Mar. 06, 2013 - Issue #907: Garbage Goes Green
A New Set List
Portage and Main takes second album on tour
Fans of Vancouver's Portage and Main are in for a whole new show when the band heads out on tour this month.
After months of waiting for its release, the folk-rock quintet is performing new material off its second album. "We're kind of a band that prescribes to not playing new stuff until it's available and out there in some form, so we've been holding back from playing a lot of new material for some time," says John Sponarski, one of the band's lead singers and guitarists.
With the January release of Never Had the Time, the band has 10 new tracks to unleash on the crowd. "Now that the record's out it's really exciting to revamp the set list and have a lot more options, so we can take a fresh look at things and we can get out there and play new stuff."
Portage and Main formed out of Sponarski and Harold Donnelly's mutual desire to write songs. There was never an intention of starting a band, just a commitment to hone their songwriting skills.
"It was more of an exercise for us," says Sponarski. "We were just trying to work on writing tunes, so him and I got together and hashed out all these tunes, and that's how it started."
That was back in 2010. By 2011, the band that was never intended had formed, with Georges Couling (keys), Dave Gens (drums) and Ben Appenheimer (bass) joining the ranks.
Sponarski says Portage and Main's passion for songwriting and singing is what it tries to convey to its fans during shows. The band wants everyone to know just how "insanely therapeutic singing can be."
"I don't think it's any secret that we write songs that lend themselves to catchy sing-along choruses. And, we do that because we want to involve people and we want it to be an experience so people aren't just sitting and watching."
Wed, Mar 13 (8 pm)
With the Whytes
Avenue Theatre, $12
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