It's serious stuff from Portishead

Love them or hate them, Portishead brought their own brand of moody melodies to Wolverhampton's Civic Hall.

The Bristol musicians kept the venue's sell-out crowd transfixed for just over an hour last night with their dark beats.

The group found fame in the mid-1990s with debut album Dummy.

Singer Beth Gibbons barely uttered a word to the audience for the entire show, apart from the odd thank you.

This was a gig for those who take their music very seriously.

The crowd-pleasers on the night were hardly surprising, coming in the form of the band's two biggest hits, Glory Box and Sour Times.

For the rest of the gig, the audience remained quiet, almost brainwashed by the haunting rhythms and Gibbons's wails.

All of the songs were performed to a big-screen backdrop, showing fast-paced graphics and scenes of Gibbons, dressed in simple jeans and a T-shirt, and the band.

The group also performed tracks from their new album Third, which will be released later this month.

Portishead are by no means to everyone's taste, but their talents are undeniable and if you're looking for something dark and desolate, there's no band finer.

Review by Liz Joyce.

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