Portals Festival 2025 – Sunday

It’s a perfect Sunday morning weather-wise as we enter day two of Portals Festival 2025, it’s the 25th May, and it promises to be monumental for sure. Again, I have my list of bands to see, Julie Christmas tops the bill; there’s no compromising on that one, but opening the day is the other band that I’m desperate to see perform again, having seen them previously at Portals 2022, and that’s Codices.

The quartet, which features two of the main organisers of the whole Portals experience are primed and ready to set day two off with a bang and absolutely succeed in doing so. Opening the Theatre Stage, the band begin in quite the understated manner, before building momentum as the set progresses. The restrained methodical side slips as each piece explodes into a flourish of colour, and with each track, they push themselves further and further.

For me, this is such a heartwarming sight. I’ve known these guys for half a decade now, it’s always special any time I get to see them, and watching them in their natural habitat, on a stage, filling the air with sound is a joyous occasion for me. Taking things one step further, Asher steps out during the final track, on the vocal solo, and makes himself ‘as one’ with the crowd. The powerfully impassioned performance seals the set, and as the band regroup to close, it feels like ‘mission accomplished’. After such an opening, I’m left wondering how the following act will fare; after all, those are some big shoes to fill now.

I needn’t have worried, because next on my agenda was Norway’s Spurv, a six-piece post-metal band, and another one on the Pelagic roster. Already owning a couple of their more recent releases, I thought I was prepared for what I was about to witness, but it was only the tip of the iceberg. The collective put on a thoroughly entertaining show, lively and energetic; they really showed their enthusiasm to want to entertain. This rubbed off too with the audience, as both band and crowd alike had an absolute blast. The level of technical ability was abundantly clear, and they made it look effortless. One of the most rousing performances of the whole festival, Spurv were pure class.

After a quick change of location, it was time for The Fierce And The Dead, and again, it was another first-class performance by a band who made it all look so very easy. Joking amongst themselves and with the audience between tracks, their set comprised highlights from the band’s fifteen-year catalogue. This included a couple of numbers from 2023’s News From The Invisible World, an album that had become one of my most listened-to ahead of this year’s festival. The post-rock outfit were such a delight to watch, by the time they had finished, it felt like it was over all too soon.

I really wanted to catch Mountainscape, but, as I mentioned in Saturday’s review, the Bar Stage had a very limited capacity, so by the time we got there, it was impossible to see anything. Instead of dwelling on it too long, the executive decision was made to head back up to the Theatre Stage and see what surprise was in store for us instead.

Now this is the thing with festivals, sometimes what you want, and what you get can be vastly different, and yet I’ve always found with Portals, even in such instances, there will be something new to be discovered, a happy accident if you will, and this time it was the opportunity to catch Lys Morke. One of the more leftfield choices for Portals this year, and when announced, I was intrigued, but as they clashed with Mountainscape, I had chosen the latter for reviewing purposes.

Categorised as ‘dance/electronic’, the Spanish duo played an unconventional set that comprised of darkly pulsating pieces and was more an avant-garde art display than it was straight out musical performance. It was utterly engaging, and while the dark electronic beats pulsated through the speakers, Irene Talló vocalised in a sombre, sultry fashion, to give an added air of mystery to it all. Considering this hadn’t been a priority for me, I was happily surprised at the change of pace, and it was a welcome distraction.

Choosing to remain in the Theatre Stage, next on the agenda was Exxasens, who were also of Spanish heritage. Now at almost twenty years as a band, the quartet are well versed in fusing prog with post-rock and djent, and the performance was evident of all those years of hard work. As is the way with a lot of these bands, and well, most of the Portals line ups, the output is instrumental, but one thing I’ve learned on this journey is that the absence of vocals isn’t a negative. In fact, it serves as a platform to make way for the instruments to do the talking. I’ve seen a lot of instrumental bands over the years, and I’m still surprised at the level of depth in the work, sometimes far deeper than if there had even been a vocal in the first place.

After Exxasens, it was time to go and catch some Peach from Bristol in the Bar Stage. This time we managed to get front row seats, and as the charismatic foursome laid waste to the environment in front of them, it was a real breath of fresh air to see yet another younger band carrying the torch forward in the name of alternative music. Between them and CLT DRP, the scene really is as vibrant as it’s ever been.

Unfortunately, we had to cut our Peach session short, as the time was edging closer and closer to the one and only Julie Christmas’ arrival as the headliner on the Hall Stage, so we made a swift exit and headed downstairs for front row viewing.

As the room filled with smoke and the lights dimmed, there was a huge cheer as five silhouetted figures took to the stage and readied themselves for the show. This was swiftly followed by another figure approaching the front of the stage, covered in coloured LED lights, and as a second cheer rang out, the instruments sprang into existence.

For the next hour, we stood there, hypnotised, as Julie Christmas proceeded to put on one of the most phenomenal performances that I think I’ve ever seen. Fluctuating between sombre whispers and wailing banshee screams, she unloaded her full being across the room in a display that was beautifully stunning. The backdrop of intense chugging guitars and guttural growls, courtesy of Johannes Persson and fellow guitarist John LaMacchia, the demonic bass, thanks to Andrew Schneider, coupled with Tom Tierney’s magnificent keyboard work, and Chris Enriquez pummelling drums, provided the perfect accompaniment throughout.

Over the course of the set, we listened as all but two tracks from Julie’s 2024 album Ridiculous And Full Of Blood got aired. This, for me, was like a dream come true, and we were even given a couple of special additions in the setlist, in the form of a Cult Of Luna and Made Out Of Babies tracks, which went down a storm. By the climax of the performance, there was no doubt in my mind that I had just witnessed a defining moment in my gig-going legacy, and when Julie proceeded to come down from the stage to offer out hugs, it was the perfect finale to the whole experience.

By this point, all that was left was to head back up to the Theatre Stage for the final act of the whole festival, Japan’s Mouse On The Keys, and allow the whole experience to fully settle in as the trio played a magically opulent set to see the event off. We sat there in silence as the band gave us all one wonderful moment to remember Portals for, before the lights went up, and it was over.

For me, it’s taken a week to fully come down from it all, each year I have come away from Portals Festival richer for everything I’ve seen, the bands I’ve enjoyed, and the environment I’ve been in. I’ve met some truly lovely people along the way, and although this is the end of an era, it still doesn’t seem real just yet.

That being said, the Portals team will continue putting on gigs, just not the festival, and so the legacy will remain, as there will still be plenty more adventures to be had in the future.

Long live Portals, thanks for everything…

Julie Christmas

Exxasens

The Fierce And The Dead

Codices

Words & Photos by: Lee Beamish