Emerson Smith Photo
Ports of Spain.
Fans of New Haven-based indie-pop duo Ports of Spain gathered last Thursday at the Fairfield Theater Company’s StageOne, a 225-capacity concert hall in downtown Fairfield to watch the band perform its largest musical undertaking to date. Upon entering the venue, audience members walked through an art gallery and reception area towards a large black curtain, through which lay an intimate, seated amphitheater.
Inside the theater, they might have also noticed the cameras. The Ports of Spain show at FTC doubled as a video shoot, as the band, a steady New Haven favorite, seeks to expand its reach beyond the Elm City.
Ports of Spain creates an incredibly full, layered sound, so multitextural that it might seem logistically impossible for two people to achieve it. Guitarist Ilya Gitelman explained how they use a piece of gear called a loop station to make it happen. “It’s essentially like having a small live recording studio on stage” he said. “Once I play a phrase, I can play that phrase back immediately, and layer over it.”
In so doing, Gitelman can electronically generate repeated parts normally played by multiple people, allowing the band to build a huge, cohesive soundscape, influenced by an array of artists ranging from Ratatat, Elliott Smith, El Ten Eleven, Giraffes? Giraffes!, and The Dodos.
“I think that’s half the fun of seeing us live,” he said. “It’s kind of this tightrope act of seeing how we’re going to pull it off.”
Which is why Gitelman and bandmate Sam Carlson chose to have their set at StageOne fully and professionally recorded, in both audio and video.
While Gitelman takes the reins with guitar parts and looping, Sam Carlson is in charge of percussion and vocals. At FTC, his effortlessly accurate drumming and quirky lyricism, matched with subtle, candid vocals, created a sound that was both instantly endearing and infectiously catchy. Some songs that the duo played were quite danceable; others were more thunderous. All were executed with the type of grace that only comes with years of practice and an enormous amount of chemistry between bandmates.
The FTC show was part of Ports of Spain’s plan to play increasingly bigger and more strategic shows, both as a chance to create video and as a show in itself. The band had previously played the venue as the opener for The Felice Brothers. This performance — with Violent Mae opening — was the band’s first at the Fairfield Theater Company as headlining artists.
“The FTC show was definitely a sort of acid test to see what we could pull off in a theater setting,” Carlson said. “We’d like to focus more on larger events, and a big part of that is keeping our shows fewer and further between.”
The duo has found New Haven to be a steadfastly supportive hometown from the start, and they draw inspiration from other local artists and their successes in playing larger shows. Ports would love to play venues like College Street or Toad’s Place in the future, but “will definitely still be playing at smaller capacity venues like Cafe Nine,” Carlson said. “We love those rooms, and are always glad to perform in them.”
Ports released Tea Leaf Bloom, their latest EP, in December, and they are currently finalizing brand new material to record another release, starting as soon as a month or two from now.
“Lately I’ve definitely been writing a lot about work and life balance” Carlson said, when asked about his lyrical inspirations. “Do I want to have a really secure financial life? Or do I want to look back at my life and know I tried to do the thing I really wanted to do?” Judging by Ports of Spain’s stellar performance, it is safe to say he is accomplishing the latter.
Violent Mae.
Violent Mae warmed up the audience with Becky Kessler’s strong, crooning vocals and equally rich guitar playing. Percussionist Floyd Kellogg provided a foil to Kessler’s melodic singing with steady, booming drumbeats. Their distinct sounds came together to form experimental ballads as well as poppy upbeat tunes. Both styles retained flavors of bittersweet self-awareness, a la early Cat Power. “In The Sun” was a breezy, carefree standout, as it is on their most recent album, Kid. If the venue wasn’t seated, dancing would have almost certainly been inevitable.
