SIGUR ROS (London Alexandra Palace, 20/11/08)


(Hafsol Photo: Shimelle (Flickr))

Sigur Ros at Ally Pally could have gone so wrong. Gigs at that wind-swept aircraft carrier in the far north of the Piccadilly Line aren’t renowned for their atmosphere, depth of sound or quality of audiences- and with the ethereal Icelanders stripped down from a 14-man (and woman) all-singing, all-dancing retinue to their original four-piece incarnation it could have been a car-crash in motion. But they didn’t let me down. Oh no.

Like most of their shows, it started off slow. Perhaps too slow. The gorgeous Sven-f-englar plucked so memorably at my heart-strings back in June, but it didn’t quite work tonight- came across a bit hollow and stiffly-performed. It certainly wasn’t the fault of the sound, which was EXCEPTIONAL by Ally Pally standards, nor the quality of Jonsi’s voice which was absolutely beautiful, even more so than unusual. An excellent Ny Batteri was an early highlight, showcasing Sigur Ros’ more traditional post-rock leanings but they then moved onto some material from the new album, none of which was bad by any means but lacked the spark of their older, more intricate material. But once they‘d got that out of the way, Sigur Ros proceeded to remind me why they’re my second favourite band in the whole wide world.


(Saeglopur Photo: Shimelle (Flickr))

Saeglopur was the best I’ve ever heard it, accompanied by this fantastic effect whereby a thin ‘waterfall’ descended from the rigging, creating something akin to a silk-screen in front of the band; lights were then shone upon it producing a dream-like haze that perfectly complimented the twinkly glockenspiel-led heart of the song. Hafsol too was brilliant, Jonsi *obliterating* his bow with his frantic, 500-strokes-a-minute e-bowing during its ever-accelerating climax (my friend was the happy recipient of the remains). This was the song I was most concerned the lack of strings would diminish; in the event, it was only Hoppipolla that really suffered without the added orchestration- it wasn’t a tenth of a song it was at Latitude. Gobbledigook wasn‘t quite as sublime as it‘s been in the past, although that’s probably more to do with the audience’s reluctance to get into the sing-and-clap-along spirit of the thing. Support band For A Minor Reflection (who were, incidentally, REALLY impressive, quite Explosions In The Sky-esque) manfully took over the extra percussion duties the lovely Amiina used to perform, and they didn’t go half-mad with the confetti; fifteen metric tons of multi-coloured stuff streaming out of three cannons positioned to the front of a stage whilst a storm of white ’snow’ rained down from the rigging.


(Gobbldegook Photo: RichJM (Flickr))

And then for Popplagio, Untitled 8, the mother of all set closers. No matter how many times you see it, its 15-minute build up from a plaintive, slow-paced ballad into an incessant, swirl of tribal drums overlaid with Jonsi’s eerie wailing before exploding in an apocalyptic explosion of post-rock transcendence remains one of the most amazing experiences live music can offer. On past tours, they’ve heightened the experience by lowering a thin silk curtain between band and audience, leaving only the silhouettes of the band visible, then beaming epilepsy-inducing projections onto the screen, encompassing viewers in squall of sensory overload. This time, they just got three huge industrial fans pointing straight at the audience, released their remaining reserves of white confetti and let the fuck loose- combined with the face-melting sound and the epic strobe-lighting it was a truly mind-blowing moment, as these photos capture pretty well:




(Popplagio Photos: Louis Persent; Glediator (Flickr))

So no, it wasn’t in the same league as the Southampton Guildhall, Westminster Methodist Hall or Latitude shows. But all three of those firmly hold a place in my ‘Top 10 Gigs EVER’ list, so that’s no particular slight on this one. Notwithstanding my quibbles, it was still one of the best performances I’ve seen this year, an absolute pleasure to attend and I eagerly await the opportunity to see them again tonight. I’m sure John will have got some great photos, I’ll post them here once he’s got them uploaded.

On a more personal note, it was great to meet up with the old Us Kids Know crowd, doesn’t happen enough nowadays and I got chatting to some new folks including one who recognised me from the Westminster show (and has seen Radiohead 42 times!) And DAMN, I forgot how amazing the view of London is from a-top of Alexandra Hill at night…possibly the most beautiful sight the big city has to offer.


(Photo: Mappamundo (Flickr))