A big night in every sence
In the early part of their career, Sigur Ros built their status as a cult band through touring themselves into the ground. More recently they've taken their foot off the gas and this date at the Hammersmith Apollo was one of a very few in the UK to promote their most recent LP 'Takk'. Although they are a very unique band and have not an inch of commercial appeal about them, they do seem to reach a wide demographic, the crowd for this show had people in their early twenties right through to comfortably in middle aged, and all shared a similar anticipation of what they were about to witness.
The set started as 'Takk' does, with 'Takk... (Intro)' and 'Glósóli', lasting for around ten minutes. Throughout this a screen ran across the stage with lights shining onto it meaning the band was only noticeable by silhouettes. Once 'Glósóli' had finished and the set moved into one of it's experimental phases, with no tune as such to speak of and a multitude of sound effects led by a wind noise, the screen moved away to reveal the band in all their glory, backed by a five piece brass section and support band Amiina who provided strings.
From that point on this gig wasn't anymore remarkable to look at than the average, something that surprised me. Along with the lack of communication from the band to the audience, they spoke twice in the two hours they were on stage, meant that at the risk of using a well-oiled cliché, they were certainly here to let the music do the talking. In sound this set took the melancholy, ambient and frankly weird aspects of Pink Floyd and Radiohead, and mixed it in with classical, opera and indy rock.
For me Sigur Ros are better live than on CD. I think this is something which runs true with a lot of mellow music, it's impact is at it's greatest live as you are entering the band's territory and you can concentrate totally on what they are doing, whereas when they enter your bedroom, unless you have headphones on, there is always something that can distract you away from the music and atmosphere which it is trying to create.
The early part of this set was made up of tracks from 'Takk' including 'Mílanó' and 'Saeglopur', but there was plenty of room for moments from previous albums as well. One of the set highpoints was 'Vaka' from '()' and the night was brought to a close with an encore made up of tracks from 'ágætis Byrjun' and '()', 'Viðrar Vel Til Loftarasa' and 'Pop Song' provided a powerful climax.
Unsurprisingly 'Hoppipolla' got one of the best reactions of the night, but appearing almost half way through the set it didn't stand out as being the band's most successful song in terms of chart success, which is a reflection on the overall strength of the set list.
The gig in total ran for just shy of two hours. As many of Sigur Ros' songs stick to a similar pace it could be argued that this was a bit too long, however given the ticket price and that it isn't every week the Icelanders come to town, most in the venue will have felt they got their money's worth.