THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)
Fun Stuff => BAND => Topic started by: Aphex on 03 Oct 2008, 18:26
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So I saw Sigur Ros last night at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. Now, I'm no indie music buff, I have no indie cred. I have no pretentions. I've loved Sigur Ros since I first heard them a few years back. Their music has been able to touch me on an emotional level I didn't think possible. I took my wife to last night's show. I don't know if it was the insane amount of weed in the air, or I turned into a big blubbering vagina, but my eyes were teared up for almost the entire set. I was in utter awe of their live show. Un-fucking-real. And... I think I'm gay for Jonsi...
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And... I think I'm gay for Jonsi...
You aren't the first.
It's interesting how diverse the reviews for their concerts have been. It's been from "I think I'm gay for them..." to "Holy shit, my back hurts from standing..." to "They... just STOOD there..." I'm glad somebody appreciated their live show.
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It's interesting how diverse the reviews for their concerts have been. It's been from "I think I'm gay for them..." to "Holy shit, my back hurts from standing..." to "They... just STOOD there..."
To be fair, the last two of those three comments are both mine, based on a concert I went to seven years ago. Apparently they've gotten better(?).
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Seeing them with strings and brass is a brilliant experience. It's gorgeous, powerful, intense stuff. Seeing them do an all acoustic set is also awesome in a very different way. The songs themselves become so much smaller and more intimate and take on a whole new dimension instead of just sounding like stripped down versions. It's really wonderful to see. However, when it's just the four of them playing songs that both live and on record I've always experienced with strings and brass, something just feels a little off, some of the songs feel oddly flat or lacking, and a certain amount of the power and intensity behind the song disappears. Obviously experiences will vary but speaking from a comparative standpoint, while still pretty great, this American leg of the tour seems to be Sigur Ros sounding their weakest (which isn't at all to say they sound bad, just not AS compelling as in past experiences).
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It's interesting how diverse the reviews for their concerts have been. It's been from "I think I'm gay for them..." to "Holy shit, my back hurts from standing..." to "They... just STOOD there..."
To be fair, the last two of those three comments are both mine, based on a concert I went to seven years ago. Apparently they've gotten better(?).
Yeah, I read the second one on one of your posts, but the third one I've read everywhere, especially when talking about their ( ) tour.
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I saw that it was their first tour in 7 years without the brass and extra pieces.
For my first Sigur Ros show, I still think it was incredible. And when they had Parachutes come out and play extra drums during video Gobbledigook, it was epic.
Also, my wife thought Jonsi was incredibly hot, and I had to tell her I have a better shot I think.
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Even Jonsi's googly eye is badass. One of the funniest things I've seen was at the Sigur Ros signing session this summer at Bonnaroo. My friend is in a post rock band named Good Day for an Airstrike, named after the translation of Viðrar vel til loftárása.
Friend: I know you probably don't really care, but my band is named after one of your songs.
Jonsi: Oh? Which one?
Friend: Good Day for Airstrikes
Jonsi: Oh......That's fucked up.
It was a lot funnier because it was all in his soft,timid sounding voice. That and my profound love for Jonsi.
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Friend: I know you probably don't really care, but my band is named after one of your songs.
Jonsi: Oh? Which one?
Friend: Good Day for Airstrikes
Jonsi: Oh......That's fucked up.
It was a lot funnier because it was all in his soft,timid sounding voice. That and my profound love for Jonsi.
I lol'd so fucking hard.
Ever since the show, I can't stop listening to them. And Parachutes. I even took everything else off my ipod.
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Could you possibly put Parachutes in the mediaf!re thread?
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I went to that show on a press pass.
My seats were 3 seats back from the pit. DEAD FUCKING CENTER.
And if you've never been to the Greek, saying those are AMAZING seats is a hell of an understatement.
And then if that wasn't amazing enough, the press pass got me into a VIP after party where I met Jonsi and Kjarri and got my ticket signed.
I have a bootleg of the show that I might upload. I was listening to it and it sounds SOOO very good.
I also bought the Parachutes EP, but it's only 3 tracks.
Resulting article to follow:
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A review of Sigur Rós at the Greek in Los Angeles
Written for The Union Weekly
By Allan Steiner
Chris Martin, of Coldplay fame, said in an interview with the Brits over at The Daily Telegraph that he feels that Coldplay is the 7th best band in the world. Holding the first and second spots in his opinion are Arcade Fire and Sigur Rós.
It's tough to describe the experience of seeing a Sigur Rós concert. Your heart gets to beating a little faster, you feel the slightest bit dizzy, and depending on your commitment to this whole love metaphor, your hands might start to sweat. Live, the band creates something more than their music: they create a force. At their sold out performance at The Greek on October 2, that force could be felt throughout the close to 6,000 seat venue. Songs that might usually make a person fall asleep had a completely different energy live. With each and every song, the band completely engulfed the listener in a state of awe as they created an atmosphere that was nothing short of ethereal and they did it using fairly common instruments such as a bass, drums, guitar (granted, it was often being played with a violin bow) and a piano. The Greek Theatre was the perfect place to see Sigur Rós. The open-air venue combined with the picturesque scenery that surrounds the Greek Theatre only added to the spectacle. Looking to the back of the theatre, silhouettes of the band lined the trees that line the venue.
This was the group’s first US tour without an accompanying orchestra in seven years so it made identifying the specific elements that go into each song extremely easy. The realization that the seemingly orchestrated music of Sigur Rós is created by only 4 people is amazing on it’s own. The simple pairing of a bass drum with a bass guitar riff creates one of the more extraordinary moments on the band’s latest album, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, right when the track “Festival” shifts from a slow, epic piece to an extremely poppy one.
The whole show was held together by a remarkable lighting design scheme that included elements such as a full-sized translucent movie screen. On the screen was everything from abstract videos of shapes to live video of each performer. Behind the screen were big hanging balloons of light. The use of strobe lights, confetti, and timed lighting cues made the already solid show even stronger and added to the beauty of everything.
The groups latest album, which is the punchiest and most energetic of their works, adds a lot to the bands live show. The songs all sound absolutely incredible live and contrast well with the often slow and epic stuff from their previous albums. The enthusiasm in the album also allows for the show to come to a crescendo by the end of the set, which is exactly what it did. The group opened up their set with the epically long and beautiful “Svefn-g-englar” and ended it with the inexplicitly catchy “Gobbledygook.” As the crowd cheered for the band to come out and play more, the sound of people turning to talk to the person next to them was all around and while they were all saying different things, the general consensus seemed to be, “Holy shit can you believe this show?” When the band came back out they played one more song then walked back offstage, but the crowd kept cheering. When they came back out to take a bow and then walked back off stage, the crowd continued to cheer until the band was forced to take to the stage for a second encore.
Let me just step into the first person for a second to say that this was probably the best show I’ve ever seen, and I see a lot of shows. But everything from the audience, to the venue, to the lighting (oh yeah, and the actual performance) was just mind-blowing.
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Bootleg of that show:
http://www.zshare.net/download/20352203f28212f7/
You are welcome.
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Well shit, looks like you're the man. I'm looking very much forward to listening to that tomorrow morning.
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I have listened to it, it is fantastic and now I consider myself a fan.