By Rania Khoury

After a long and eventful weekend, thanks to the Texas/OU game, Dallas was truly rocked Saturday night by one of the most underrated bands of 2011. Portugal. The Man took the stage and performed almost two hours worth of material to a sold out crowd at Granada Theater. Considering the fact that Portugal. The Man just came through Granada back in May, it might sound a little confusing to claim Saturday night as one of the most impressive shows of 2011. But this time was different.

To start it off, the line to get in to the venue was long and wrapped around the fence of the patio. Air Review took the stage and got the crowd moving. The lighting was intimate as the crowd was still pouring in. We can’t fail to mention how awesome the sound is in Granada, especially as Air Review’s guitarist beat on an extra pair of drums. The bass was so deep and loud it was rattling our insides. Air Review ended their set and the crowd started to pack in as the anticipation for Portugal. The Man built up.

Portugal. The Man took the stage surrounded by bubble shaped lights, which changed colors throughout their set. They opened their set with “So American” off their new album In the Mountain In the Cloud, and ended the song with an intense light show and a wild jam out session. They kept the energy high as they went on to play their popular song “Work all Day” off their 2009 album The Satanic Satanist. The light bubbles flashed retro colors, and were the only form of light for a good part of the song.

Zachary Carothers was all over the stage as he wailed on his bass during an insane cover of The Beatles’ “Helter Skelter” as singer John Gourley chanted “Come on tell me the answer/You may be a lover but you ain’t no dancer.” The crowd sang along with their fists raised high as Wayne Coyne, front man and legend of The Flaming Lips, ran down the isle to the front row. After a brief distraction, due to everyone realizing Coyne was there, all focus was reverted back to the stage.

They slowed things down with their throwback song “1989” off their old album Censored Colors. Throughout the night, Portugal played a mixture of songs from their old albums, but focused a lot more on their new album. Just as quickly as they slowed things down, they pumped the crowd back up with their feel-good song, “Everyone is Golden”.

Instead of leaving the stage and coming back on, front man Gourley joked, “We were going to leave the stage and come back and do that thing… But then I realized we are trapped on stage because of these light props.” They proceeded to play three encore songs, including their most popular song, “People Say.” The night ended with a sea of lighters and cell phones in the crowd as fans swayed to that last song.