The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Portugal. The Man a headliner at rock fest relocated to Lakeland
Expect Portugal. The Man to do more than rock when it comes to area for WonderStruck fest at Lakeland
Portugal. The Man bassist Zachary Scott Carothers can feel it still.
Whenever the bassist listens to the alt-rock band’s obscure unreleased 2008 live recording — its mere existence relegated to fanmessage-board fodder for more than a decade — he hears the unassuming and unfettered energy, freedom and creativity associated with a young group at an artistic crossroads.
Now audiences can enjoy the moment, too, with Portugal. The Man — which is headlining the second of two nights of this weekend’s WonderStruck in Cleveland 2021 music festival at Lakeland Community College in Kirtland — earlier this year releasing the live recording “Oregon City Sessions.”
However, fans of the band’s more recent finely crafted pop stylings, such as its No. 1 funk-fueled Pharrell-esque “Feel It Still,” won’t recognize the psychedelic Led Zeppelin-meets-Mars Volta-lite jams.
“Basically, we want to jam, we love psych music, but we also love pop,” said Carothers, calling from Portland, Oregon.
“We want to write very precise pop songs, and then we want to play 12-minute psychedelic jams and cover Pantera.
“There’s no reason we can’t do both.”
“Oregon City Sessions” finds then-fledgling Portugal. The Man — fresh off the road — performing a set sans audience in a suburban Portland studio where the audio and video were captured and quickly forgotten.
“Looking back, it’s very clear to me it’s not a live show,” Carothers said. “There’s no audience. We’re not performing, head-banging, dancing or trying to look cool.
“We are literally in a room jamming with each other, playing and communicating. It’s youthful, blissful ignorance that was just so pure and adorable. It’s just a really nice snapshot into a very specific moment in our life.”
The other thought Carothers has about that era is the group’s early tours, which often found them sleeping on the floors of benevolent club concertgoers. Such is any young band’s modus operandi.
However, Portugal. The Man did have one tour oasis whenever coming through the Rock Hall City.
Carothers’ Aunt Jenni’s North Olmsted house ended up being a home away from home for the group, one where spaghetti dinners and partying cousins were the norms.
“Cleveland is a rock ’n’ roll town with the (Rock & Roll) Hall of Fame and both locations of the Grog Shop, where I’ve had unbelievably hilarious and amazing times,” Carothers said. “It’s one of our favorite dive venues ever. Always a hell of a time.
“My aunt’s house was always a rest stop for us. We also left freshly showered and somewhat well-rested but my cousins do like to drink — they are part of my family.”
Seeing family is something Carothers hasn’t done in a while due to the pandemic. Speaking of which, aside from prepping and releasing “Oregon City Sessions” during the shutdown, one would assume Portugal. The Man had time to work on releasing a new album, which will be a follow-up to 2017’s “Woodstock.”
“We’ve been over-thinking ourselves, as we tend to do lately,” Carothers said. “That’s what I do miss about the ‘Oregon City Sessions.’ We used to put out an album a year. Now, we’ve been working on a new record for a couple of years.
“We’re really great at starting songs. We’re not super good at finishing them. We have about 60 songs that are 85 percent. Getting that last 15 percent is so difficult. We’re starting to get back to the album and we’re starting to book some shows.”
That will include the aforementioned gig July 25 at WonderStruck, the evolution of the former LaureLive Music Festival at Laurel School’s Butler Campus in Russell Township.
It should give Carothers and company a chance to reconnect not only with Northeast Ohio fans but also with family.
“Aunt Jenni sold that house, which was a bummer, and moved to Colorado Springs, but I still have three cousins that live there,” Carothers said. “I’m definitely excited to hang out with them.
“I’m sure we will be having some backyard barbecues, getting some goodquality family time in and meeting some babies I haven’t met in person. It’ll be a good time.”