It’s been 14 years since trip-hop pioneers Portishead have graced our shores, bringing with them New Yorkers Mercury Rev, as part of the East Coast’s Harvest Festival sideshows. On this balmy Thursday night, The Thebby was undoubtedly the place to be.

I’ve never been a huge fan of Mercury Rev’s brand of alt-pop/indie-rock. Maybe, it’s the fact that I used to get confused between them and Thirsty Merc, the kind of comparison that any band could do without. While there were some die-hards up-front supporting the fellas, to me it felt like every song had some huge built-up crescendo that went nowhere. I did recognise a few tracks, like Opus 40 and a nice covering of Peter Gabriel’s Solsbury Hill, but there is only so many long, drawn out extended endings I can hear before wanting to end the song myself by walking out. Having since listened to a few recorded tracks, I’d rather be in control of that stop button.

As the collective temperature of The Thebby rose, so did the numbers of 30 something fans of trip-hop legends Portishead. Hailing from Bristol, the band’s 1994 release Dummy has been ranked by Rolling Stone as number 419 in the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Spawning singles like Glory Box, Numb and Sour Times, it’s a classic album.

As the members entered the stage, it was apparent that the show would be as much about the visuals as the sound. A huge screen projected live feeds of the various parts of the band’s instruments, starting with a deep black and white view of the high-hat, and switching between songstress Beth Gibbons and percussionist/scratcher Geoff Barrow. These visuals at one stage projected a robot-like, evil Tony Abbot with lasers shooting out his already blind eyes. This was met with much appreciation from the crowd.

This was the only time I had decided to sit down at a show, and I’m glad I did. Even though the humidity had reached levels that I wasn’t ready for, I lost myself in the dreaminess of Portishead’s deep rumbling bass and hypnotic looping drum patterns. Wandering Stars, Sour Times and Numb were obvious crackers with Barrow’s skills on the 1’s & 2’s shining. Glory Box let Gibbons make love to the crowd with her sultry lyrics. Adrian Utley’s (guitar), effects were like candy to a small child or large American.

After a set that seemed to grow into one huge trippy affair, with but not a peep from the front lady, she suddenly left stage and gave the front row much deserved hugs and handshakes. Stomping feet from the crowd enticed a two-song encore that included a newer track We Carry On, as well as an epic and stunning Roads.

Portishead gave an 85 minute show that will go down for me as one of the most unique and engaging shows I’ve been to – and one well worth the 14 year wait.