Music: Portugal. The Man, Manchester

When? Friday 13th
Where? Night & Day, Manchester
Wearing? left-to-dry natural wavy hair, Lupfer t-shirt, Zara jacket, Firetrap jeans, leather chelsea boots from TK Maxx

I bought Mark tickets for PTM for his birthday in June, and I booked us a hotel for 2 nights so we could make a weekend of it. We were so excited! We saw PTM a couple of years ago, in the same week as seeing Bon Iver for the first time. I was a first time PTM'er and I was truly converted. Despite the awe inspiring show we'd seen by Justin and his friends, Portugal. The Man just blew us away. It wasn't Mark's first time, but we both agreed it was the best show we'd ever been to. That is some mean feat! It was atmospheric, a spangly disco ball reflecting hypnotic colours everywhere. A small crowded room. Mesmerising voices and lyrics lulling you into a state of utter bliss. I think we floated all the way back to our hotel!

Fast forward two years and you find us inside the Night & Day cafe, after much driving around getting lost and finally having found a car park (£13!!). I like the feel of it, though I'm not quite sure about everyone in attendance. The majority being wonderful, the sparse few being very irritating, and most certainly on something. We arrived late, but we applauded the support act and eagerly awaited PTM. There wasn't as big a sense of anticipation as at the previous show, but we were excited enough for everyone!

Both of us had agreed prior to the show that we weren't as 'into' the new album Evil Friends yet as we are each of our favourite albums. That's the way it is with new music, it takes us a while to adapt to the new sounds. But there were several songs played live from the album that we enjoyed, I was surprised when I caught myself singing along to words I didn't know I knew. Then of course there were some of the anthemic tunes we know and love and enjoy hearing over and over again. Some songs just never get old. But after around 50 minutes or so onstage, we were thanked and left. That was it? That was it. There was no encore, despite other setlists listing lengthy sets and encores. John and the band left the stage with an attitude we hadn't seen before.

We left the venue bewildered and disappointed. All of our anticipation, and we were going back to the hotel at 10.30pm on a Friday night, our first night away. Disappointment evaporated into anger for Mark, as a massive and loyal fan he felt so let down! When we got back to the hotel his first impulse was to send an angry email directly to the band. He wasn't to be stopped, so I guided him in wording it, expressing our disappointment and what we'd hoped to see (again). Mark never expected a reply, he just wanted his opinion to be known. But the next morning Mark received a lengthy email directly from the band (John, we assume). It went along the lines of...

"I respect and appreciate what you have had to say on this and take note. We love our fans as an absolute. We respect you. ...We give a f__k. I am disappointed in myself for not performing to the best of my ability."

Needless to say, the band has regained any respect lost and Mark's life is complete, he was made up!

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