By: Peter Thomas Ricci<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some musical artists possess the rare ability of transforming their fans into modern-day Ahabs who, with increasing desperation, search the Internet\u2019s seas for evidence of new music. Kate Bush is one. D\u2019Angelo is another. For a time, Jeff Mangum and Lee Mavers fit the bill. But probably the most apt musician in that mold was the inimitable Beth Gibbons, who recorded three albums as lead singer of Portishead (released in 1994, 1997, and 2008) and one solo album (the terrific \u2018Out of Season\u2019) in 2002. And for many years, that was it; in fact, Gibbons commitment to privacy was such that few interviews existed, let alone recordings of her speaking voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you can imagine the surprise \u2013 if not outright shock \u2013 that accompanied the early 2024 announcement of \u2018Lives Outgrown,\u2019 Gibbons\u2019 second solo album. Not only were fans being treated to an entirely new album of material from the elusive singer, but moreover, Gibbons\u2019 Instagram feed \u2013 which has been sparingly updated since 2019 \u2013 suddenly became a space of tour postings, candid photos, and most astonishing of all, a short video of a kind, charming Gibbons thanking fans from her home in England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mention all of those details to establish the feeling of utter impossibility that accompanied Gibbons\u2019 phenomenal performance at The Auditorium Theater on April 8, a concert that (similar to Neutral Milk Hotel\u2019s tour in 2014) was as much a holy moment of ultimate spirituality as it was a musical performance. With a seven-piece band of singers and multi-instrumentalists backing her, Gibbons offered passionate interpretations of her new songs, along with two tracks from \u2018Out of Season\u2019 and, for the encore, the Portishead classic \u201cRoads.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The numbers are the critical thing: With seven musicians backing her, Gibbons was able to not merely recreate the layered post-rock sounds of \u2018Lives Outgrown,\u2019 but rather, to build upon them with the energy and urgency of a live performance. Whether it was the multi-part vocal harmonies of \u201cMysteries,\u201d the soaring woodwinds and strings of \u201cFloating on a Moment,\u201d or the wailing soundscapes of \u201cBeyond the Sun,\u201d this was a band operating in total service of Gibbons\u2019 vision, although \u2013 keeping with her private nature \u2013 Beth herself was hardly central to the performance. Almost always cast in shadows and spared the concert\u2019s dynamic lighting, Gibbons stood at the mic with her characteristic double-grip, singing with a power and clarity that defied her 60 years. Despite the fervent (even frantic) audience calls that occasionally bubbled to the surface between tracks, this was a performance utterly devoid of ego.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One more element worth stressing is Gibbons\u2019 sound, which could not be further removed from the sample-heavy, electronics-laden trip-hop that she, Adrian Utley, and Geoff Barrow pioneered with Portishead. Indeed, Tuesday night\u2019s performance reaffirmed Gibbons as the keeper of the Talk Talk flame: Before Portishead hit it big in \u201994, Gibbons auditioned to sing for O.rang, the band of Talk Talk alum Paul Webb and Lee Harris; \u2018Out of Season\u2019 was co-produced with Webb; and \u2018Lives Outgrown\u2019 was co-produced with Harris. It\u2019s a tragic shame that Talk Talk vocalist and sage Mark Hollis, who passed away in 2019, is not around to see and hear Gibbons’ music; surely it would make him proud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n