Photo: WENN
It's a bizarre thing - when the venue you stand in runs the risk of upstaging the artists themselves, but there's a harmony that comes with the pairing at Jodrell Bank tonight that makes it only seem right. Sigur Ros have never really felt as if they're of this Earth, really, so it only seems fitting that they should perform here - in a bid to send a message back to whatever world it is they're really from.
Jodrell Bank's Lovell Telescope is worth a visit alone – standing tall as an awe-inspiring feat of modern human achievement. For a band whose sound relies so heavily on the ethereal sounds of the living world, Sigur Ros tonight create an awesome marriage of music, art, science and nature.
But first, there are several hours of itching aniticipation to wait through - eased first by the soothing sounds of Daughter. Their aching melancholy lands perfectly on the swaying audience of serene Northerners on this chilly rural afternoon. The follow-up to debut If You Leave can't come soon enough. Then came Polica, dropping some sinister trip-hop robot jazz from their brilliant debut, Give You The Ghost and the upcoming Shulasmith. The new tracks only elevate their grief-stricken scuzzy dance elements to a new level of infectiousness. It ought to be a very special album indeed.
As the dish of the telescope slowly rotates towards the stage, the fulfilment of all that the Transmission series of gigs are about came to be. Using the Lovell Telescope as a canvas, Sigur Ros paint their idiosyncratic imagination across its 250 ft span.
Opening with 'Yfirborð', the Icelandic trio deliver a layered and considered set that lifts the senses and soothes the soul. They aren't a band with 'hits' as such, so tonight's performance is an arc where all elements of their sound are explored. From the ever-skyward ascent of 'Glosoli' to the evocative rumble of 'E-Bow', Jonsi and co have never been more mesmeric. Their upcoming arena tour is going to be very bloody special indeed.
As green lasers shoot out across the park for an encore of the thunderously menacing 'Brennistein' and the celestial hymn and almighty crescendo of 'Popplagið', all present will testify for years to come about what they saw here tonight: an irreplaceable, unforgettable and truly cosmic and otherworldly experience. As the crackling static and ecstatic cheers die down, a stunned silence resonates, as the life-affirming spirit of Sigur Ros rebounds around Macclesfield and into outer space. Few bands good harnass science and art with such aplomb and make it such a spectacle, but Sigur Ros are after all, in a world of their own.
Sigur Ros played:
1. Yfirborð
2. Glósóli
3. Vaka
4. Hrafntinna
5. Ísjaki
6. Sæglópur
7. E-bow
8. Varúð
9. Hoppípolla
10. Með Blóðnasir
11. Olsen Olsen
12. Kveikur
13. Festival
Encore:
14. Brennisteinn
15. Popplagið
