For this current Portugal. The Man tour, we have launched the PTM NIGHT OUT initiative, in support of disabled fans requiring ADA access.

Portugal The Man’s 34-date North American tour alongside alt-J has been centered on the concept that ‘Everyone Deserves a Night Out’ and is designed with ADA accessible needs fans in mind. We had hundreds of entries and each winning ticket holder has been treated as a VIP guest of PTM; provided with transportation to and from the show, concierge escorts throughout the venue, as well as gifted merchandise and a special meet-and-greet with Eric Howk and other members of the band.

All of us on Team Portugal. The Man have experienced how difficult it can be for someone to get around venues in a wheelchair and we are placing emphasis on the importance of making live music accessible for fans through the #PTMNightOut program, in partnership with Accessible Festivals, as another step towards changing that.

LIVE MUSIC SHOULD BE SAFE, FUN, AND ACCESSIBLE FOR EVERYONE. ♿️

More to come…

AEG Presents // (📸 Maclay Heriot)

The reality is, for many disabled artists and bands with people who have pre-existing conditions or compromised immune systems, playing shows without pretty extreme Covid safety precautions is not on the table right now.

THE PANDEMIC IS NOT OVER.

I can’t stress enough how thankful I am to be signed to a label that supports its artists and prioritizes our wellness and safety.

Label and labelmate support aside, you would not believe how much grief I’ve gotten from all kinds of people for pulling out of our tour and SXSW.

I wouldn’t normally spend an entire week retweeting the posts of friends, artists, and colleagues who caught Covid at a festival, but SXSW balked at all of our attempts to create (and pay for out of pocket) an actually safe environment for my showcase to still happen this year. They said no to keeping me safe, and we told them to go screw.

LOL ABLEISM.

Anyway, I stand by everything I wrote HERE when we pulled out of the festival and I am so fucking glad we didn’t go.

And please, for the love of music, wear your masks when you go to a show. It’s not that fucking hard and you are literally going to kill folks like me if you don’t.

I can’t make you all care about other people — but I wish you would. Live music should be accessible. Full stop.