After the huge success of their critically acclaimed second album, Isla (released last year on Peter Gabriel’s Real World records), Portico Quartet hit the ground running in 2010 with their most ambitious UK tour to date, including their biggest show yet at the Barbican on March 8th.

5 Mar SWANSEA Pontardawe Arts Centre
8 Mar LONDON Barbican 7.30pm / £10-£20
11 Mar KENDAL Brewery Arts Centre 7.30pm / £12.50
12 Mar LIVERPOOL Philharmonic Hall 8.30pm / £14.50
13 Mar GATESHEAD The Sage Gateshead 8pm / £15/ £13
14 Mar MANCHESTER Band On The Wall 7.30pm / £10
16 Mar BRACKNELL South Hill Park Wilde Theatre 7.30pm / £13
18 Mar SOUTHAMPTON Turner Sims 8pm / £16/ £15/ £14.50
19 Mar BEXHILL De La Warr Pavilion 8pm / £10
20 Mar COVENTRY Warwick Arts Centre 8pm / £12.50/ £10
21 March NORTHAMPTON Royal & Derngate 7.45pm/ £15/ £13
26th March CONSTANTINE Tolmen Centre Constantine 7.30pm £9/ £8
27th March PENZANCE Acorn Arts Centre 8.30pm / £12/ £10

Portico Quartet are Jack Wyllie (sax and loops), Milo Fitzpatrick (double bass), Nick Mulvey (Hang) and Duncan Bellamy (drums and Hang), four young musicians from East London who started a band together after the chance purchase of a ‘hang’ at a music festival in 2005.

In just a few years Portico Quartet’s hypnotic music has taken them from busking, to a Mercury Prize nomination, to performing at the Royal Opera House and recording their most recent album Isla at Abbey Road with producer John Leckie (Stone Roses, Radio Head etc). Portico Quartet are also set to feature in the The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special, being directed by Morgan Spurlock (30 Days, Super Size Me).

Musically, Isla is a darker, more mature, expansive statement than their Mercury nominated debut, Knee-Deep In The North Sea, with the addition of loop pedals, real-time electronics and strings arranged by the band’s bassist Milo Fitzpatrick. The album received rave reviews online.