Photo: WENN.com
Icelandic post-rockers Sigur Rós hosted a perplexing fairy tale of a night, which juxtaposed their older ethereal sound with the more brooding material of their 2013 album ‘Kveikur’.
Illuminated from large screens, stunning visuals evoked something of a surreal underwater womb hallucination, whilst frontman Jónsi Birgisson's celestial voice chimed as if commanding a religious service with their opening track ‘Yfirboro’. The graphics, an art installation in their own right, worked in tandem guiding the audience through the experience and onto the second otherworldly track ‘Vaka’.
Dramatically, the curtain dropped and a heavy rock intro availed with the third track ‘Brennisteinn’, as if signalling that a dark awakening had advanced. This perfect chaos is typical of Sigur Rós’ newer material. A sound so gripping that if there were subliminal messages laced within the notes, we would be under their spell.
A fourth offering, ‘Glósóli’, breeds understated elegance with looming strings and an intensifying tempo, like the most epic scene from a film. In fact, each song is a story, a film, a concept in itself, to which the hypnotised crowd take heed, like some beautiful advice, and a pin could be heard hitting the alcohol-drenched floor.
With the rapturous beginning of ‘Varúð’, Birgisson proves his is a voice destined to fill arenas. The solicitude and beauty in each and every arrangement leaves you silenced. Creatively awe inspiring, Sigur Rós need not play tricks or offer cheap gimmicks.
Once again a dark turn comes with the understated, heavy Tool-like intro of ‘Rafstraumur’, demonstrating a diversity, which is immediately contrasted with the stark allure and stunning notes showcased in ‘Festival’.
Sigur Rós are not a band I would automatically put in an arena. I would fear their sophisticated, subtle sound would be consumed by the vast space; however, this was not the case. They have created a reality so bewitching it needs no language.
