28 September 2024 (gig)
19 h
Portola returned on September 28th and 29th for its third year in San Francisco and is only growing in popularity. Tickets went on sale on May 19th and sold out by July 10th, over 2 months before the festival date. It’s a testament to their eclectic lineups of eye popping quality. The acts can loosely be defined as electronic, but the range is broad. Unlike in its first two years, Portola will not be overlapping with San Francisco’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. That festival has been operating free to all attendees since its inception in 2001, and continues to operate off the endowment from the deceased billionaire investment banker Warren Hellman who founded it. Despite the “Bluegrass” moniker, it books a range of genres, and the venn diagram overlap of Bay Area residents who enjoy both festivals was likely larger than one might expect with an electronic music festival. It was a widely celebrated decision from the festival organizers.
Aside from just the two day festival, Portla curates what’s referred to as Portola Week. This includes 12 shows on the preceding Thursday and Friday, and 14 after-parties on the Saturday and Sunday of the fest. Notable events included the second annual Raccoon Social at the Midway, a local EDM-oriented venue that’s a literal stones throw from the festival grounds. It featured 10 total acts, including Bob Moses & Classixx, and is named in honor of the “majestic” creatures that frequent Pier 80 (a rather Miyazaki, Pom Poko perspective relative to how most city dwellers feel about them). Racoons were seen on much of the Portola merch worn by fans this weekend. Most prominent among the Portola Week events were the two Boiler Room sets. Big name non-festival performers Tove Lo and SG Lewis headlined one night as their new joint venture, Club Heat (just their 4th performance as a duo).
The sweaty, “strong torso” (as Robyn refers to it on Jamie XX’s “Life”) shown on the Club Heat album cover encapsulates the experience of the primarily indoor Portola Week sets. Things were considerably less sweaty across the three outdoor stages and single tent covered stage at the fest itself. By evening, temps cooled to the mid-50s and uncharacteristically strong winds blew cold air off the San Francisco Bay. Yet attendees were in high spirits throughout the weekend as there was no shortage of standout sets to warm up to. French touch icons Busy P and Braxe + Falcon had the Sunday evening Ship Ten transported to a sunny Parisian day, legs dangling over the side of the Seine, as they gave a history tour of the genre. Chicago house legend Honey Dijon had the Warehouse packed and ecstatically twirling in the lead up to the headliners on Sunday night. Germany’s horsegiirL had the Saturday afternoon Ship Tent crowd enraptured with her chaotic brand of barn animal hyper pop, and of course her signature horse mask. And if that wasn’t enough to keep you going, the festival was offering free Electrolit to attendees as they entered to keep them energized.
Here’s a rundown of the two top sets of the weekend:
Jessie Ware - 5:35 - 6:25 - Pier Stage on 27 September 2024
In the likelihood of being an act booked at Portola, Jessie Ware’s career has come full circle. She started out as back up singer for Jack Peñate, a figurehead of the west London, late 00’s scene known as Thames Beat in local press (Mystery Jets also come to mind). But her big breakout came singing on English producer SBTRKT’s self-titled debut alongside Sampha and Little Dragon. It was the exact type of indie heralded, experimental electronica that’s right at home at Portola. For the next eight or so years, she drew critical acclaim for her turn towards more traditional R&B. However, even during this stretch of soulful songs showcasing her powerhouse voice, she still kept a link to the alternative side of things, collabing with iconically alt-cool acts like Miguel and Dev Hynes of Blood Orange. However, it was 2017’s What’s Your Pleasure and 2023’s That! Feels Good! where she has truly hit her stride and creative peak. It’s this turn towards electro-disco that landed her back squarely positioned to deliver the top set of the entire festival.
She kicked things off with the title track from That! Feels Good!, and the packed Pier Stage crowd was instantly eating out her hand, feeding off her every move. She kept up the momentum by continuing to deliver standouts from the album, including “Pearls,” “Begin Again,” and “Freak Me Now.” Her all-male backup dancers were unparalleled to any from the weekend, performing wild stunts and ceaseless energy. She switched gears mid-set with a medley of “Running (Remix),” “Hot N Heavy” and “What’s Your Pleasure?”. As rapturous as the reaction was following that, it was the final two songs that truly sent things into the stratosphere. Her cover of Cher’s 1998 auto-tune classic “Believe” was arguably the loudest sing-a-long of the weekend. And she saved the best for last by closing with “Free Yourself.” So perfectly written, had it been released in the late 70s, it would stand alongside the likes of “I Will Survive” or “You Make Me Feel” as an all-time disco classic.
Jamie XX - 6:35 - 8:05 - Pier Stage on 27 September 2024
It’s been over 15 years since Jamie Smith started releasing blogosphere bursting remixes like “Rolling in the Deep (Jamie XX Shuffle)” for his then indie labelmate Adele. The once mysterious figure behind the drum machines in the XX has since proven the bonafide star of the trio (although Romy’s spectacular 2023 solo debut Mid Air has evened the playing field substantially). He’s both a Mercury Prize and Grammy nominated artist, yet the idiosyncratic sound he’s cultivated makes him still feel like a cult figure, major festival billings be damned. He took nearly a decade off between 2015’s In Colour and the just released In Waves. But in that interim he has kept the faithful satisfied with many singles to grow his canon.
The full arsenal was on display at Pier 80 as sunset took full effect 20 minutes into his set. He started the set tranquilly with In Waves album opener “Wanna.” He continued the theme of his slower building, expansive material with “Treat Each Other Right” into In Colour classics “Gosh” and “Loud Places.” Things took a dramatic turn towards a relentlessly high energy dance party when he transitioned into “Life,” his Robyn featuring single that was said to be the theme song of this year’s Glastonbury, played between most sets at the iconic U.K. festival. In quick succession followed song of the summer contender “Baddy on the Floor” (which features fellow Sunday Portola performer Honey Dijon), “KILL DEM,” and “All You Children” (a collab with Australian indie-electro sampling icons The Avalanches, a kindred spirit of sorts for Jamie). It was a perfect display of his brand, and the highlight of the weekend. Jamie always sounds different, always like himself, and never like anyone else.
Photo Credit: Matt Weinberger
