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I had "planned" this review, for a few days I had been thinking about what I would write, and since (though I like them) I never managed to listen to the entire latest album by Sigur Rós all at once, I already had the concluding sentence ready: "Sigur Rós make you dream: if you love them, they transport you to another, dreamlike dimension; otherwise, you dream because you risk falling asleep...".
But the reality was quite different: a Sigur Rós concert is an enchanting, magical experience, to savor every second that passes, with eyes and ears wide open.
Little flashback: late afternoon, Ferrara, hot, humidity through the roof, I take a walk towards the square where the concert will be held in the evening, and there's the first surprise: soundcheck open to the public. The 4 elves are testing the equipment, sketching pieces of songs and chatting among themselves while about thirty people are already sitting watching their movements and some old folks pass by on bicycles with visibly puzzled faces, as if wondering who is disturbing the tranquility and calm of a city strangled by infernal heat.
In the evening, the square slowly fills up, and the audience is much more knowledgeable than I thought: next to me, two guys from Bologna who had already seen them in October and were "enchanted" by them, and who saw Jonsi cycling through the city center streets until moments before the concert. The sun sets, the music arrives: talking about individual songs is useless, superfluous: interruptions are just the commas of a unique script that captivates from start to finish.
Their eclecticism leaves you astonished: they often change positions to play different instruments: a transverse flute, a pipe(!), three different keyboards, the famous guitar played with a violin bow, and the base of another song made with the electric guitar beaten by a drumstick: incredible! ah! the drummer! is the most lively, the most energetic of the band and moves from caressing the drums in pieces like "Staralfur" and the beautiful "Nothing Song" (or "Njosnavelin", or "#4", call it what you will) to moments where he hits them with incredible vigor. Jonsi, whose voice, perfectly modulated, is a true "added instrument", spends most of the time with his eyes closed (as if in a trance...) while behind him the female string quartet, Amina, amazes with their skill and the very young age of its members.
After barely two hours, the final runway: a bow to the crowd that brings them back on stage multiple times to receive the deserved applause, in the (vain) hope that the concert will continue: on the curtain behind the stage, used during the concert to display images, videos, and light shows, a drawing and a thank you note appear... the lights come on... the feeling remains of having witnessed something absolutely fascinating...
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