‘Promiscuous’ pop star returns to SF after long delay
Nelly Furtado performs at the Portola Music Festival on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023.
Charles Russo/SFGATENelly Furtado was halfway through her set at Portola 2023 when tears appeared in her eyes.
The Canadian pop star with Portuguese heritage, who presided over global radio and singles charts throughout the first decade of the new millennium, had just finished the song that first sprung her into the spotlight, “I’m Like a Bird.”
The uproarious reaction from the San Francisco audience moved her.
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Fans react to Nelly Furtado’s set at the Portola Music Festival on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023.
Charles Russo/SFGATEShe kneeled down as the band rattled off the final crescendo and wiped her eyes before professing a full-throated appreciation from atop the festival’s central Pier Stage.
“That’s why I make music!” she enthused to the thousands who had joined her to belt along to the eternal chorus and reach for the high note at the end of the lyrics: “Though my love is true.”
Furtado, who’s embarking on the legacy act in her long career, just witnessed a spontaneous jubilee that would fulfill any performer’s dreams.
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The festival’s main stage organically transformed into a singalong. Unprovoked, the crowd flung their arms into the air during the feel-good hit to wave from side to side. “Keep doing that,” Furtado commanded as she became a conduit to channel an outpouring of positive energy between audience and artist.
The acappella caroling — although a bit cacophonous compared with Furtado’s lush vocals — created a festival highlight that timed perfectly with sundown. Although stacked against big name DJs with state-of-the-art light shows and pulsating bass, the elation felt at Furtado’s set would not be topped for the remainder of the day.
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Furtado’s name stood out when the lineup for the sophomore installment of Portola was announced earlier this year. The festival, organized by Goldenvoice, which also puts on Coachella, leans heavily into big beat DJs and dance music. Last year’s highlights were a vintage set from Jamie xx and a coming out party for the newly christened prince of the dancefloor Fred Again.
The inclusion of Furtado’s name among headliners like Skrillex and Eric Prydz was a wildcard, but as head booker Danny Bell explained to SFGATE before the festival, this was entirely by design. “People look at [the Nelly Furtado booking] and think it seems a little off-base,” Bell said. “But once they see the show and understand the whole context, which is just at the end of the day a big party and celebration of dance music, they’ll be reminded that her songs slap.”
Portola Music Festival returns to San Francisco for its second year on September 30 and October 1, 2023.
Portola Music FestivalEven Furtado was aware of her unique placement at the dance fest. She posted on her Instagram Story heading into the festival a picture of a man’s jacket that had the words “House x Techno” printed on the back. In lipstick pink writing, Furtdado wrote “And also pop” across the image.
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A view of the Pier Stage during Nelly Furtado’s set at the Portola Music Festival on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023.
Charles Russo/SFGATEThe 6 p.m. set began with her three-piece band gradually building up the beat for her 2006 single “Say It Right.” The song was one of several from her landmark third effort “Loose” to appear in the setlist. Furtado recorded the album alongside Timbaland, who fused her pop sensibilities with more dance and hip-hop influences. It was catnip for the Portola audience.
She followed up with her rendition of “Maneater,” in which she effectively eats Hall & Oates’s lunch to repurpose the song as an empowering female statement.
Nelly Furtado performs at the Portola Music Festival on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023.
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Introducing the early radio hit “Turn Off the Light” — which once appeared somewhat hourly on Alice 97.3 — Furtado gave a shout-out to her debut San Francisco appearance 22 years ago. She asked who was at Bimbo’s 365 Club in March 2001 to hear her “play this joint.”
Nearly two decades later (and an uproaring reaction from a youthful audience at Portola) has proven how Furtado is a stalwart pop star. Even Drake tapped into her star power last year by bringing her out to duet “I’m Like a Bird” on stage in Toronto. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.)
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Furtado occasionally shared her stage with two backup choreographers: Tynomi Banks, from RuPaul’s Drag Race, and Matthew Cuff, who goes by Snoopy. The duo embellished the set with modern house dancing that helped grease the crowd into even more movement.
Australian house music producer Dom Dolla performed an hour before Furtado at a nearby stage and she appeared at his set to crank out their spirited new collaboration “Eat Your Man.” In return, Dom Dolla appeared with Furtado toward the end of her set to play the buzzy track wherein Furtado slips in a callback in the a lyrics about how she’s “Fly like a bird.”
The 50-minute set coincided with sunset and downtown San Francisco was awash in a magenta hue as Furtado asked the audience a simple question — “Am I throwing you off” — before launching into arguably her biggest song.
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“Promiscuous” was a banger in 2006 and its power is everlasting. The track taught a generation the definition of the word “promiscuous” and provides a back beat for sophisticated sexiness. The call and response between Timbaland and Furtado over licentious intentions is near impossible not to emulate, even if you only half-remember the lyrics.
In the chorus, when everyone can sing along, synths flash like a comet’s tail as Furtado masterfully evokes the playful games that lovers play.