Hordern Pavilion
August 2nd, 2008

I don’t believe in God, but after seeing Sigur Ros at the Hordern Pavilion I’m left with a burning conundrum: who am I supposed to thank for the fact that they exist? It seems a wonderful and unlikely miracle that music so uniquely and sublimely beautiful can be created so consistently. Listening to their recordings is a joy – seeing them perform live is close to divine.

Frontman Jonsi Birgisson seems more elf than human – a genuine alfar straight from the realms of Nordic mythology. With his bizarro mullet haircut, stooped intensely over his guitar as he manically pumps his bow across the strings to produce wave after reverberating wave of surging power chord, he seems an impossible apparition. And then he starts singing – a flawless falsetto of an absolutely unique style.

After warming us up with “Svefn-g-Englar”, the band launched straight into full force with a version of the elementally powerful “Glosoli” – you could almost hear the goosebumps raising on the back of the necks of the adoring crowd as music swelled into its raucous climax. From that point on it was one classic piece of aural art after another. After a few songs, the four core band members were joined on stage by their brass quartet, marching slowly on from backstage while playing, beautifully recreating the slow fade in and out from the studio version. From the subdued and but beautiful strains of “Fljotavik” to the uplifting perfection of “Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur”, onto a truly apocalyptic version of the crashing final track from ( ), the genius simply didn’t let up.

There must have been 5000 people in simultaneous bliss on Saturday night, because I can’t believe anyone could have been in that room for two hours without being profoundly moved by the experience. I for one could have stood entranced for many more.