friday 1 september 2000
we spend almost 2 hrs driving 3 miles in bristol because of some huge accident. not a good start to the trip. after picking up haukur from bristol station, we decide to head over to newport so we arrive in plenty of time. we then realise halfway there that the doors open at 6pm, not 8pm as we originally thought. so much for arriving in plenty of time.
we arrive at tredegar house and spy the tent. people are already going in, so we park in a field and hurry over to the tent. theres no time to try and find the band or anyone because we're so late. we still manage to get a fairly good spot in the tent, about 15 'row's back. the tent is massive and theres a good view from almost anyway in it. the stage is in the highest corner of the tent, and the stage is huge itself.
we start handing out our special fancy ads (for this site) to people. most are confused. some even think clinic are supporting, not sigur rós. we confidently inform everyone that sigur rós are extremely good and even better than radiohead. people don't believe us, but politely take the flyers.
sigur rós take the stage to a little applause. people seem a little confused. they start with the nothing song (the working name for it, apparently) and the crowd seem intruiged. by the end of the song, the crowd seem split, half are talking, the other half are watching intently. chris has got all the way to the front by cunningly pushing his way through while handing out more flyers.
they launch into nyja lagið. it sounds pretty good, its just about loud enough and doesnt get lost in the huge tent. me and bjorn wonder if they've chosen wise songs to play to this sort of crowd. never mind, we're confident they'll end, as usual, with pop song. next is svefn-g-englar, and the organ intro is met with quite a few cheers from random parts of the tent. this song really is becoming their 'creep'. its a good rendition tonight and goes down well. jónsi singing into his guitar provokes a few laughs from leather clad metallers (make of that what you will). theres a scary amount of korn, slipknot and nirvana t shirts in the crowd. we pray sigur rós will finish with pop song.
kjarri begins the mournful intro to death song. me and bjorn look at each other. surely they're not finishing with this one, surely. we need rock at this point, people are getting bored. nevertheless, they do indeed finish with death song. they get a fairly good (if confused) send off at the end. we all try and lead the applause. we immediately send a text msg to georg to ask what happened to pop song. and e-bow too. we pray they won't continue with this set for the rest of the tour. as good as it may be for big sigur rós fans, its not the thing to play to 10,000 people who haven't heard them before.
radiohead take the stage. they're pretty good. i won't go into detail about their set. i hadn't listened to radiohead since my obsession with them ended about 18months ago. it was nice to hear all the old songs again, and they're definitely back at least as good as before. i'm unsure about the new songs. they've definitely been listening to aphex twin, autechre etc lots (good) but some songs seem a quite blatent rip off of these artists (bad).
the shows over, we make a sharp exit, handing out the rest of our flyers as we leave.
setlist
nothing song
nyja lagið
svefn-g-englar
death song
saturday 2 september 2000
we get up to discover my car has been broken into. not a good start to the day. nothing is damaged and it seems at first that nothing was taken. on further investigation i discover they've nicked my belle and sebastian mix tape....work that one out if you can.
we don't make the same mistake again and set off in plenty of time for newport. i'm going to have to do two trips from bristol because my little car cant take more than 4 people really, and i've promised 7 people a lift (yes i am stupid).
we arrive at the site. theres not many people around because its so early. we wander to the separate 'production and dressing rooms' building. cant see anyone we know so we give georg a ring. orri answers his phone, they're still at the hotel. they're hoping to soundcheck later on in the afternoon. i decide to nip back to bristol to get the other people while we're waiting for the band to get ready and over to the site. chris in paul's absence: we hang around outside the production area and eventually martin the tour manager comes out to talk to us. i say we're looking for dean (with whom we arranged the photo pass) and he says dean has gone home. great! we leave a message on his answering machine. goggi and kjarri come out and i accost them looking for photo opportunities. they agree to pose for just one shot, and kjarri shows me the finger. we wait some more. i learn a new icelandic swear word and use it some. paul returns..
bjorn rings me when i'm about halfway to bristol. at least my phone *says* its bjorn ringing me. when i answer i get a crazy person saying hello in many different voices. aha, its storme using bjorns phone. they've just arrived at the site, and as was predictable, i'd chosen exactly the wrong moment to go back to bristol. i put my foot down and try and get my car to do more than 85, but its not going to happen. i get another phone call from bjorn about half an hour later. he's just found kjarri and goggi. aargh. bjorn asks them if they're going to play pop song tonight, goggi says probably not. i try to go faster but my cars having none of it.
