Sigur Ros

How can you muster words to describe the breathtakingly spiritual experience of Sigur Rós?

A sold out Belvoir Amphitheatre on Tuesday 13th November was teleported to a transcendent reality of mystical ambient harmony when the Icelandic band awed the crowd with a performance like nothing on this earth. It is not possible to fathom the exceptional feat that walked people on a journey through the deity of Sigur Rós.

Currently in Australia for the Harvest Festival tour, this side show brought a deep sense of meaningfulness to the believers who saw their souls come alive and their emotions peak at all climax levels.

Traditionally a four member band the miracle of multiplication grew the band to twelve for the evening, feeding the thousands to musical nutrition. A well stocked stage was complete with multiple keys and piano, violins, a trumpet, trombone, glockenspiel, xylophone, guitars, bass, flute, drums and vocals. These disciples converted the sound to the post-rock album quality of most recent release Valtari.

Opening on a piano led circus theme, Sigur Rós literally shocked you with unexpected hits which gave the crowd a fright before launching into the first song I Gaer. F haunting from a paddock in the winery region to an enchanted land where you became your pseudo dream self. Here you danced as though in a whimsical romance with your destined soul mate.

Although it was a combined effort from each character on stage to fill the void, credit must go to the lead man Birgisson who is a hypnotizing talent. For dedicated fans they may have been expecting the use of a bow on his guitar and maybe even the iconic moment he sung into his guitar pickups which resonated his voice through the sound system. However, if this was your first experience of them, you would be awe struck.

udden loss of subject perception from the soaring sensation each song created made even Birgisson’s mullet forgivable.

Throughout the set, no member spoke, streaming from one lifting instrumentation item to another. Other bands need to entertain with their witty comments, crowd interaction and generic catchy pop tunes, Sigur Rós simply need to play to captivate the spirits that occupied the dwelling. It wasn’t until their final song that anyone spoke, now we know why, they don’t speak English, a baffled ground had a good chuckle.

To sum it up simply, Sigur Rós, mind equals blown.