Alt-J & Portugal. the Man at Crypto.com Arena

Alt-J & Portugal. The Man played the Crypto.com Arena (Formerly Staples) Sunday night (3/27) with Cherry Glazerr. If you weren’t home watching the Oscars this was the place to be. Alt-J and PTM both had great productions and very different sets. Over the last decade both groups have had tremendous success and have played major festivals like Bonnaroo and Coachella. This North-American tour consisting of mostly arenas  kicked off February 25th in Pittsburgh, PA and is half-way through now. There are over 40 dates. The tour also stopped at the Santa Barbara Bowl the night before L.A. for a more intimate show.

Alt-J

The intro before PTM came from none other than MTV’s iconic animated duo Beavis and Butt-head which goes back to their 2018 tour. PTM opened with a trio of for “Whom the Bell Tolls,” “South of Heaven,” and “Cowboys From Hell” by metal titans Metallica, Slayer, and Pantera. Those weren’t the only great covers they pulled off, PTM also played Nirvana’s “In Bloom,” Kiss’s “God Gave Rock N Roll to You,”Pink Floyd’s “The Happiest Days of our Lives,” and “Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2.” PTM had a total of 13 musicians onstage. The main members are founders John Baldwin Gourley (Lead/Backing Vocals, Lead & Rhythm Guitar, Keys…) and bassist Zachary Scott Carothers who have been making music together 20 years since meeting in high school, keyboardist Kyle O’Quin, drummer Jason Sechrist, backing/lead vocalist Zoe Manville and guitarist/ backing vocalist Eric Howk. There were also three backing vocalists. PTM played their biggest hit “Feel It Still,”  before ending with Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall, Pt 2.” and their hit “Purple Yellow Red and Blue.” The band performed in low light and was more about visuals like Pink Floyd. The band had a giant screen behind with some pop culture references like having Bill and Ted up there while playing “God Gave Rock N’ Roll to You” to a quote by Nipsey Hussle.

Back in 2006, PTM released their first album Waiter : “You Vultures.” In total the group has released eight studio albums, six released over six years. The group’s last album was released in 2017 titled Woodstock and made it to number two on the U.S. Rock Chart.

While PTM consists of many members, Alt-J is just a trio (previously four members until 2014) of Guitarist/Vocalist Joe Newman, drummer Thomas Stuart Green, and keyboardist/vocalist Augustus Unger-Hamilton. All three performed on one big riser surrounded by a screen in a rectangular shape. The screen was able to display visuals while the band could still be seen through it. The set-list of 21 songs started with “Bane,” and included hits “Matilda,” “Tessellate,” and “Fitzpleasure,” which was the last song before a 3-song encore. The encore was “Left Hand Free,” “In Cold Blood,” and “Breezeblocks.” 2022 marks the 10th anniversary of Alt-J’s first album “An Awesome Wave.” Both bands really bring a unique concert experience.

Portugal. the Man

All four of Alt-J’s releases including their newest album The Dream released just a month ago have all made the U.S. charts and in the U.K. have ranked between 1 and 13. Their breakthrough second album This Is All yours went to number 1 in the U.K., 2 in Australia, Belgium, and Canada, and 4 in the U.S. Over the last 10 years Alt-J has had songs featured in Netflix shows and films, Captain America : Civil War, and Sons of Anarchy. Alt-J has received awards from the AIM Independent Music Awards, Ivor Novello awards, Mercury Prize, NME, Shark Music Video Awards, UK Music Video Awards, Webby Awards, YouTube Music awards, and more.

The tour concludes April 17 in Toronto, Canada.

Portugal the Man setlist:

1. For Whom the Bell Tolls/ South of Heaven/ Cowboys from Hell - Metallica/Slayer/Pantera

2. Live In The Moment

3. Creep In a T-shirt/ In Bloom (Nirvana)

4. Got it All/ God Gave Rock N Roll to You (Kiss)/ Chug

5. What, Me Worry?

6. Evil Friends/ Day Man

7. Senseless

8. Waves

9. Floyd/ KCY/ Trend

10. And I

11. Grim

12. Feel It Still

13. Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2/ Purple Yellow Red and Blue

Alt-J Setlist:

1. Bane

2. Every Other Freckle

3. Hard Drive Gold

4. The Actor

5. Deadcrush

6. Interlude 1

7. Tessellate

8. U&Me

9. Matilda

10. Chicago

11. Something Good

12. Nara

13. The Gospel of John Hurt

14. Philadelphia

15. Taro

16. Dissolve Me

17. Losing My Mind

18. Fitzpleasure

Encore

19. Left Hand Free

20. In Cold Blood

21. Breezeblocks