i finally get back to tredegar house and find everyone again. storme has disappeared so i ring her. she's hiding behind some trees, but we can see her. we ask her if we can have the photo pass that dean promised us. she's goes off to find out.
we're still trying to sort out the press pass. chris has brought his big fancy camera to take lots of nice pics of the gig. we hang around outside the production/dressing room building thing. eventually kjarri and jónsi come out. we say hello. jónsi hits me with his hat. they seem pretty cheerful. i ask if they're looking forward to the gig and they say they're a little nervous. i try and ring dean again about the press pass but he's nowhere to be found.
john best (who really lived up to his name today) came out to talk to us. he goes off to get us a press pass and succeeds. yay. we take a photo of chris with his fancy pass stuck on his leg. we head over to the tent for the doors.
we're allowed into the site at last. bjorn, haukur and the rest all run to the front to get a good spot. me and chris head over to the side of the stage to find john and get into the photography pit. chris walks along the front of the crowd giving out more flyers. people seem absurdly keen to get one, and some even come sprinting over to grab them.
i spot storme again, she comes over and says she has a surprise. she's hiding something behind her back. its a signed drumskin from the band. it says 'takk...' (thanks)...sigur rós. and its got a cool picture that jónsi drew on it. its very very cool. we say thanks lots and sort of stand there and wave it about a bit.
sigur rós take the stage. chris goes into the photography pit and me and bjorn wander off to get a good view. we pray they've listened to us pestering them to play pop song. we're confident that if they play that then people will be blown away. they begin with e-bow which is definitely a very good thing. people seem really into it. chris in the pit: it's all dark and scary in the pit. the angle is not good for shots of orri so i take some shots of goggi and jonsi. the crowd look interested and a few people are swaying gently with their eyes closed. i switch to the telescopic lens and stand on tiptoe on the barrier to get some shots of orri and kjartan.
a familiar bassline begins. it cant be...can it? it is! its ny batterí! wow, we cant believe it. me and bjorn stare at each for a while...its got to be a mistake. they never play ny batterí. but they do tonight. and its amazing. people start nodding there heads and looking really interested. orri kranks the drumming up a gear halfway through and its stunning.
its svefn-g-englar again, and its great. this time no one laughs at jónsi singing into his guitar. most people seem transfixed.
svefn-g-englar gets lots of applause, as always its a popular one. now the moment of truth. will they do pop song...? we wait..the anticipation is almost too much. i wave the drumskin in the air to try and catch their attention and somehow suggest that pop song would go down *really* well...*right* now. they seem to agree. me and bjorn cheer as they kick off the intro. i look around the crowd...the sea of innocent faces obviously expecting more of the same hushed atmospheric beauty. they've no idea of the sonic bombardment that they're about to be subjected to. chris in the pit: while temporarily distracted, storme manages to get another shot of me looking silly.with one song to go. storme and i both yell "pop song" as loud as we can - hooray, they play it! goes down fantastically and i take some action shots.
as the song winds up another gear, people begin to nod their heads. 5 minutes later
its still getting louder and people are really getting into it. i think i even see
some metal kid head banging. by this time goggi is crouched over his bass thrashing
at the strings. jónsi is on tiptoes screaming into the mic and kjarri is tearing
at his guitar. at the same time orri is attacking his drumkit with incredible ferocity.
its mindblowing. its totally stunning. in fact its the most amazing thing i've ever
seen. even though i've seen it so many times before, it still never fails to amaze.
they leave the stage to much applause. i overhear several groups of previously sceptical people enthusing about the performance to each other.
chris emerges from the pit looking very pleased with himself. he says he's got lots of very nice pictures. we find john and thank him for the press pass. he says he's going to try and sort us out with aftershow passes too. we try not to look too excited.
we go and sit on the grass outside. goggi and orri creep up behind us and say hello. we congratulate them on a great set. they said they'd enjoyed it. we tell them how good pop song was. goggi says he's going off to get pissed and maybe watch a bit of radiohead. we say we'll see them later.
we head back in to watch some of radiohead. i'm not that bothered about seeing them for the 2nd day in a row, but its pretty good.
