Sigur Ros
April 5, 2003
(Hard Rock Cafe's The Joint)
By: Christina Martinez - ModernRock.com
By far one of the most amazing, if not the best production I have ever seen. Sigur Ros took its audience to another world of “Hopelandish,” the language lead singer Jon Thor Birgisson crafted.
Birgisson’s voice, often compared to Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, was as crystal clear and high as it is heard on the band’s two U.S. released albums. And as innovative and creative as it gets, Birgisson plays his guitar with a violin bow. This avant-garde group had an outstanding 4-piece orchestral ensemble, incorporating keyboard, percussion, flutes, small windpipes, bass (which was at one point played with a drum stick) and of course, Birgisson’s distinctive voice.
A sound of their own, breaking all rules of rock & roll, places them in a genre of their own. Sigur Ros’s melodies captured all human emotions. Their songs created a sulking sense, while at the same time they made you feel as if you were transcending into another psychedelic measurement. Songs were haunting and chilling. They were ethereal and beautiful. Sigur Ros generated airy and light, yet full and destructing noise.
The backdrop of the stage aided in portraying timeless events and stages of human life. Blurred pictures of a closed-eyed baby, a view of a green-blue sky obstructed with two electrical poles, a couple frolicking to hold hands and even a dying man are some of the artsy images the Icelandic band presented to us.
They didn’t stop there. Lighting was outstanding. Not only did they correspond to the dramatic shifts and climactic escalating in the music, the lighting also created reason to believe that you were not only hearing art, you were seeing it, feeling it. You became it, recognizing all the emotions that their instruments scream.
For over two hours, these non-traditionalists allowed their fans to escape. Impressively, they are as good in the flesh as they are when you listen to them on their CD. And as I review the words above, they are understatements, for no words could express how stunning Sigur Ros was this intimate night. They richly deserved their four-song encore and several standing ovations.
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