santa barbara bowl

Santa Barbara, CA, United States

Apr 19, 2013

photos by ameeps

 

22 Comments on “santa barbara bowl”

  • N Colahan

    says:

    Stunning, mythic, transcendent, sublimely moving and powerful

  • Van

    says:

    I almost cried. I’ve been a fan of Sigur Rós for a couple years and i was ECSTATIC when i discovered they were finally playing somewhere close enough for me to see them. Didn’t mind the collective eight hours of driving or the cramped seats at all; Jónsi sings like an angel, so ethereal and otherwordly, and hearing him live is absolutely enchanting. Gave me chills. The visuals for the show were breathtaking as well, beautiful and haunting. I can’t wait to see this band again.

  • Dave

    says:

    What an amazing experience. I’ve been a fan of all sorts of music for a very long time and been to hundreds of live events, and I can now say without question that this is the greatest live band ever. I did not want the experience to end. I hope that I will get the opportunity to see you guys again.

  • Toby

    says:

    Truly Amazing. Thank you very much.

  • Valerie

    says:

    Pure. Perfectly orchestrated and sublime. I was touched on all levels. That they came out and thanked us, the audience, after performing was one more reason they are exceptional.

  • emily

    says:

    I’ve been waiting over 7 years to see my favorite band. Thank you for an amazing spiritual experience which rendered me to tears. After such a horrid week in the news, this show restored my faith in humanity. Beautiful.

  • Mark

    says:

    Sigur Rós is an organic joy machine

  • Dave

    says:

    This show Was my first show this year at the Santa Barbra Bowl It Made me cry it was SO GOOD,Out of the 100’s of shows I have seen this is one of the top shows for me,If you have a chance to go DO.

  • Larry

    says:

    Sigur Rós’has been a inspirational theme in my life for years.It’s qualities are so primal and yet so beautifully sublime, a measure of Iceland’s terrain – which I’ve had the pleasure of visiting.
    Truly transcendent and joy.
    Takk þér!

  • suzanne

    says:

    after being up the whole night before with food poisoning, i wasn’t sure if i’d make the show, but i did! as i sat breathing the cool fresh ocean air, your beautiful music healed me. And then, as if by elfin magic, jonsi seemed to call down a shooting star that some of us were blessed enough to see. every time i experience one of your shows, i come away with a deeper understanding of mother earth and the universe. TAKK!

  • Rohos

    says:

    The slow lull of the sparkle rhythm slowly serenades me to my seat
    The glorious tent blooming within
    Dressing naked
    Exposed disclosure
    Pixies peeking
    The magical trees swaying behind the stage
    Thrumming dashes of rising beat
    Benign insanity begins the shadows moving swaying
    Anticipation relinquishes to full matter, splatter
    Physical hallucination begins, spread like pollen in the wind
    Speaking opening wide the art of language music signals shuddering penetrating thumps
    Solar plexus deep
    Magical mixtures mutable
    Force driven churning volcano
    Spewing love
    Oozing gelatinous visceral excess
    Speaking astronomical words
    Thrumming mounting floating
    Mixed elemental hybrid twists of metal
    Sparkling bubbles rising
    Bursting inside
    Shape shifting indelible prints of light
    Imprinted behind my eyes
    The crux of us all
    The core reverts inside out
    Spirals churn
    Tendrils collide and embrace
    Gravity and friction churn
    Globular infants spurt circles
    Tumbled in a wave of anti gravity
    Momentum
    Here!

  • Agnes

    says:

    Took me almost 7 hours drive in bad traffic to get there, but it was all worth it…Best concert ever!! You guys are so talented, Jonsi voice is so beautiful and powerful and the whole band was great, visual efects were stunning…what an experience!!! Love your music, so touching…Thank you for sharing…can’t wait to see you again!!!

  • Olivier

    says:

    The Most Beautiful show I’ve ever experienced!!!! I’ve rarely been so touched, so moved by a show. Visually, Musically, Powerful, Intense. Raw beauty. This was purely spectacular, they took me on the most outstanding journey…!
    Thank YOU!

