In the midst of working on its long-delayed third album--the first in 10 years--seminal trip-hop outfit Portishead performed a surprise show in its members' hometown of Bristol Sunday night, according to the DJ group that hosted the show.

Portishead--Geoff Barrow, Adrian Utley, and singer Beth Gibbons--showed up at a small music bar, called Mr. Wolfs, in Bristol as part of the regular gig of the Grumpy Man DJs group. The night was billed to include a DJ set from Barrow, who spun records for a while before being joined onstage by Utley and Gibbons.

"Adrian and Beth joined Geoff onstage and blew all our collective brains to s***," the Grumpy Man DJs said on their Web site.

In the reclusive band's first live appearance since 2005's Tsunami Benefit Show, the trio performed their classic track "Wandering Star" before jumping into a new song.

In a note posted on the band's MySpace page, Barrow wrote, "Thanks for everyone who came down to see me DJ last night and the response to the live stuff, even though it was only 2 songs. Sorry we didn't tell everyone about the gig but it's good to do things like that every now and again, and it's a tiny place."

Barrow also noted that the new song didn't even have a name yet. Barrow has made periodic announcements about the group's new material in the past year, including one rant against Danger Mouse and Gnarls Barkley.

Portishead has not released an album since 1997's self-titled LP.