Like pigeons to Bert’s (of Bert and Ernie on “Sesame
Street”) shiny bottle caps on “Sesame Street,”
the audience at the Wiltern Theatre Wednesday night came for pretty
things.
The prettiness on this night was provided by Icelandic media
darlings Sigur Rós. The group played just over 10 songs and,
as expected by fans who know them well, did not utter a single word
outside of the songs or play an encore.
The audience didn’t seem perturbed by the lack of an
encore. They gave Sigur Rós a howling, nearly a ten minute
standing ovation as the band came out and bowed twice. To the
audience’s credit, it was an incomparably pretty concert.
The four Icelandic lads were accompanied by a string quartet and
other female performers who added little touches on instruments
like the glockenspiel, a percussive bell instrument played with
hammers. In the live atmosphere Sigur Rós’ sound gained
an immediacy that their newest album “( )” lacks.
Lead singer and guitarist Jonsi Birgisson was the centerpiece of
the live show. He was able to translate his incredibly high vocal
style flawlessly live. He moved with long, thin arms like Gollum
from Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” as he
used a violin bow to play his guitar, or ran over to the keyboards.
Each sound he made was gorgeous.
And that’s the modus operandi of the band. Sigur Rós
plays wonderfully pretty music that has little substance or depth
beyond the visceral level. They play music best experienced in a
vacuum, and the hushed Wiltern Theatre was a gorgeous backdrop for
the music. Accompanied by a simple light show and images ““
mostly peoples’ faces and colors with the bands’ shadow
projected onto a screen ““ the music for the most part stood
on its own.
The prettiness was achieved through the song structures. Songs
started off as whispers and climaxed with wailing vocals, cascading
drums, loud guitars and keyboard effects for a dense soundscape
that gently assaulted the listener’s ears. The best songs
that exemplified this formula were “Olsen Olsen” and
“Svefn G Englar,” from last year’s album,
“Agaetis Byrjun,” and tracks three and eight from
“( ).” The set gave new reason for fans of the band to
be optimistic.
While “( )” was an underwhelming collection of
meandering songs that mostly paled in comparison to all of the
“Agaetis Byrjun” tracks, Sigur Rós played two new
promising songs. One was rocker-heavy on guitars and Jonsi’s
wail, while the other started off with a lengthy strings-only
section, then built into a euphonious full band number. Both felt
more like fully realized songs than the “( )”
material.
The concert moved the audience to a fanatical level and Sigur
Rós’ music was emotionally and aurally stirring. Like
the best of their songs, it provided a great disposable experience
that allowed the listeners to turn off their minds and let the
fairy-like assault wash them to outer space.