bastian verhage
sigur ros played in the max, the newest room of the melkweg. it looks rather tech
like. a bit sad when you know that de melkweg also has a room called the old room,
a beautiful place, more suited for them. but i guess they needed the place of the
bigger the max room. it took a while before the band got on stage, some people got
irritated, as it was pretty much crowded everywhere you went. when the band entered
the stage all was forgotten. they played a really nice set, a good mixture between
old and new songs. sometimes the sound levels where slightly annoying. the voice was
too loud at times, making it difficult to hear the actual instruments at the same
time. songs like ný batterí where impressive, with gorgeous lights all
the time. the new new songs surprised me, as they seemed more dynamical, changing
more during the song. gorgeous lights added alot to the gig, transforming a cold venue
into a warm magical looking stage. they ended with the most they managed to actually
get almost everyone silent, wich is i must say difficult in amsterdam. the gig was
really lovely, but it was slightly difficult to concentrate because of the amount
of people.
just a lovely gig, showing sigur ros is as a live band is able to create their
own mood on stage, both musically, as visually.
(bastian verhage)
fred baggen
yesterday i was at the amsterdam sigur ros show! it was mesmerizing! in the melkweg
(milky way), located in the middle of the city's night centre, long queues had already
formed, it seemed there was a double bill that night. Another band was playing in
a different room.
a dj duo played fitting music and soundscapes to welcome the arriving crowd and kill the time before the performance began. the stage was horizontally divided in two parts: at the back, against the wall, was a small stage for 3 female violin players and 1 female cello player. the front part seemed quite narrow for the four guys to play on.
when the band finally set the stage 45 minutes late, they actually had little room for themselves on the tight stage. the drumkit was positioned far right, with the audience watching the drummer in profile. next to him, was the bass player, who also played a small keyboard/synthesizer. one of these things with just about 25 keys. in the middle was of course the singer/guitar player, who did his famous cello playing technique on his guitar on many of the songs. and then, on the left of the stage, was room for the keyboard player who divided his attention over one organ (you could see the rotating leslie device inside his amplifier behind him), a keyboard with on top another keyboard (where he played the well recognizable 'ploonk' water drop sound in one of the songs from the last album). fronting the keyboards towards the middle of the stage where a small synthesizer, sometimes played by the singer and a xylophone, that was occasionally played by the upper left violin player.
multi-instrumentalism was an issue throughout the concert. the keyboard player played bass and guitar on two different songs, plus ended one song with a piccolo-esque flute theme. the drummer sometimes played keyboards, next to the regular keyboard player. a female keyboard player lended a hand on two or three songs, resulting at one point in 3 people playing keyboards simultaneously plus the xylophone being played. a little group in itself, bending over their keys, while the rest of the 8-people band (minus the occasional appearance of the female key player) played their parts. although the setlist i was given by email a few days prior to the show, displayed 10 songs, the setlist in the hall showed 12 titles. without a single word to the audience, they played mostly new songs from their forthcoming cd, which sounds similar to the last one, but in a way more mature and advanced. also slightly more accessible to new fans, without losing the experimental touch. svefn-g-englar was recognized by the crowd after playing the very first single note, and greeted with applause. it was one of the few songs i was able to distinguish in the midst of all the new material; at one point the singer sang his eerie 'tschuuu' line through the pick up of his guitar, thus creating a distant, spooky sound! it looked like the legendary jimi hendrix monterey tongue-playing, but this was an audibly much more effective alternative.
halfway the performance, the tension seemed to slip away a little, but was revived when the song with the 'ploonk' water drop sound from the last album was performed. during most of the songs, giant projections of ultimately slowed-down art films were seen on the back wall.
the violin quartet was left onstage alone towards the end of the performance and
they played for a couple of minutes before the guys came back. the high, eerie voice
of the singer was never dull or out of tune. the performance level was incredibly
tight and professional! these people are giving everything! especially the singer
must be drowned after doing such intense physical job. the grand finale was a long,
spun out composition, starting silently and building up into a gradually louder and
faster piece, guided by blinding white stage lights, manually lightographed by the
technician, who maniacally twisted and pushed the knobs on his computerized board.
the song progressed into a very loud and fast soundscape, and when the tension seemed
to explode, the guitar and bass players unbuckled their guitars and threw them lightly
on the stage floor and all members left the stage, while the guitars continued to
blow high-speed sounds through the amplifiers. the audience was left behind, applauding
in excited enthusiasm and never stopped their ovation before the band had returned
twice to take their collective bow to the crowd. applauding still continued for minutes,
but the roadies gestured this had been the conclusion. indeed, it was a fitting and
climax ending of a very intense concert. any encore after this finale would have paled
in comparison.
(fred baggen)
erik-jan
so, i don't know von and i don't know any of the new songs and I recognized only svefn-g-englar
and one other song i don't know the name of.
in a packed house, the queue for the entrance was extending all the way to the leidseplein, the guys and four quite young-looking string playing girls came up, said nothing and started playing.
i have never seen sigur rós play live before, so i don't know if it is there habit not to speak between songs. afterwards it felt strange that they didn't speak one word. the only word was "takk" projected on the wall behind them after the concert ended.
they started with a really strong piece that began with a piano intro and expanded with more instruments. the second song was not very much to my liking and i was suddenly afraid that the concert would be disappointing: heavy music with always the same voice. luckily the band got more and more into their own energy and the concert became a unit.
i do hope, though, that they will also expand into more "rocking" songs. the last song of the concert had a strong beat and it gave a new, almost hopeful feeling to the atmosphere, which i liked. i feel sigur rós needs something a bit more uplifting on their repertoire. their music is beautiful and i'm very glad i have seen them live because it certainly adds to the feeling of completeness that i get from listening to their music. but as i said, i feel they need to expand.
anyway, go and see them if you can. it's very much worth it.
(erik-jan)