i wander off to find the toilets. i'm accosted by a mentalist who wants my wristband (people who get there early enough get a wristband to the front half of the tent. only people with wristbands are allowed in and out of the front half, to stop it getting overcrowded). he offers to buy it off me. i ask him how much he's willing to pay (expecting to get about 20 quid for it). he says he'll give me 50 quid for it. i try not to look too keen, and slowly agree. he hands me the money, i tear off the wristband and off he runs. how strange. only problem now is that i can't get back to where bjorn and chris and everyone else are. so i sit outside for a while, listening to it from there.
i spot storme wandering around looking lost so i go to see whats up. she's looking for jónsi so we look around for him. we cant find him so i go back outside for a wander. i soon spot that familiar tuft of hair walking towards the other side of the tent. i run after him (jónsi) and soon catch up with him, kjarri and some other people. we go and watch some of radiohead from the very back of tent for a while. paranoid android is particularly good.
i go off for another walk and find bjorn. we sit outside for a while and wonder if we'll really be able to get aftershow passes.
we leave the site early and head over to the backstage/dressing rooms building (actually not backstage but in a totally different area). we find john and he goes off to try and get us these aftershow passes. we work out the an aftershow pass gets you into the party that they have after the gig, with both bands, friends of radiohead, press, etc. john (who is becoming our favourite person in the world) says he thinks he can get us in.
john says he's allowed to take two of us in. theres four of us. its decided that i should go, and one of chris and bjorn. they decide to toss a coin. bjorn wins. he's just a bit pleased. chris: hmmm. grrr.. but i have nice chat to some of the dedicated fans waiting at the gate for autographs. we head off past the big security guards into the room where the aftershow thing is going on. its full of people and theres a fridge full of beers and coke. theres also lots of wine. i dont recognise anyone at first. then half of super furry animals turn up with euros from gorkys. we then see phil and ed of radiohead. phill gives me and bjorn what appears to be a knowing smile. a 'hmm you've obviously thought of a cunning way to get into our aftershow party' smile. we smile politely back. then, at last, someone we know comes in. its kjarri. we chat for a bit. then jónsi and goggi come in. we talk about various stuff for a while. then bjorn talks to them in icelandic and i pretend to know roughly what they're talking about. we then spot storme who saves me and we talk, in english. bjorn grabs colin from radiohead and says hello and chats to him briefly. goggi reappears looking a little pissed. he assures us he isnt. we talk about websites, and after seeing bjorns sigur ros logo on his mobile, decides he wants the official site to start offering ringtones and logos for download. i play him my olsen olsen ringtone and he's impressed.
chris outside: i'm very cold and hungry, and want to get in. the security bloke is having none of it. i decide that i'll get in anyway and wander off round the corner. people are starting to leave. jónsi and kjarri are having a very long indepth discussion with thom yorke. i talk to orri for a while (he does speak!) and he tells me that sigur rós will play the icelandicairwaves festival in reykjavík in october. he says i should come to it. i decide i will. goggi says if i come he'll show me their prized studio in this house they've just bought.
chris somewhere inside the production compound: i've found a way in and casually stroll across the inner courtyard. bloke on gate gives me funny look, but i try to look important.
we are about to leave when, suddenly, chris bursts in. we all look at him, wondering how he managed to get in. he tells us. knowing chris, we believe him. he says people are getting pissed off waiting for us. chris: in the warm at last! i look around and say hi to storme and jónsi. i search for a well-deserved drink. goggi walks past looking a bit dazed. we say bye to everyone. jónsi beckons me over towards the table where him and thom yorke are talking. i tell him we've got to go and that i'll see him in iceland in october. he thanks me for coming. we say bye to everyone else and off we go. when we get outside chris decides he's hungry and goes back in to get some food. we all laugh at the idea of chris gatecrashing radiohead's party and trying to steal food. he comes back with lots of bananas. we dont even ask how he got them.
we manage to get all 7 people in my car and head back to bristol after a pretty successful day.
setlist:
e-bow
ny batteri
svefn-g-englar
pop song
so there you have it. that was our weekend. it worked out fairly well in the end. huge thanks to john best, storme and the band for their help with stuff. the photos are very nearly ready and should be up tomorrow.
anyone else who is going to any of the other european dates with radiohead, we'd be very happy to receive diaries/photos/reviews, to the usual address please
legal bit: all images are Copyright © 2000 Chris Wray. if you want lovely, big, high resolution images of the photos then talk to chris. nicely.
