Beck drew a huge crowd on the Green Stage, udoubtedly affecting the number of people willing to trek over to see Tortoise. Traffic was thick with people, making the trek even harder. Still, intrepid rock fans don’t give up easily when one of the most important bands in the post-rock world are about to play.

The band makes a lot of sense when you see it live. More drum jam or an instrumental session with a group of talented musicians the many members of Tortoise take turns leading compositions but taking a seat at one of the two drum kits which sit center stage. The drummer is like the conductor, setting tempo and beat, and potentially leading the band into other directions.

The band are egalatarian in how they share their musical talent as each member swaps easily between percussion, synthesizer, and vibraphone. Though the band’s recent album “The Catastrophist” featured vocals for the first time it was pretty clear that today was going to be an instrumental affair.

The post-rock godfathers are quite an impressive live experience. WHile they didn’t bring a light show nor any visuals to speak of, it was still more than enough to captivate and enthrall. The band had an arsenal of equipment at their disposal and their arrangements highlighted the incredible acoustics of the White Stage. Tortouise didn’t have any trouble being bold and it worked beautifully tonight, making everyone primed for the long night ahead of them.