"Take from the air, take to the streets and I..."

Portugal. The Man with Wintersleep and Earl Greyhound
October 26, 2008
The Brewery - Raleigh, NC

This was definitely a trip turned epic. We left a lot later than intended... We were supposed to leave around 9-ish? I didn't leave my house until 9:30, picked up Claudia and got to Kyle's at 10, then we went to get Sara around 10:30 and she wasn't ready since she'd just gotten up, so we got breakfast (ending in me getting syrup all over myself) and brought hers to eat on the road. We were on our way at 11-ish.

On the long drive on I-95, we stopped at the well-known (well.. by anyone who's ever gone North from the South on 95) South of the Border to take pee breaks and crazy pictures with the crazy statues and stuff. It was so much fun and killed 30 minutes of our time.. Which was nice. When we finally got to the Brewery, there was no one else there, so we went and used the bathroom (THERE WAS ONLY ONE STALL OPEN)/got food at Zaxby's before finding where to stand in line and everything. We played maracas and a tambourine, singing songs all day while waiting for doors. Apparently everyone that walked by (even when we were seen by some of the bands) enjoyed it. We were the only people there until about 6, which was an hour before doors opened. My friend Aeron and his friend Jeff showed up before an entire crowd. Overall, there were MAYBE 100 people there the entire night.

The Brewery is this really nice, cute little venue. It is TINY and the show was definitely intimate. The first band up was Wintersleep. Claudia saw the same tour in Tampa, FL and told us that Wintersleep hadn't shown up, so it was a treat for all of us when they did on our date. They didn't play the song that Kyle and I were looking forward to, but they did play "Oblivion" which is an incredible song. They put on a great show, and it was nice to see them.

Next was Earl Greyhound.. Who I'd never really heard of before this, but OH MAN. They're basically a band right out of the 70's rock era, and they're in-freaking-credible. The bass drum their drummer uses is HUMONGOUS.. And I went deaf for about a week after seeing them since I was standing by their guitar amp and they played SO loud. They were so good, though.. I've become quite a fan.

Finally, it was time for Portugal. The Man to come on. The last time I saw them, they were missing their bassist, so they couldn't really do many of the songs they wanted to. This time, Zach (their bassist) was there and.. Boy was it incredible. They basically played continuously, sticking bits and pieces of their other songs into the song they were currently playing, bridging into another song.. It was so enjoyable. I was blown away. OH, AND THEY WERE THE SECOND BAND I'VE SEEN COVER HELTER SKELTER IN A WEEK. Seriously, though, this performance blew the first time Claudia and I had seen them out of the water.. It was just so good. I actually whined when it was over. I seriously could have stood there for another hour or two (they played for two hours, anyway) just listening to them play whatever they wanted. Claudia and I had the maracas we'd been playing earlier in the day and played them during Portugal's set.. Backing up every time they played the maracas or tambourine. They came up to us afterward telling us we did a good job.

We shot the shit with the guys a little bit before Aeron, Jeff, and the rest of us said our goodbyes to the band and to each other to start the epic drive home. Overall, it was an amazing experience.. And if you ever get the chance, I'd highly recommend catching Portugal. The Man if they're ever playing near you.