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FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM

Jon Thor Birgisson aka “Jónsi” has a majestic voice and a penchant for clever, extravagant, and utterly gorgeous stage show that converts the already beautiful music into something worthy of an art exhibit.  His voice is well known in the indie rock scene via his long history bringing the enigmatic Sigur Rós to our shores/ears.

Sigur Rós is on a hiatus while many of the members’ families welcome new children into their lives; so Jónsi decided to follow-up his last album (Riceboy Sleeps with his partner Alex) with a “solo acoustic album.”  That “solo acoustic” album morphed into what became GO, a not-so-acoustic album.  Go fits in with the most recent Sigur Rós album (Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust).   It’s a “more accessible rock” affair full of the ideals, quirks, and high quality craftsmanship we’ve come to expect.

That high quality craftsmanship shows in Jónsi’s decision to bring in 59 Productions to work up his tour stage.  If I wasn’t sold on going to see Jónsi before, the lead-up to the show was almost unbearable after seeing the 59 Productions behind the scenes video.  More on that later… first, the opener…

Death Vessel (aka Joel Thibodeau) hit the stage around 8 and played a 35 minute set (6-7 songs).  His songs were gentle acoustic numbers, and his voice reminded me a lot of the late Jeff Hanson (nice falsetto).  The crowd seemed a little restless near the end, but I thought Death Vessel put out an enjoyable set.

Jónsi went on right at 9pm and started the show with just an acoustic guitar solo tune, Stars in Still Water.  Shortly thereafter the band joined him and the stage show began.  The walls and projectors played for about half of the songs in the set, and ranged from butterflies, to other animals, to a rainstorm that turned into a flood.  Some of the coolest effects were the burning stage-pieces early on, as well as the water flood.  It was quite astonishing how well done everything was… and it didn’t take away from the music at all.

Setlist: ~85 minutes

• Stars in Still Water (solo)
• Hengilás
• Icicle Sleeves (K14 or Red Bicycle)
• Kolniður
• Tornado
• Saint Naive (K7)
• Sinking Friendships
• Go Do
• Boy Lilikoi
• K12
• New Piano Song (K365)
• Around Us (with acoustic piano intro)
• Encore: Jonsi New Guitar Song
• Animal Arithmetic (Jonsi donned a colorful headdress)
  
• Grow Till Tall

The fave songs of the night were Tornado, Go Do, Boy Lilikoi & Grow Till Tall – as those were the ones that resonate with me the most from the record.  All in all, it was an utterly superb show, and it ranks easily in my favorite shows ever (which includes many Sigur Rós shows, too).  The stage, the songs, the voice, the beauty… I hope Jónsi comes back through soon – either solo or with his “main band.”

Speaking of bands… the band members for Jónsi’s solo tour are Alex Somers on guitar, Úlfur Hansson on bass, þorvaldur þorvaldsson on drums and Ólafur Björn Ólafsson on piano

many more photos below

The Appropriate Linkage:

• Jónsi’s Site
• Jónsi’s 2010 Tour Recap splashpage
• Jónsi on MySpace
• 59 Productions (Jónsi’s stagecraft masters)
• Sigur Rós’ Site
• Sigur Rós on MySpace
• Death Vessel
• Death Vessel on MySpace
• Roseland Theater
• Other Reviews of Interest:
  • My Sigur Rós Oct 2008 Review (with photos)
  • SPIN‘s Vancouver Review (April 2010)
  • Brooklyn Vegan‘s Vancouver Review (April 2010)
  • RAW Pie Recipes from Jónsi & Alex’s cookbook
    

OK, I’m off for a while… if you comment, sorry if I won’t/can’t  respond (or potentially be able to approve comments) for a bit.  Anyway, for those of you who are going to one of the upcoming dates, have fun.  It is an AMAZING show.  Check out more tour dates below.

~Dan – np: Derek Webb – Stockholm Syndrome

JÓNSI (from Sigur Rós) & DEATH VESSEL PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2010 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution

(click for larger)

Higher Resolution (8 pics)

Limited to 1200 pixels wide or tall (5 DV, 27 Jónsi pics)

2010 North American Tour Dates

• april 6 vancouver, canada vogue theatre
• april 7 vancouver, canada vogue theatre
• april 9 seattle, wa the showbox sodo
• april 10 seattle, wa the showbox sodo
• april 13 portland, or roseland theatre
• april 15 berkeley, ca zellerbach auditorium
• april 16 san francisco, ca palace of fine arts
• april 18 indio, ca coachella
• april 21 denver, co paramount theatre
• april 22 lawrence, ks liberty hall
• april 24 minneapolis, mn pantages theatre
• april 25 minneapolis, mn pantages theatre
• april 26 milwaukee, wi the pabst theatre
• april 27 chicago, il vic theatre
• april 28 chicago, il vic theatre
• april 30 toronto, canada sound academy
• may 1 toronto, canada sound academy
• may 2 montreal, canada metropolis
• may 3 philadelphia, pa electric factory
• may 5 boston, ma house of blues
• may 6 boston, ma house of blues
• may 8 new york, ny terminal 5
• may 9 new york, ny terminal 5