Sigur Ros – Spark Arena July 21, 2017

1

After being bewitched by the Icelandic art rockers as a late teen via Takk and hearing awed  reports from friends who had already seen them, I felt nervous going to last night’s concert at the Spark Arena as I grappled to lower my stratospheric expectations. Being a reviewer can be jading and I’ve seen many a fantastic band fail to live up to their name in a live setting.
So I’m going to just come straight out and say that An Evening with Sigur Ros was one of the (if not the) best live shows I have been privileged to witnessed in the less than 30 years I have been on this pale blue dot.

It marked their first return to the antipodes in ten years and their first performance as a three piece. The show was billed as being stripped down. After seeing them, I can only think they were stripped down like a three piece symphony- their sound is still absolutely massive.

Their breathtaking stage design took them a year to create, and it was easy to see why. They performed in front of a large screen that added depth to their artful abstractions that wove in and out of tall skeletal neon towers capable of turning the stage into hyperbolic mazes throughout their two act set.

It’s a struggle to describe their music without descending into superlatives. It’s etheral, meditative, joyful and transcendental as much as it is existential and explosive. Their vast music is deliciously strange- a mixture of future and faith, bones and blood, ice and sun. It is a universal sound written in a land far far away.

Frontman Jonsi Birgisson spent the entire show creating gushing guitar sounds by sawing at it with a bow as his impressive vocal range twisted and twinkled  in the spaces between with ecstasy and anguish. Singing in Icelandic/Hopelandic meant that few people probably knew what the words meant, but that didn’t matter because they were felt. There was a curious sense of being wholly present in oneself yet connected with everyone around you throughout the set. The audience themselves were highly respectful, in a state of silent reverence or noisy rapture depending on the song.

The first set was the quieter of the two, featuring the dreamy ambience of Niour and Ekk Mukk, with  the ethereally concrete Glosoli being a highlight.  A joyous swirl of a song, Jonsi’s thin howls shot through a thick mess of stomping sound and echoing guitar. Like many Sigur Ros songs it builds up slowly before bursting into an explosion of guitar slams. It tempers its frost with human breath. Like a tongue on ice Glosoli was warm and frozen all at once. The interplay between the trio onstage was intense, with not a word spoken throughout- and rightly so-to speak would have broken the spell.

The second half was considerably heavier and more dramatic. Opening with Saelopur, electronic drums were struck in time with white light firing at us like gunshots. Arguably the highlight of Takk (Icelandic for Thanks) , this eight minute wonder breaks away from the typical Sigur Ros format, breaking well before the halfway point and barreling to a tempestuous finish and was a revelation to see live. Festival, arguably their most famous song was met with delight, as was the dynamic rock piece Ny Batteri.

Closing with Untitled #8- Poppalagio was a sonic and visual climax, and as the walls of sound came crashing down to a rainbow of colours no-one wanted the night to end.

While there were some disappointments- Hoppipolla failed to make an appearance-it didn’t detract from the overall performance which reduced me to tears three times. An Evening with Sigur Ros proved visceral, invigorating and life-affirming. If you missed this performance you truly missed a once in a lifetime show.

Kate Powell

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by David Watson:

Sigur Ros set list

Set 1

  1. A
  2. Ekki Mukk
  3. Glosoli
  4. E-Bow
  5. Dauoalagio
  6. Fljotavik
  7. Niour
  8. Varoa

Set 2

  1. Ovedur
  2. Saeglopur
  3. Ny Batteri
  4. Vaka
  5. Festival
  6. Kveikur
  7. Popplagio
The 13th Floor
Latest posts by The 13th Floor (see all)