Portishead have reminisced about the strains of touring across the United States after confirming new dates.
Portishead strode across the musical landscape of the 90s, leaving new genres in their wake and combining critical success with acceptance from the mainstream. After two stunning albums, the band headed out to the United States for a vast tour which almost broke them.
Speaking to The Guardian recently, Adrian Utley reminisced about the complexities of touring across the United States. Admitting that the dates pushed the band to the brink, the musician emphasised the sheer scale of the project.
“A year and a bit on the road, all our relationships had gone down the shitter” he admitted. “It was that whole bloody cliche, that when you’re most successful, your personal life is destroying itself. It was like, ‘This is a film script, a crappy story someone’s written, and I’m living it.'”
Continuing, Utley explained that the exhausting process of touring across the United States led to an extensive break. It was like, ‘Fuck, we got out of that one alive,’ and we walked away,” he said. “We all got our hands burnt and we didn’t really want to go back in.”
Taking time off, Portishead returned in 2008 with their superb album ‘Third’. Adding an industrial edge to their sound, it shredded any trip hop accusations and led to some very special live shows.
Set to curate ATP’s I’ll Be Your Mirror project in Alexandra Palace, Portishead have also confirmed plans for an American tour. Containing their first shows in the United States in almost a decade, the dates open in Asbury Park on October 1st.
Playing two shows in New York, the band will take to the stage in the Hammerstein Ballroom before travelling to Canada.
Ending the tour in Colorado, the Stateside jaunt concludes on October 27th. Tickets are on sale now.