photos by drew sanford

setlist

takk
glósóli
ný batterí
sæglópur
njósnavélin
e bow
gong
andvari
olsen olsen
hoppípolla
með blóðnasir
viðrar vel til loftárása
svo hjótt
heysátan
(happy birthday for a crew member) popplagið


fan review
at 19:00 the lights slowly began to dim out. amiina took the stage and started the night off with some of their own original pieces. the crowd seemed to take a liking to amiina quite well. one of the highlights was when a member from amiina spoke to the crowd in japanese. their set lasted about 35 minutes, which included about five or six songs.

track 4 from the vaka single played over the pa until the lights slowly faded out. sigur ros took the stage at 20:00. they seemed to have a few minor technical difficulties in the beginning, but as the night went on, the sound got better. jonsi also seemed to have a bit of trouble at the beginning with hitting his highest notes, but he got that under control as well.

the show went really well overall. the crowd was very respectful and quiet until the last note of each song was played. the silence in the middle of “viðrar vel til loftárása” was perfect. it probably would have lasted forever if sigur ros didn’t continue the song. the lights and the screen were also nice accompaniments to the music.

when the band came back on stage for their encore, they announced that it was someone’s birthday. i couldn’t hear whose it was, though. the band sang “happy birthday” in icelandic, which was accompanied by amiina on strings. then, the band concluded their nearly two-hour long set with “popplagið.” as the song reached its climax in the end, i felt the ground begin to shake. i have to say that this is the first time that i’ve felt the ground shake from the sheer intensity of the music.

the crowd showed its appreciation for the band at the end of the show despite displaying little emotion throughout the night. with “avalon” playing over the pa, sigur ros and amiina came out not once, not twice, but three times to bow to the sold-out crowd in osaka. the venue was great, the crowd was excellent, and the music was phenomenal. hopefully, this won’t be the last time that sigur ros comes to japan.

(drew sanford)