Portishead’s Beth Gibbons brought the house down at spellbinding 1st show of her 2025 solo tour (review, setlist, video)

Beth Gibbons has never been a chatty frontperson, and her shy, reserved stage presence has been part of the appeal since the early days of Portishead. At Knoxville Civic Arena on Thursday night, the first date of her North American tour and her first show in eight months, she only said “thank you” to the crowd at the end of the main set; anytime she wasn’t singing she walked to the back of the stage as backlights cast her in silhouette. Of course, Gibbons’ ever-powerful/fragile voice did all the talking anybody in attendance needed. Her pipes can still wreck you with an ooh.

The setlist Thursday night, the centerpiece show at the first day of the 2025 Big Ears Festival, is the same one she’s been doing since her first solo show a year ago, featuring all but one song from her great solo debut, Lives Outgrown, plus two songs from her 2003 album with Rustin Man, and a single Portishead song. Her voice is the star but her seven-piece band is incredible, which included James Ford, who produced the album, on keyboards, plus multi-instrumentalist Howard Jacobs, Tom Herbert, Eoin Rooney, Richard Jones, Emma Smith (who also plays in Pulp), and Jason Hazeley. Special props to Jacobs, who stood in the center of a mass of percussion instruments that would’ve impressed the late Neil Peart, and who played multiple saxophones, as well as flute, clarinet, the musical saw, marimba and more. But truly they brought Lives Outgrown to lush, widescreen life, especially “Floating on a Moment,” “Tell Me Who You Are Today” (which opened the set), and the sorrowful “Lost Changes.” The packed house was rapt the whole time, with multiple standing ovations.

My favorite moments came near the end. “Tom the Model,” the soulful song from the Rustin Man album, brought welcome rock energy to the night, and then the encore brought the house down. After a short exit from the stage, Beth and the band returned and James Ford laid down those familiar Fender Rhodes chords of “Roads,” arguably Portisthead’s greatest single achievement, and backed by that incredible group of musicians, Beth brought all the urgency, tenderness and sadness the original had three decades ago. The performance ended with “Reaching Out,” which brought things to a loud, beautifully clattering finale. A spellbinding night.

Check out the full setlist from Big Ears, plus video and a few more Iphone pics, below.

Beth’s tour hits NYC on Tuesday, April 1 at Beacon Theatre and wraps up a Coachella. All dates are listed below.

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SETLIST: Beth Gibbons @ Knoxville Civic Auditorium
Tell Me Who You Are Today
Burden of Life
Floating on a Moment
Rewind
For Sale
Mysteries
Lost Changes
Oceans
Tom the Model
Beyond the Sun

Encore:
Roads
Reaching Out

BETH GIBBONS – 2025 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES
3/29: The Met – Philadelphia, PA *
3/30: The Anthem – Washington, DC *
4/01: Beacon Theatre – New York, NY *
4/04: Orpheum Theatre – Boston, MA *
4/06: Massey Hall – Toronto, ON *
4/07: Masonic Cathedral Theatre – Detroit, MI *
4/08: The Auditorium – Chicago, IL *
4/10: Paramount Theatre – Denver, CO *
4/11-13: Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival – Indio, CA
4/15: The Warfield – San Francisco, CA *
4/17: The Orpheum Theatre – Los Angeles, CA *
4/18-20: Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival – Indio, CA