Sigur Rós: Margaret Court Arena

Review of Sigur Rós at Margaret Court Arena, August 2022

The last couple of years have been tough on everybody. The 2020's started with a pandemic, lockdowns and uncertainty. The word of the decade has been "unprecedented". The world slammed its doors shut.

Enter 2022 and light starts to dawn. The world starts open. The band that helped get many through the pandemic announce a world tour.

Sigur Rós understand dynamics. Quiet-> Loud. Some songs lap around your ears. Others body slam you to the floor. Some do both. Sigur Rós is about emotion. You won't get lyrics. There is very little English. The songs are mostly in Icelandic or Vonlenska aka Hopelanic. It's a language invented by singer Jónsi. It is designed not to mean anything. Think of the Celtic tradition of mouth music. Mouth music was taken and moulded by Liz Fraser of the Cocteau Twins. Hopelandic follows similar path. Jónsi's voice is an instrument to communicate emotion.

The set list is drawn from large portion of their catalogue, although we didn't get any from the first album "Von". The untitled third album aka ( ) celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Most were taken from the album with couple from Takk. Spread in two sets, there is a bit of everything.

A line up change that has taken place since Sigur Rós were last out on the road. Drummer Orri Páll Dýrason is gone. Multi-instrumentalist Kjartan Sveinsson returns after a nine year absence. Kjarten's return is a perfect counterpoint to Jónsi's vocals with wonderful piano passages and reverberating guitars. Add to that is long term bassist Georg Holm. Touring drummer/keyboardist Ólafur Ólafsson completes the band. This a tight unit. There are no strings and brass that have made the line ups of previous tours.

The lights dim and the stage lights and screen start up. The songs are quiet lap around your ears. My favourite is Glósóli with the syncopation between bass and drums which gives it a subtle off kilter effect. The song like many other Sigur Rós songs feels light and sunny but there are dark undercurrents. The closer Untitled #8 – Popplagið has to be experienced. The song builds and builds until it becomes a wall of sound that hits you like a tsunami. It's a song that is a perfect closer.

SetList

Set 1:

• Untitled #1 – Vaka
• Untitled #2 – Fyrsta
• Untitled #3 – Samskeyti
• Svefn-g-englar
• Rafmagnið búið
• Ný batterí
• Gold 2
• Fljótavík
• Untitled #7 – Dauðalagið
• Smáskifa

Set 2:

• Glósóli
• Untitled #6 – E-Bow
• Ekki múkk
• Sæglópur
• Gong
• Andvari
• Gold 4
• Festival
• Kveikur
• Untitled #8 – Popplagið