Porridge Radio’s introspective rock songs have always sparked emotional release. But knowing that the Brighton quartet was playing its third-to-last North American show ever on Wednesday night, before their grand finale in Bucharest on May 10, made their Neumos set in Seattle all the more cathartic.. Although they haven’t explained why they’re calling it a day, their latest fourth album, last October’s The Clouds in the Sky They Will Always Be There for Me, documents in diaristic detail the toll that burnout has taken on singer-guitarist Dana Margolin in an increasingly demanding, depersonalized music industry.

At Neumos, though, Porridge Radio showed that the four members – including keyboardist Georgie Stott, drummer Sam Yardley, and bassist Dan Hutchins – never took any of their experiences for granted, not the highs nor the lows.

Before Porridge Radio did so, Oakland, California quartet Mildred eased the audience into the night with unhurried electric-folk porch jams. The nine songs in their set were memorable for their ambrosial nature as well as their unexpectedly abrupt endings. Mildred were softspoken and nonchalant, so they never came off like they were trying to jar the audience; it was just how those songs organically ebbed and flowed.

Following Mildred, Porridge Radio pulled focus with songs quaking with so much emotion, they verged on collapse. They piled high and opened deep chasms of quiet and calm into which the audience fell. Porridge Radio are a band of emotional extremes, after all. “I want one feeling all the time / I don’t want to feel a thing,” Margolin sings on “Birthday Party.”

Endings are almost guaranteed to be at least tinged with sadness, but the night was filled with bittersweet moments, particularly during the set’s two most cathartic songs. As the cathedral-sized “Anybody” climbed and climbed and Margolin repeated, “I don’t know anybody” and “Don’t know anybody else / Don’t want to know,” the band members exchanged playful, tender looks that said “I know you. You know me. I see you. You see me.” As warm, comforting keys radiated on “The End of the Year,” Margolin sauntered to the edge of the stage and strummed her guitar while gazing out at the audience, soaking them in for one of the last times.

Porridge Radio closed with a three-song encore starting with just Margolin with guitar in hand on “Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky.” The band reconvened for “Don’t Want to Dance,” then countered that sentiment with their most unapologetically pop song, “7 Seconds,” a moment of unbridled joy brimming with drum fills and neon keys.

Of The Clouds in the Sky’s album title, Margolin has said: “Touring extensively completely fucked with my mind and my body – I could never catch up with myself. But I would look up at the sky and it was always there, and the trees were always there too. Everywhere you go, you can be sure there is the ground and the sky and birds in the trees, and I think they saved me.” Porridge Radio’s fans might not be ready to stop loving them, but as Margolin sings on “Don’t Want to Dance,” “No need to cry about it / Like dust, it all just blows away.” True, but as long as Porridge Radio’s music is out there, tangible on vinyl or in the ether of streaming, they’ll be
somebody’s cloud.

At Neumos, Porridge Radio proved that sometimes, it’s best to know the end is not only coming but also near. The audience appreciated every last moment. And thankfully, The Clouds in the Sky showcases the band at its peak thus far. Could Porridge Radio have written an album even more monumental? Of course it's possible. But at least they’re bowing out before they flicker out. Accepting that shedding the familiar, the routine, the demanding, and the all-consuming is a
necessary part of personal growth and sustainability eases the pain of Porridge Radio’s breakup. As Margolin’s lyrics reflect, she’s ever-changing. Whomever she’s becoming – or

working on herself to become – the gracious thing for fans to do accept that she needs space to do it and say, “hank you for everything. See you down the road, and if not, that’s okay, too. Just continue nurturing your best, truest self.”

Words by Leslie Ken Chu

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