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I hope that I can finish writing this post about the Sigur Ros show without it getting eaten by my browser. As I mentioned, I saw Sigur Ros and Amina play at the Orpheum Theater on Tuesday night. I had forgotten to prepare myself to be blown away, so I was. I didn't really know much about Amina before the show except that they were a string quartet of four (as quartets are) women. Calling them a string quartet, though, is a bit of an understatement. Between almost every song they were switching from instrument to instrument, including bells, laptop, strings (naturally), and a bowed saw. It's such a beautiuflly odd thing to see a saw used as gentle theremin-like instrument. I picked up their EP in between the two bands' sets. It's good, but it doesn't have the same energy that they had on stage. The best description of the band that I've been able to come up with is that they're like Mum, without the vocals.
Sigur Ros came on stage and played the first song behind a translucent curtain, which was the first of a few colored curtains that they would use to enhance the backlighting and shadows on stage. Everything, from the lights to the music, gels so perfectly when they play that the only apt descriptions are the cliched superlatives - sublimely perfect, Heaven's house band, etc. The band on the stage was arranged so that no band member was obscured; they lined up 4 across in the front, with the Amina girls occassionally helping out in the back. The show closed with a trance-inducing playing of track 8 from the ( ) album. The drum beats in the middle of that song get the music moving until the crescendo at the end pushes everything off the cliff. And then it's over, with everyone in their seats trying to believe what they just heard. There's a good review at Random Musings from someone who remembered to buy tickets the last few times that they were in town, as well.
I didn't explore it as much as I should've, but it seemed like there were speakers set up against the back wall of the orchestra section. At the end of a few songs, it really sounded like the music was surrounding me, and the things on the back wall looked like speakers...can anyone confirm this? I really don't think it was just the reflected sound. This full enveloping experience was a great sensation and this is exactly the band who can and should pull it off. Another interesting crowd phenomenon was the silence that most people felt the bands deserved while they played. I actually heard a few "shushs" during Amina's set. Unfortunately, there were quite a few girls up front who really liked to hear themselves yell between songs, and while I usually don't object to that (I mean, it's a concert), the atmosphere there was just different. It wasn't appropriate while these bands played; it's almost like they deserved the audience's reverence, as silly as that might sound.
Throughout the show I was thinking about how their sound is really quite shoegaze-influenced with the distorted bowed electric guitar becoming a wall of sound with the keyboards and propulsive bass and drums. I felt like this must be close to what a My Bloody Valentine show, although I don't think I'd substitute anything for a real MBV show, given the chance.
I realized that Sigur Ros are one of those bands who I know I love, but don't pay enough attention to them until something reminds me, like this show. I've been listening to their three albums almost non-stop since Tuesday night. They always put on some of the best performances that remind me why live is truly the best way to experience a band, regardless of how good their recordings might be. If anyone comes across a recording of this show, let me know. I'd love to add this to my collection.
Now playing: Sigur Ros - ( )
Jerad posted this in Live | Comments (3)
I've done both Sigur Ros and MBV shows. They were both cool, but not even remotely comparable. I've seen hundreds of bands (everything from Horton Heat to Sigur Ros to M.M. Bosstones to Mercury Rev to Guns n freakin' Roses) over the last 20 years and only needed earplugs twice. Once for Motorhead... the other was My Bloody Valentine. I'm not sure when shoegaze came to be defined as the precious ambient mood music that most associate with the term these days (and which is really great), but I have to say I remember (and prefer) the loud and often unabashedly pop version of the style that was prevalent at it's beginnings (see Spacemen 3, Jesus and Mary Chain, early Ride, "Isn't Anything," early Telescopes... you get the idea).
Posted by: JimiC at February 10, 2006 07:22 PM
True, the show didn't even come close to the volume levels that were at an MBV show. The feeling that I meant to describe is that the crowd was completely rapt with the band. The sounds coming from the stage seemed to engross and change the audience, in the same way that Kevin Shields used extreme volume to put the crowd into a trance.
Posted by: Jerad at February 11, 2006 06:53 PM
Badly Drawn boy had the crowd so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Even between songs. Then, in the middle of a song he started motioning everyong to sit down, AND EVERYONE DID.
THAT is power. It was, and probably will be, the best concert I have ever seen. Absolutely entrancing.
Pitty I can't get a copy of that show. Gotta love the 9:30 club.
Posted by: Gough at February 11, 2006 08:34 PM
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