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Rating: Sunday, September 2nd, after two days of rain that added an "extra value" to the bands that played on the previous days ("The Killers", "Franz Ferdinand", "Mogwai" and more…), finally the A Perfect Day Festival reaches its final day, the one I was looking forward to the most, the day when Sigur Ros is on the lineup.
It's been four years since the first and last time I saw them live, in 2008 when huge luminous bulbs framed their evocative stage, set up in the middle of the Boboli Gardens in Florence, but now we are in Villafranca di Verona, and after listening in order to ("Alt-j", "Deus" and "Mark Lanegan Band") finally with the setting sun, excitement, and anticipation for one of the most awaited concerts of the year begin to rise.
The stage is quite simple with two megascreens and many lights, the excitement grows more and more alongside its audience made up of thousands of fans, but I'm sure also many curious people who have ventured inside the beautiful and fascinating Scaliger Castle walls, because they've heard some songs but most importantly have learned that seeing Sigur Ros live is a unique experience.
The concert starts amidst the shouts and outbursts of four years of waiting for the Icelanders and their magical aura, a simple and haunting arpeggio breaks the silence dominating on stage among the eleven musicians present, I can't believe my ears, it takes me a few seconds to realize that they are playing "Lagið Í Gær," one of my favorite pieces but also one of the least known since it's a kind of b-side, after a minute the piece explodes into a series of noise rock, with the singer Jonsi playing his electric guitar with a violin bow giving the concert, as well as the music, his touch that makes everyone recognize the Sigur Ros signature sound.
Soon after the second track begins (probably the most famous song by the four Icelanders) the melancholic, almost destructive Untitled #1 (Vaka), the audience sits in reverent silence through the song creating an eerie and very suggestive silence for the entire duration of the piece until exploding into a gigantic applause. The songs follow one another, "Ný Batterí," "Svefn-g-englar," and "Sæglópur" until the exceptional "Viðrar vel til loftárása" where I personally reach the Climax, the most emotional and highest point of the concert where I feel truly captivated and transported into another world.
On stage, there are eleven musicians with a capital M, beyond the original formation there is also the brass, strings, and vocals section, and all these elements together manage to recreate sounds never heard before. The song that comes right after is the very famous "Hoppipolla + Með blóðnasir" where the audience seems to wake up from a sort of enchantment it was under until that moment, maybe because it's one of the happiest songs with the easiest lyrics to remember and pronounce, regardless the fact remains that people start singing and hopping.
The beautiful "Olsen Olsen" and "Festival" follow until the much-awaited "Varúð" the first song taken from their latest album "Valtari," incidentally my favorite from the album, where you can hear again the sounds of the early Sigur Ros. The concert ends with three songs chosen for a beautiful effect ending "Hafssól" where the bassist plays his instrument with a drumstick, "Ekki múkk" the second track taken from their latest album and finally with the sublime "Popplagið" also known as Untitled #8. The concert leaves you speechless, the emotions are real and the expressions on people's faces as they head for the exits leave little room for interpretation, they all seem to say "Wow!”
Sigur Ros may or may not be to your liking but live, they bring everyone into agreement.
Curated by Stefano Brunetti Titz
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