BY: JOEY REAMS
Before they were rocking out to a full Coachella crowd at sunset, Portugal. The Man was busy out on tour making a name for themselves. Most fans recognize them for their hit singles “Feel It Still” and “Live in the Moment.” What they don’t realize is how much history this band has. Starting in 2004 out of Wasilla, Alaska, the band spent a lot of time on the road trying to find fame. Around 2008, the indie rock band played nearly 500 shows in two years.
Portugal. The Man had an entire setlist memorized for this tour, based on three of their first albums: 2006’s Waiter: “You Vultures!”, 2007’s Church Mouth, and 2008’s Censored Colors. This massive tour was right before the band had recorded their breakthrough album, The Satanic Satanist. During this tour, the band stopped and found themselves stuck at a recording studio in Portland, Oregon. With them was a longtime collaborator and filmmaker Graham (Baclagon) Agcaolli and engineer-mixer Jacob Portrait (who would later join Unknown Mortal Orchestra). It was here they recorded Oregon City Sessions.
“The first few years of PTM were whirlwind,” said singer-guitarist John Gourley in a statement. “We didn’t have a place to live, so we were pretty much either recording or touring. We were so wide-eyed coming out of Alaska that every day was an exciting new adventure. I think you can see it in our playing.”
The band has announced they are releasing this live album based on this, called Oregon City Sessions, expected to be out April 16th via Approaching AIRBalloons/Secretly Distribution. The album was recorded in one take and didn’t feature any re-takes or overdubs. To celebrate the announcement, Portugal. The Man has released a little sneak peek of the album with “The Devil, ” along with a new music video. Check it out here:
Physical copies of Oregon City Sessions will be released on June 11th, and pre-orders are currently available. Interestingly enough, the band released a handful of the songs on their Soundcloud about 6 years ago. Check out the full tracklist here:
Oregon City Sessions Tracklist:
01. Church Mouth
02. Horse Warming Party
03. New Orleans
04. Bellies Are Full
05. 1989
06. My Mind
07. Lay Me Back Down
08. Chicago
09. And I
10. The Devil
11. AKA M80 The Wolf
12. Colors
13. March With 6
14. Tommy
15. Helter Skelter