REVIEW: Sigur Rós @ Arlene Schnitzer Hall (Portland, OR – – 10/6/08)
FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW are at the BOTTOM
This was my third time to the Arlene Schnitzer Hall. It’s a great venue, and while I thought I would have gotten a better ticket via ordering from Klink (the Sigur merch site)… well, I was further to the back and left than I would have liked. It was still a good spot for pics and hearing some wonderful music.
The opener, Parachutes, is a band I got into sometime in 2007 due to a linkage to Sigur Rós via the MySpaces. I was excited to see them on the bill. They were obviously influenced by Sigur Rós. I mean… obviously. But in my world, that’s not a bad thing. They had 8 or 9 players, and at one point I know 10 people were playing with them. Again, very Sigur Rós-y, slow build, xylophone, strings, bombastic drums, keys, soft vocals. They played about 40 minutes, and I enjoyed them very much. I picked up their EP for $5 (usð)… i.e.- a steal. Unfortunately, my pics of theirs didn’t come out, as they didn’t have as much light on stage as Sigur Rós.
Now on to Sigur Rós…
Sigur Rós was… Sigur Rós. This was my 5th time seeing them, and while some may consider there to be the law of diminishing returns, with Sigur Rós the diminishments are such minutae that it’s not even diminishing anymore. Their shows are like taking a nap on a cloud during a rainstorm… or something. It’s completely surreal, mesmerizing, powerful, gentle, sublime, and… shiny.
(not my pic… obviously)
It’s funny to me, that with their non-English song names and their non-English singing… I still knew about half of the song titles within the first few chords. I think it’s osmosis or something, as I’ll admit that I don’t listen to them all that often (or often enough to know all of their song names). Anyway, thanks to the SR forum, I was able to fill in the remainder of the setlist (see below)…
10/6/08 Portland Setlist: (as noted on the SR forum)
- Svefn-g-englar *fav of show*
- Glósóli
- Ný batterí *fav of show*
- Fljótavík *
- Við spilum endalaust *
- Hoppípolla *fav of show*
- Með blóðnasir
- Inní mér syngur vitleysingur *
- Svo Hljótt
- Heysátan
- E-bow – on setlist, not played
- Viðrar vel til loftárása – on setlist, not played
- Sæglópur
- Festival *
- Gobbledigook * *fav of show – confetti kaboom*
- encore: All Alright *
- Popplagið *fav of show*
* For pronunciations of the songs and album name from their most recent album, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, go HERE (blog link with audio).
Overall, this was an amazing time. Every time I see Sigur Rós, I am blown away. This was their 2nd to last date on the North American tour (and their last date in the United States for this tour); so they’ve been getting a lot of practice lately. They were on top of their game, and put together an amazingly mesmerizing show
The Appropriate Linkage:
- http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/
- http://www.myspace.com/sigurros
- http://www.myspace.com/parachutesmakesongs (the opener)
- Sigur Rós @ NYC MoMA (46 minute pro-shot concert video)
- Official Video for “Gobbledigook” (1st single – video contains nudity)
- Official Video for “Inní mér syngur vitleysingur” (2nd single – from concert footage)
~Dan – recently played: Yoshie Fruchter – Pitom
SIGUR ROS CONCERT PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2008 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution
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Man I saw them last night also, and in Seattle the night before. I thought they were FAR better in Portland, but that is also because I had much better seats. It was my first time seeing them, and even though I was only about 15 rows back in Portland, and off to the side a little bit, being front and center would really change things even more I think.
The best way to describe how I feel right now:
You know at the end of Lord of the Rings (the movie), when Frodo is getting on the ship with the Elves. There is this feeling of “Oh my God that was an amazing movie, but I really don’t want it to be over”
That is sorta how I feel right now. So excited because it was an amazing show. Sorta bummed because I don’t know what to do with myself until I see them again, probably in a few years.
I know how you feel… my first time (in Columbus, OH on the ( ) tour) was completely surreal. I think I was grinning for a week straight. Amazing show… amazing band.
Great show. I thought Sæglópur was particularly awesome and sounded even better than on album. I also thought it was incredible that his voice sounded amazing right off the bat. The band didn’t need to warm up at all.
Yeah, just about every song pwneð.
Great photos! It makes me feel like I’m there again. =)
Yeah, I had that feeling too when going through them and editing… :)
We saw Sigur Rós in Toronto, and then the next night in Detroit (we called it the groupie tour 2008). We bought both sets of tickets through SR’s site in advance.
I do think where you sit makes a big difference
In Toronto we were on the Mezzanine (1st balcony) first row, right even to stage left. We were right over the drumkit AND right beside the confetti gun. Sigur Rós was good that night and it was great to be that close to them. But the stage lighting blinded us, the drums drowned out some of the nuances and we couldn’t really see much of the screen in behind. Even with these issues, it was still a good show.
In Detroit we were also on the Mezzanine, at the back center. Shockingly far from the stage (especially considering we bought advanced tickets). However we could see everything. The sound was great. We could see all of the affects AND Sigur Rós was a amazing. I was thrilled to realize their set lists were different too… so I did get to hear svefn-g-englar live (again).
My best seating and Sigur Rós experience was the first time I saw them – 6 years ago – same theatre in Detroit – 3rd row center. I actually greyed out a couple of times because I kept holding my breath. It was a sensory overload and I still get teary eyed when I think about it.
Great photos btw.
Thanks for the kind words.
My first time seeing them was in a small theatre on Ohio State University’s campus (Wexner). Great seats… plus my fav show of theirs. Probably the best position was at thew Lifestyle’s Community Pavilion (also in Columbus, OH)… it was standing room, and I got way up front. I saw them in Ann Arbor, too… near the front of the balcony (this was the tour where they started the set with a big sheet in front, with the lights behind them casting these great shadows… fun stuff…
Cheers!
~Dan