Sigur Ros @ Orpheum
Posted on September 26th, 2008 – 1:14 AMBy Jon Bream
The Icelandic cult heroes seduced a soldout Orpheum crowd with a trippy presentation heavy on repetition, minimalism, feedback and stage fog. For me, the quartet was less mesmerizing than the first time I witnessed them at the Woman’s Club in 2001. On that night, frontman Jónsi Birgisson seemed to be channeling Neil Young — both with his vocals and his guitar. On Thursday, he seemed to be channeling Freddie Mercury and Coldplay’s Chris Martin.
Sigur Ros feels more pop and affected than before. And they even added four guest drummers and confetti guns for the clap-along favorite “Gobbledigook,” which almost felt like a Flaming Lips moment.
Here is the set list (with some misspellings, I’m sure):
1. Heysatan 2. Fljotavik 3. All Alright 4. Njosnavellin 5. Ny Batteri 6. Innni Mer Syngur 7. Hoppipolla/Med 8. Vid Silnun Enddaust 9. Vidrar 10. Festoval 11. Saeglopov 12. Hafsol 13. Gobbledigook ENCORE 14. Illgressi 15. Popplagid
What did you think of the show? Please post your comments here:
5 Responses to "Sigur Ros @ Orpheum"
Never heard of it. Who’s cult? Chuck Manson?
You suck.
Jon,
It was my first time seeing Sigur Rós and I was blown away, so I appreciate the perspective. For me, it was fucking outstanding.
You are right, their stage theatrics did remind me of Flaming Lips, but I’m a sucker for those dudes, too.
Thanks again.
this was my 5th time seeing Sigur Ros. i’d put it right after the Woman’s Club show in ‘01 and the first State Theater show. definitely a better show than their last 2 State shows on the Takk tour, that’s for sure.
the show started out way too slow for me though. the first 30-45 minutes was a bit too sleepy considering how upbeat and uptempo the new album is (might my favorite of theirs, but () is still tops, just an entirely different mood). that said, the last 45 minutes to an hour or so of the show was pretty stunning.
overall it didn’t quite have the bombast or energy of past shows, but regardless, they are a very very special band.
This was my first time seeing the band, and I was amazed. I’ve been listening for years, just never able to make a show. I really regret that now.
I kept thinking of Jimmy Page with the violin bow on the guitar. They got down and heavy at times, and it really built to a climax, at which point Jonsi kicked the mic stand over. I had seen a show on tv with them playing at MoMA, which seemed much more celibratory than last night, which was dark, but extremely enjoyable.
I thought the show was incredible overall, but I agree with Solace, it did take quite a while to gather speed. The first four songs were so melancholy and mournful, but the last hour or so was transcendent. I’ve told my friends that Sigur Rós is one of the loudest bands I’ve ever seen, and they have a hard time believing me. But, last night Ný batterí and Popplagið shook the walls, it was so loud. I think that not having Amiina backing them on strings took away from the fullness of their sound on some of their songs (this was their first US tour since 2001 where it was just the 4 of them on stage) but overall, it was a glorious show, and hard not to be moved by their music. Jon, do you compare Jonsi and Chris Martin simply because of their military style jackets they’ve both been wearing live lately? Because other than that, I don’t see any similarities in their vocal style.