  • Amir

    says:

    This is the second time I witness the magic of Sigur Ros. The first time was last year in the old cemetery in West Hollywood. I didn’t have tickets due to scalpers and listening outside the gate with other fans the gate keeper let us in fifteen minutes into the show. With Sigur Ros it doesn’t matter what the set list is; the ethereal, otherworldly sounds and visuals will haunt you and immerse your soul with love (as Radiohead sing in Street spirit); love to everything alive, and yesterday at the Santa Barbara bowl with Sigur Ros was no exception. A night to remember! I got tickets right under the stage so I was in it completely, seeing their gestures, expressions, and the non-verbal communication between the band members. They perfected the sound such that the sounds and all the little nuances are there with high quality. At the same time they entertained themselves and the audience with some improvisations here and there. The venue is beautiful, one can actually see the ocean, feel the sunset and be immersed by scents of nature. There is something inexplicable in Sigur Ros that makes one live in faith, belief, trust and confidence, and this true whether one listen to them at home or live.

  • Lauren

    says:

    Sigur Rós is mystery with fresh-faced innocence, joy and anger, plaintively imperative. The music both calms and energizes. In that way it defies compartmentalization. Who of us has managed to answer the inevitable question – “what kind of music do they play?”

    I felt the indoor concerts of this tour accentuated the stagecraft and the sound, the music maybe even more enveloping. The outdoor venues have their own flavor, maybe less about the lasers and more about the band’s presence and personality. The performance at the Bowl was particularly special that way, a beautiful evening, an open sky, a warm night and our band playing for us in that moment in time.

  • maral

    says:

    A surreal night.. Thank you xo

  • Clay

    says:

    I purposely missed seeing Sigur Rós at Coachella Weekend 1 this year, knowing that the 7 year gap between the last time I saw them and now would be more fittingly closed by an intimate performance at the Santa Barbara Bowl.

    I was not disappointed in my decision. Following a short set by Oneohtrix Point Never (who, unfortunately, the crowd didn’t seem to realize was performing), Sigur Rós took the stage, shrouded by a white curtain.

    I won’t spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen them yet, but suffice it to say they have the most elaborate, beautiful stage/lighting setup I have ever seen. The visuals they project are haunting and immaculate, and they present themselves as existing outside of this world. Truly, we were transported to another time and place.

    Their setlist wasn’t heavily weighted towards any album in particular—an all too disappointing behavior of many touring acts whose live material is 75% lifted from the album they’re currently promoting. They played music from Von, Ágætis byrjun, ( ), Takk…, Med sud… Valtari, and some new material from the upcoming Kveikur album, including the marvelous new single Brennistein.

    The ambiance of the Santa Barbara Bowl complimented their music perfectly. To be cozily nestled among the hillside, held in by a canopy of trees with the ocean breeze creeping up the coast to rustle the leaves… that is about the most Sigur Rós friendly environment you’re going to find in Southern California.

    By and large, it was a fantastic way to get over the Post-Coachella Blues.

  • David

    says:

    A truly beautiful experience including a bright shooting star. Thank you!

  • matt

    says:

    what an incredible show. my favorite band in my favorite venue in america. couldn’t have asked for more. was glad to take in the SF show as well. have yet to see a bad sigur ros show…pretty certain there’s no such thing.
    there was mention on this site that ticket holders would be receiving a vinyl LP at the show. did any of you actually find this to be true??

  • Jo Ann

    says:

    This concert was surreal, like a dream that you never want to end. The set, the visuals all played into an experience so Euphoric, profoundly touching the core of my soul. Thank you so much to the whole band for playing in our small town (santa Barbara). PLEASE COME BACK! Lastly thank you to all the fans of Sigur Ros; you are my true musical soul mates!

  • Sounddaddy

    says:

    Waited 10 years to see you guys. I live in LA but could never make it out to the shows. Totally worth the wait!!!

  • evanz

    says:

    Over a month later and I’m still smiling about this show. Nothing I can say that hasn’t been said. I imagine that anyone who hasn’t seen this band thinks we’re all exaggerating, but Sigur Ros is one of the few live acts that lives up — nay, exceeds their hype. Jonsi’s voice and the swelling music pulls you out of your body. They start playing and it’s so beautiful you just tremble and sob the whole time. I did, anyway.

    That having been said, I actually have one small criticism. I didn’t like the visuals for this show. The lighting alone was great but the post-apocalyptic “Kveikur” aesthetics doesn’t fit Sigur Ros’ sound at all, in my opinion. Many of the video projections seemed juvenile, even bordering on cheesy, more suited for some Hot Topic band like Coheed & Cambria than SR.

    This obviously didn’t prevent me from enjoying the experience, by any means. I didn’t go for the videos. They could play animations of stick figure drawings and it’d still be transcendent…

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