setlist
nýja lagið
ný batterí
syndir guðs
svefn-g-englar
untitled featuring steindór andersen
untitled featuring steindór andersen
untitled 3
untitled 8
death song
von
olsen olsen
hafssól
(encore)
pop song
georg's tour diary
it's jónsi's birthday. we had a really nice day yesterday, on midnight we had
some champagne to celebrate the birthday, so i think we all wanted to have another
day off. kjarri lost his wallet but somebody found it and called to return it. a nice
gesture at this time and age so we invited him to the concert.
during the sound check the string girls; sólrún, edda, ólöf and maria while playing "von" suddenly started to play the "birthday song" and stuart came out with a cake. i think jónsi was really surprised.
the concert was brilliant or at least we all thought so except jónsi. we played a really long set, around two hours and we were so tired in the middle of the set that i almost felt like falling asleep. so tomorrow it's shepperds bush empire and were so tired that we really don't feel like doing it. but hey, c'est la vie.
i'm going to sleep so good night.
sam saunder & tom juno
the stage was crowded with monitors and vintage electric organs, and decorated with
candles and incense. the backdrop was black with pinpoints of light like stars. the
overture, as the audience came in and took their seats, was the sigur rós soundtrack
from the icelandic film englar alheimsins, "angels of the universe". and then at eight
thirty, the house lights went out, the audience waited in hushed anticipation through
the last few lines of the overture, and the band came on stage to gentle welcoming
applause from a politely seated capacity audience. two hours later the same audience
was on its feet cheering and whooping. the band (and the string section, xylophonist,
and bonus baritone) had to come back on for a curtain call-style bow. then, with a
single shy wave, they walked off, and we were left gathering our wits in the wake
of the (at least) one of the most amazing musical experiences of our sweet young lives.
ok, now back to the start: after the soundtrack stopped, four skinny young men, came onto the stage. they didn't look particularly like rock heroes at this stage, and when they took up positions behind a bass, two guitars and the drums i caught myself thinking, "hang on, surely this can't be enough..."but then the singer picked up a violin bow and aimed it at his guitar and i knew things were going to be ok. and they eased into nýja lagið, or, if that doesn't help much, the third track off the svefn-g-englar single. by and large this was the pattern of the evening: they played their music, without addressing the audience. the lighting was fairly simple throughout, green, blue and purple lights from above. there wasn't really much "show". but really, they didn't need any.
the thirteen songs were carried in a pure ringing alto voice that swooped and howled like a demented chorister. there were fleeting moments of beautiful haunting melody and long passages of textured developing themes. the bowed gibson guitar set a glorious tonal and harmonic basis for all the rest. the drums were huge, earthquaking and ferocious. the bass was rich and mellifluous. the keyboards and other instruments were precise. the band and the audience could hear every note and every nuance. overall, the sound was at times delicate and fragile, and at times enormous: it all thickened out to a soaring intensity without losing any clarity or balance.
it's hard to really describe it as anything other than a whole. there were songs that we recognised, two off the old, iceland-only album, three off the newer album that came out here, and one we've heard as a b-side. there were also a couple of what must have been icelandic folk songs. the newer songs were fairly faithfully reproduced, but the older ones have been evolved quite a lot. for instance von, the title track of their first album, was only recognisable from its title on the setlist and the basic chord sequence. it wasn't really about them playing their best-loved hits though. it was a single, fluid thing, and a massively beautiful experience.
sam's bit: i don't know where anyone else was during the two hours. i went on a journey from the sea, to a mountain, through a fierce granite temple to a village, a farm and a sanatorium. i flew though a night sky, woke in a warm sunlit morning and marched in triumph to a forest. each to his own. there were dreams, nightmares and visions, there was magic and science. there was the chilling moment when he sang with a child's voice through the mysteries of the guitar pickups. the whole show worked as one single piece of music, with a flow and layers of meaning that were genuinely and deliberately epic. this was music to make all the would-be musicians in the audience (and there were many) feel very small and very frightened. this was a night on a level with half a dozen other gigs in a long lifetime. it shines. it changes the way i listen to other music. if you weren't there, there'll be another night somewhere one day. if you were there and weren't moved, you will get a second chance if you're lucky.
tom's bit: this was the most intense musical experience i've ever had. shivers
up and down my back all night. there were songs that left me breathless. it compares,
sort of, to a less violent mogwai; not so much of an assault on the senses but more
of one on the emotions. probably better, though. it was just... yeah. everything i
can think of to say about this involves the words "most" and "ever". it was stunning,
heart-stopping. beautiful, very very beautiful. and sam's right about the thing about
musicians; you watch that, and you know what brilliance is, what genius is, and it
really makes you question what you think you're capable of. that's the effect you'd
want your music to have; people were blown away, swept away by it. that was music
with power. and totally, absolutely, if you ever get a chance to see it, you really
have to.
(sam saunder & tom juno)
