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concert review: Sigur Ros w/ Amina @ Massey Hall(Toronto, Ontario), September 19, 2005

Not the cathartic experience I was hoping it to be but the Sigur Ros show at Massey Hall a couple of days ago was still indeed very good. Even though I've been scooping up Sigur Ros albums slowly over the last year, I have to admit that I haven't had the patience to sit through an album in its entirety. They have some lovely moments on record and during the show was no exception. Sigur Ros' string section for this current tour are a band called Amina who also were the openers for the show. Amina started off with a quiet avant/ambient string quartet piece which while interesting, was not really my cup of tea. However, as their set progressed the band's instrumentation encompassed a wide variety of other instruments including bells, wine glasses, keyboards, laptop programming, and even a saw played with a violin bow. There was also more of an emphasis on melody, thankfully. Their music's aesthetically similar to Sigur Ros' ambient moments, I guess. The audience seemed to warm up to the band as their set progressed and by the end of the set when they finished with a playful Casio-driven, almost-electro-pop instrumental the audience had been won over. Well, I was at least. It doesn't hurt that they're Icelandic beauties also.

Sigur Ros started their set behind a white translucent curtain that cast the band members shadows as they performed their first song. When the curtain was moved to the side of the stage to reveal the band behind, the audience went crazy. Being a novice of the band's music, I guess what I noticed during their set was a good deal of emphasis on rock conventions: loud guitars, thunderous drumming, earnest vocals and so on. However, their songs are very unconventional rock songs. On the louder numbers, there was alot of simmering instrumental buildup intially to a point where the music reaches a pinnacle and collapses in on itself. Melodically, I though Sigur Ros sounded fairly unique. There were moments when Sigur Ros sounded 'pop' but more often than not I felt the band's melodies were a little less obvious. When the band strove for quieter moments like the brilliant "Sigur 1(Untitled)", I was absolutely mesmerized; even though that song is an instrumental, I almost got choked up hearing it. In a large theatre like Massey Hall, the quieter moments were awesome. I'll unashamedly grab for the rock cliche and say that Sigur Ros' quiet moments during the show gave me the feeling of 'being in the womb'; it's warm, comfortable and safe. Sigur Ros' music can be a little sleepy, and when the lights dimmed, that didn't necessarily help with staying awake. Fortunately, I did catch my second wind and stay awake.

Visually there was a variety of screen projections that kept things interesting. If anything, I noticed a theme of innocence within the images. For example, there were images of a children's doll's face as well as children jumping up and down. I thought the images worked quite well with the music.

For the Sigur Ros novice that I am, the show was very good. I think having seen the band physically has somewhat demystified them for me after having never seen pictures of them before. The couple of music videos I've seen of theirs, I don't recall them being in the video.

Sorry, for the lack of song titles in this review. suckingalemon and mishie can help you in that respect. Go check out their reviews also.
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Matisyahu will be in Toronto for a show at Lee's Palace on October 27th.

Ben Lee will be back in Toronto(again, he must like it here) for a show at El Mocambo on November 6th. [last two items from emerge]

Shout Out Louds will be at The Mod Club on November 7th. [from Pollstar]

I cut and paste the following info off Stillepost:

The Hidden Cameras and Toronto Dance Theatre (local modern dance company) are presenting a collaborative music-dance concert, November 22-26, at Premiere Dance Theatre (Harbourfront Centre). As the show goes on, the musicians and dancers will begin to switch roles, with dancers playing instruments and the HCs dancing...