setlist:
svefn g englar
glósóli
ný batterí
við spilum endalaust
hoppípolla
með blóðnasir
festival
fljótavik
e-bow
sæglópur
inní mér syngur vitleysingur
hafssól
gobbledigook
popplagið
reviews
this was an amazing concert. the dancing, singing, clapping, images, and music was wonderful and delightful. this was my first concert and it was a great first concert experience. the best part was at the last song (the encore song), when the song was beginning to climax, it started to rain. and as the song went on, the rain fell harder and in larger drops. when the song ended, the rain drops became smaller and smaller.
i was not sure exactly who sigur ros were and was not a fan at the time. but because of the concert, i am now a fan. i also want to thank you for a wonderful time and hope to see more of your concerts in the future. :) ^-^ thank you again!
(eehwa)
sold-out crowd - threatening rain held off until encore (how do you arrange for that?) a religious experience augmented by crowd's cloud of flammable recreational pharmaceuticals. from one who saw hendrix, pink floyd and moody blues - i can honestly say i have never in my life attended a more seamless, uplifting, drivingly magical concert - i hope for the sake of others that it was filmed in hd so that the 10,000 souls there don't have to contain the spirit of this show by themselves...
(it happens)
reviews
as the rain started to fall halfway through the single song encore of “popplagið” — a rain that felt brought on by the magisterial, howling of the music — it was as joyous and surreal a rock ‘n roll moment as i and no doubt the rest of the 8500 soaked fans at the sold-out greek theatre had ever witnessed. had it been a guns n’ roses video it would have seemed like contrived, cliché bombast, but as it was, this timely meteorological phenomena masquerading as rock show wizardry, was the perfect finale to an inspired 100 plus minute set of icelandic musical sorcery.
but truthfully, the moment wouldn’t have had nearly the impact had it not followed what came minutes before it. after a set of noisy, soaring, melodious anthems and floaty ballads, the band closed things out with arguably the poppiest, most radio friendly song they’ve written, “gobbledigook” (off their new album, með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust), and took it to a place i don’t think anyone was expecting. the song is pleasant enough on the album, but live — with four extra drummers (members of the warm-up band parachutes), the big, engulfing sound of the greek, furious acoustic guitar playing, a stadium of bouncing, clapping fans and more confetti than could ever be found in a small child’s wildest dreams — it was a celebratory piece that made your heart want to explode with joy.
singing mostly in icelandic and occasionally in vonlenska (a gibberish language), lead singer and guitarist jón þór “jónsi” birgisson’s angelic falsetto and bowed guitar playing, were the perfect guides for this strange and wonderful journey of a show. not being able to understand what was being sung, gave the music a unique kind of authority that wouldn’t have been there otherwise. and because of this, the lyrics had no more weight than any other part of the music and the vocal melodies were able to weave anonymously throughout the songs. saying one couldn’t understand what was being sung, in fact, is a bit of a misstatement, because at the deepest level, where it counts, the band’s songs are easily understandable and, for me at least, triggered a number of different emotions. looking around at the audience’s faces and hearing them phonetically singing along to their favorite songs and one can easily understand the power of this mystifying music.
it’s a beautiful thing when decades into your life, you experience something that transcends everything similar before it. even more beautiful is when that something transcends heights you never would have imagined could be topped. last night, october 3rd at the sigur rós show here in berkeley, was one of those moments.
forget the fact that my friends and i bought the sold-out tickets off craigslist just hours before the show, or that it was a rare warm summer night in berkeley (a meteorological phenomenon in its own right) and that it was supposed to rain all evening (the forecast called for an 80% chance) but didn’t (at least not until the most dramatic moment possible), or that despite being a fan, this was my first time seeing the band live… forget all that and you still have a night that was so perfect, so authentic feeling, so mesmerizing, so emotionally lifting, that i’m reeling from its still.
the last time i experienced something like this was about 10 years ago when i witnessed a sunset that was — and still is — the most amazing sunset i’ve ever seen. now by definition, all sunsets are uniquely spectacular and so qualifying them in this way almost seems sacrilegious, but sometimes something is so special — so off the hook — you have no choice but to recognize and celebrate its audacious individuality.
anyway, i go off on this tangent in the hope it’s able to bring further perspective and gravity to what i witnessed last night — something that while inseparable from everything before it, has managed to separate itself completely. i know for some this may seem like ridiculous hyperbole (to compare sunsets and rock shows), but given what music means to me and the power i believe it possesses to change the world, it’s what i’m left with.
sigur rós is dynamic on record to be sure, but live they are something else entirely. a religious experience? maybe, but i’m now speaking in tongues…
or is it vonlenska.
(tony schmiesing)
