photos by alan fishman
photos by robert william de los rios
setlist
vaka
fyrsta
samskeyti
salka
ný batterí
njósnavélin
svefn-g-englar
mílanó
hafssól
olsen olsen
popplagið
alan fishman
siggi armann's opening act was very nice. kjarri played keyboards on most of the songs.
one of the ladies from amina, the one with long hair that sits farthest on the left,
played a xylophone type of instrument. and orri drummed a few songs. 'twas a great
opening act, soothing and reflective and quietly powerful. it was especially interesting
to see the band members collaborate with siggi and to see orri pat the drum with his
hands.
by the time sigur rós hit the stage the place was totally paaaaaaacked out! 1000 people, all standing up, and silent for the duration of the show. as expected, the stage was intimately lit with candles. many people near me, right in front of orri's drum kit, had driven many hours to see the show, and we were all pretty excited to be "in the nexus of the musical universe."
as always, vaka was magnificent. i have always found it to be triumphant, a calm
walk after epiphany. the newish live version, with lush strings and revised vocals,
makes the walk more joyful. at the very end, it sounds like jónsi is singing
"you shine all over my life." and i loved every second of it. fyrsta was alright,
but jónsi's back was to me while he was singing into the computer monitor.
i dont think the variety playhouse's accoustics are quite lush enough. (eh... i'm
spoiled.) but the version they played of samkseyti was the best i'd ever heard. the
same amina gal who helped on siggi played the xylaphone during the climax pristinely.
and the added focus to that layer made all the difference. next they played salka,
and i doubt my words can do the song justice. it's soooo freakin' sweet, and boasts
interesting tempo changes. i can hardly wait to hear more of their new material. after
salka came ny batteri (which whoops major ass!). and next, the opening notes of njosnavelin
brought the house down. it was lovely and magestic and stunning, truly a crowd favorite.
one of the amina gals played the crucial slowed-down keyboard melody right before
the last climax, and there was a slight difference in emphasis than on the recorded
version. it was a bit more tentative, maybe more full of anticipation. near the very
very end of it, though, kjarri hit a deep, incongruous sounding note on the organ
by accident which was so funny. barely anyone noticed, but jónsi had to work
really hard to NOT break down giggling like a catholic schoolgirl. what a cute moment...
then they started into an even bigger crowd favorite, svefn-g-englar. except jónsi's
cello bow strings were worn out. he walked around the stage and called over a roadie
to exchange a fresh bow for the old one (the rest of the band has begun to extend
the beginning of svefn-g-englar), and the roadie dropped the bow jónsi just
handed him. jónsi got pissed and shouted, "[something-something]...it's expensive!",
then worried a bit while the roadie figured out where to put away the bow. anyhoo,
svefn was pretty good. pong... then amina started playing that distorted jumble of
noise as mílanó begins and everyone eventually joins in. this is a beautiful
song but i don't think the accoustics at the variety did it justice. orri had an excellent,
energtic bit of drumming at the end, though. and then goggi broke into the bouncy,
drumstick-tapping vibe of hafssól. this is such a great version. finally!to
get hear it played live... next up was olsen, olsen, which i've never really cared
for, but that's all changed. now, i'm all about olsen olsen's lovely, catchy melody
and rythm. at the very end, though, orri almost dropped a drumstick and nearly fell
over the kit trying to hold on. i think he scraped his hand on the kick drum in the
process. the whole band thought it was funny. silly orri... last came poppppppppp!!!
and it was, of course, gloriously charged with potential. they left. we cheered. they
bowed and laughed and cheered at us. we kept on cheering. they came back and bowed
and laughed and cheered and orri almost tripped himself but siggi caught him and then
as they walked off jónsi nearly tripped over one of the speaker wires. personally,
it was the most fun i've ever had at a concert. the whole crowd seemed to appreciate
the utter majesty of the evening. the band seemed to appreciate their southern audience.
and even if they screwed up a few times, i think they had a great time. all in all,
'twas a magnificent evening! and it all felt so personal to me, so soothing and lovely.
if only my pictures weren't crap...
(alan fishman)
robert william de los rios
miami, fl is one of the most deprived cities when it comes to music. all we have down
here is electronic (rave/dance) music + hip-hop. not that it's a bad thing but it's
not my thing. i have been traveling to atlanta to check out shows for a few months
now with an extremely tight budget. i usually am stuck with extra bills to pay after
i get back from my short trip, but when i heard sigur rós were playing, i wouldn't
have cared if i had to declare bankruptcy. i fell in love with the bands music the
moment i heard "ágætis byrjun", but no record has ever made me feel the
way "( )" makes me feel. so i was only able to imagine how four guys and four beautiful
ladies who built this masterpiece would be able to present it in person. not only
was i astonished by the way it souded, but by the reactions of the crowd. i have never
seen a crowd so comatosed and amazed of what they were experiencing. nobody really
sang, cheered, or even dared to utter a single word along with the set (except for
the guy who belted out "the nothing song" minutes before it was played) in fear of
missing a moment. another thing that really caught my attention was the way songs
are rearranged and redone from the " von " album such as hafssól. i own a copy
of " von " because i purchased it at the show + i wasn't able to tell the difference
until i heard the melody at the end of the original. really known as " the drumstick
song ", it was one of the highlight along with every other song which can also be
considered highlights. my spine had an incredible workout because of all the shivers
that went through in the 2 hour set. track 8 from "( ) " was the closer. there hasn't
been a more beautiful song written in years and it was very abvious that the band
was not going to come back out from an encore. i personally feel that this song can't
be followed. i can't even be followed in the album it's that amazing. it was our honor
to continue to stand + give the ovation we did which i still believe doesn't messure
up to the show we experienced. this band knows how to write a set list and knows how
to arrange an album. they is no difference in their performance. incredible. there
is a small radio station in miami, fl (wvum 90.5 fm) who palys sigur rós +
i call every day to request a different song. i hope you would be happy to hear that
sigur rós is a regular in their playlist. after seeing the show in atlanta,
+ listening to " ( ) ", i'm hoping it won't take another three years for the next
album. miami, sunny, beautiful, great food, it will be that much more beautiful if
it can experience that wonderful feeling called sigur rós!
(robert william de los rios)
