Last weekend, I had the chance to see a private performance from Minus the Bear at the Vera Project because they were promoting the Pepsi Refresh Everything Project. I didn’t get a chance to talk about the show in a previous post because I was so pumped about meeting Suchin Pak though! My bad, sowwy!

It’s been a few years since I last saw them perform. The first time I saw them, I was w/ my best friend at Neumos on a school night. Reckless behavior. Before they got on stage, they set up plush white tigers on top of the speakers to set the mood. I can’t remember  if they were promoting Planet of Ice or if it was the album before. I do, however, remember attending  a laser show for Planet of Ice to preview the whole CD before it came out in the summer of 2007. Minus the Bear didn’t need the tigers at their recent performance though.  Since I saw them last, their sound has matured and so did they naturally. They have come a long way since Pachuca Sunrise, which is still one of my favorite songs.  There is more structure and cohesiveness apparent throughout their entire new CD Omni. For Planet of Ice, we heard bionic and futuristic sounds that different from their previous two albums. With Omni, each part within a song – intro, chorus, bridge is emphasized. They’ve also upped their game in terms of performance. This past week, they performed on Jimmy Kimmel and I couldn’t be more proud of them.

Along with a show review, I guess I’ll give you a CD review too.

Best songs:

• My Time
• Summer Angel
• The Thief
• Into the Mirror feat. Rachel Flotard of Visqueen

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpOfnuUjlOc&feature=player_embedded]

Portugal. The Man

Way to exceed my expectations this past Friday! It had been three years since I last saw them and even back then I had decided that they were one of the best performers I had ever seen. Not much has changed. They have been blowing up all year performing at some of the biggest names in music festivals including this year’s Coachella, Sasquatch, and Bonnaroo. They began their entrance with a thick fog emerging off the stage and into the crowd. It wasn’t long before the lasers appeared, which really got the crowd excited. [myself included]  They performed tracks from their 2010 album American Ghetto as well as last year’s The Satanic Satanist and even songs from when I first started listening to them nearly four years ago.

Portugal. The Man – Thanks for reminding me of what I have been missing from my life.