Some years ago there was a cable channel called Classic FM. It was right at the end of the block of music channels on my Sky receiver at the time, and every night before I went to sleep I’d start at MTV, and scroll through every channel trying to find something interesting to listen to. I have a very low annoyance threshold where rap and r’n’b is concerned – it’s set at about zero on my annoyance-o-meter – so I would usually end up on Classic FM within about 15 seconds unless I found some rock music, which was rare (even Kerrang was playing bloody rap, which serves it right now it has gone belly up).
Anyway, there were a few artists which caught my attention back then. Sigur Rós was one of them. The music was haunting, and the accompanying videos made it more so. Take a look at this YouTube video for Glósóli and you’ll see what I mean.
I decided that I would definitely go and see them if I got the chance. Well, on Wednesday night I did. And I wasn’t disappointed.
Sigur Rós come from Iceland and are often classed as “post-rock” – which basically means they use sounds and minimalist vocals to a large extent. However, they have developed it to such a degree that quite a few of their songs have been used in soundtracks to various TV shows and adverts because they are not just discordant noise – like many early post-rock bands’ songs were – but coherent and complete. The fact that they’re from Iceland – and if you remember Björk or her original band, The Sugarcubes, you’ll know what I mean – means they’re a little bit off the wall. “Artsy” would be one word you could use to define them.
This was reflected a little by the audience. Anyone who reads any of my reviews about gigs I’ve been to will know that I do a bit of people-watching, and in this case I’ve never come across a crowd like it. It’s hard to explain, but I’ve never seen so many people wearing woolly hats with ear flaps indoors before. Nor have I seen so many people sitting on the floor eating packed lunches at a gig before. With one or two exceptions – and by that, I mean one or two people – the end of every song was met with polite applause and nothing more. But they were well-behaved and there was very little barging (that’s where you get a decent spot, watch the support act, only to have a load of latecomers try and get to the front when the main act is due to come on).
In total, there were 11 musicians on the stage, though Sigur Rós technically only consist of three members these days. This is because they make use of strings and brass, with the core members playing bass, guitar/vocals, and drums. However, the supporting artists also provided additional vocals, keyboards, guitars, and percussion.
The setlist was as follows:
- Yfirborð
- Vaka
- Brennisteinn
- Glósóli
- Stormur
- Hrafntinna
- Sæglópur
- Varúð
- Hoppípolla
- Með Blóðnasir
- Rafstraumur
- Kveikur
- Festival
Encore:
- Svefn-g-englar
- Popplagið
- Avalon
Every song was played faultlessly. Their music is very deep and multi-layered and you can lose yourself in it very easily. That’s what I used to do when I watched it on Classic FM – I could fall asleep to it (and I mean that in a good way).
At the beginning of the set the stage was enclosed by a thin curtain, and this was used to good effect as visuals were projected on to it – so instead of the usual rear-projection (which they used later), you had a sort of front-projection. It added to the atmosphere immensely.
Having said that, because it had to be released at some point (and I didn’t know if that would happen at the start), the support band – I Break Horses – played behind it, so you couldn’t see them too well. A bit of a shame, but they still sounded OK.
Anyway, it was a good concert and I’ll definitely watch out for them touring again.
All rounded off with a nice curry, this time at Chutney on Maid Marian Way. I was a bit wary of trying a new one – but I didn’t fancy walking all the way up to the Mogal-e-Azam, so this one is now on the “most favoured” list.