Last night was the Sigur Ros show at Copley Symphony Hall. It snuck up on me, getting back from my trip on Saturday, trying to re-enter a more still presence on Sunday, and trying to get caught up on Monday sort of took the anticipation out of it all. And it is especially weird these days to actually see a show AT HOME. Imagine, no three hour drives, no checking into hotels, no $35 “may as well go all the way” dinners.

Well. I’m still trying to stop the butterflies in my stomach from trying to break free, because that show was so beautiful that I have decided I must go to Hollywood tomorrow night, go through the drive, the hotel room, and the expensive dinner. Because there is no way Sigur Ros is going to play so close and in a place I totally love – the Hollywood Bowl, without me being there. No way no way no way.

I had an extra ticket to last night’s show, and ended up making a friend. I posted on Craigslist and Taunya responded, and we decided to go have some drinks and food (yes, expensive, but at least there was no hotel bill) before the show. She even lives in OB, and she even DROVE. So already karma is working some sweet magic here. We ate some truly rank tapas at a place called “La Gran Tapa” across from the Symphony hall, but the bottle of wine was good, a 2000 reserve Rioja that shall remain nameless due to wine holes in my brain. Taunya and I hit it off right away, so it was all good, and when we got to our seats she was very happy, as was I, at how close we were to the stage.

Since I’ve already seen Sigur Ros once this year, at the Avalon in Hollywood, I knew how awesome it was going to be, but I didn’t know the songs yet since their new record Takk had not come out. Now I’ve been listening to Takk for a couple of weeks, but even knowing the songs, I think I was equally blown away in both shows for different reasons. It was so weird being in a symphony hall. There were retired people acting as ushers who were so nice but clearly, didn’t get the music. There was a bar where I was shocked to find that there was no carding going on (later, when I went back, there was a LOT of carding going on – clearly the bartenders had a “talking to.”) It was difficult to have to sit in a seat the entire time. No one stood – ever. I think I am conditioned for movement at a show now. It was very hard to remain still. Maybe I need to take up mediation or something.

Yes I need to take up meditation. Because sitting there I just could not get my mind to shut up. I kept telling it SHUT THE FUCK UP but it wouldn’t. That’s why I have to go back tomorrow. Or at least this is the excuse I am giving myself.

I don’t really need any excuses. It was incredible. How does Jonsi do that with his voice? The highest, cleanest, notes sustained for so long the people in the audience couldn’t take it. One MUST shriek “whoo” after a minute or so. Well, I didn’t – I just whispered many “wows.” Because there are two kinds of music lovers – the whoo shriekers and the wow whisperers. Actually there are three – there is also the non-listener but I don’t think there were too many of those at this show.

One of the truly fantastic things about the internet is that you can relive a moment that happened 21 hours ago. Like here, where you can listen to Sigur Ros’s Boston show, thanks to Bradley. Like him, I have a hard time putting it all into words, but you can LISTEN. So, if you will, scroll down a bit and find the show, and at least listen to Vidrar Vel Til Loftarasa. This is the song I wrote about on my Avalon entry where there was a long moment of silence until some guy whoo hooed. Last night, there were quite a few whoo whoos. But at this Boston show that Bradley recorded, no whoo hoos. Dead silence in the middle of the song. It is SO fantastic. Thank you, thank you Bradley for recording that show because right now I am listening to it, crying, remembering it all. Readers, take advantage of this gift, regardless of what kind of music you are into right now. My god.

Sigur Ros lyrics are sometimes an invented language called Hopelandic. Their music breaks my heart, even if I don’t know what it all means. Breaks my heart and mends it later. Then fills it. At the show last night a ring of light strands hit the stage vertically and the effect was one of a spaceship coming down to take the band away. Later, white birds flew everywhere, but they were light birds. It’s no wonder I want to go back tomorrow.

And now, a more silent Wow.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 4th, 2005 at 6:54 pm and is filed under Adventures in Rock and Roll. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.