Saw Sigur Ros perform at the Chicago Theater last night. A little torn about the show overall. The band played very well, no denying it, but I wasn't terribly thrilled with the set list or the arrangements. It's strange, they have just released their brightest, most organic album, but the arrangements were MUCH darker than previous shows and very few songs from the new album were included in the show. Visually the show was a little flat as well, I'm not a big fan of projections of the band playing (especially when visuals have been so powerfully used in past shows). I think what was missing most, however, was their regular opening act and collaberators, Amiina. You don't really realize how important strings are to the arrangements of many of SR's songs until they are missing, and the lack of any back-up help is what really pushed the overall feel of the show into much darker territory than normal.
Like I said though, the band performed very well and there were several incredible moments. When the band finally got around to the new album's first single (Gobbledigook) as the closer of the set it was a truly joyous and transcendent moment witht the band and crowd wound up to giddy proportions (and a confetti explosion straight out of a Flaming Lips show). It was a stunning moment and really makes you wonder how much more could have been done with this show and their new material. I don't know if they trust the material live yet, or what, but it just really seems like a missed opportunity. It was a good show, it just seems like it could have been much more.
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