Sigur Ros – Live @ Alexandra Palace
Posted in Gig Reviews on December 3, 2008
It must be hard being Sigur Ros. These were my thoughts as I left their sold-out performance at Alexandra Palace last week. Don’t get me wrong, I love their music – the sweeping melodies and emotive hooks. In fact I adore them. I adore the sheer sound they create, the crispness of vocal and the brilliant musicality of their songs. But I do not adore their live performance.
When I arrived I stood amongst several thousand healthy-looking north Londoners and waited to be moved. I waited. And waited. I waited for Sigur Ros to take me on some emotional journey. I wanted to be involved, swept off my feet; I wanted to escape.
But my waiting never bore me the fruits I desired. The band didn’t cut it. That’s part of the problem really: they’re a band. You almost expect Sigur Ros to be some sort of wall of sound; a throbbing ball of energy and light. But they weren’t. In fact Sigur Ros was made up of four overly-audacious looking, slightly ageing yuppie types.
The light show was a bit of a joke too: sweeping lasers, giant glowing paper balls, flying confetti bombs and then a front of stage water fountain. Like some Spinal Tap covers band, Sigur Ros tried to impress upon the audience their huge sound with huge effects – and just like Spinal Tap it didn’t work.
Sigur Ros occupy a very special place in my heart. They provide me with escapism – a warm pocket for me to put my hand in when I am frail. However, the saddest thing about the whole affair last week was that form the moment the first chord was struck I wanted nothing more than to escape from Alexandra Palace. I felt let down, and for that reason I say, it must be hard being Sigur Ros.
Sam Bonham