Portishead returns

For the last couple of years, I've been receiving Google News Alerts for one of my all-time favorite bands: Portishead. Considering that they haven't toured or made an album since 1997, you'd believe me if I told you that my daily batch of Google News updates for Portishead has been mostly about road repairs, local soccer team scores, and the maritime events of the town of Portishead.

Despite this, I kept the news alerts coming because I knew that one day their fabled next ablum would become a reality and I needed to be among the first to know. Everyday I'd glance at the email and delete. Until yesterday.

Portishead performed a completely unexpected set in a small club in Glasgow. So small and unexpected, that lead singer, Beth Gibbons, paid her cover to get in. They played covers, then "Wandering Star," and then new material. A fan described the audience like a group of people watching an alien ship land on earth.

Can't, can't, can't wait.