man at The Louisville Palace in Louisville, KY 2-17-2018

Written By: Michael Deinlein

Portugal. The Man delivers an intoxicating performance to a sold-out Louisville Palace.

Things are really exploding for Portugal. the Man.  Last month in Los Angeles, PTM earned their first-ever Grammy Award, as “Feel It Still” topped songs by Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee, The Chainsmokers, and Imagine Dragon to win Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, and Louisville was ready and waiting to see for themselves what the buzz is about.

A sell-out crowd jammed into The Louisville Palace ready to party, dance and have a good time.   from the first moment, everyone is up on their feet as a huge roar welcomes Portugal. The Man as they modestly take their places on stage. Overhead “Unchained Melody”, a song made famous by the Righteous Brothers wafts across the venue.

Once set, the band immediately launches into their opening staple of Metallica’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” complete with the raucous guitar riffs and booming drum bass notes while the stage is awash in fiery red lights. Without pause, Portugal. The Man moves into a Pink Floyd cover of “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2” further amping up the energy in the venue before seamlessly transitioning into one of Portugal. The Man’s biggest hits, “Purple Yellow Red and Blue.”.

Taking a quick break to let everyone catch their breath “We are not very good at stage banter, so tonight’s performance will feature some slogans written by our management” flashes on the stage length screen. Everyone in the venue knows this means the party has started, let the good times roll.

Over the following ninety minutes Portugal. The Man is in complete control with a mesmerizing and high energy performance featuring many of their previous hits like “So American,” “Modern Jesus,” “Sea of Air” and “All Your Light (Times Like These)”.  The Woodstock album is also prominently represented with “Number One”, “Rich Friends”, “Live In The Moment and of course their giant hit “Feel It Still” each seemingly getting bigger and bigger ovations.

Adding to the music and the overall experience over the course of the evening was copious periods of multi-colored laser lights and fog coming from the stage, continually bombarding your senses while supporting images projected across the stage length screen.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and tonight is no different. Bassist Zachary Carothers addresses the frenetic fans for the only time during the evening “Louisville! We sure do like the bourbon you all make! This is the biggest tour we have ever done, it’s really crazy that what is happening to us. We are getting to play in beautiful venues like this one is just amazing. Thank you all for your support, it means a lot to us”. Portugal. The Man close the evening with a two-song encore starting with “Hip Hop Kids” before ending a magical evening with “Holy Roller (Hallelujah)” leaving Louisville fans thoroughly satisfied.

Opening the evening are Chicago, Illinois based indie-rockers Twin Peaks. Featuring Cadien Lake James and Clay Frankel on guitar and vocals, Twin peaks start the night off in a great way with a 45-minute performance of original songs that are well received.

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