Vivid Live: A triumphant orchestral excursion with Sigur Ros and the SSO
SIGUR ROS
Opera House Concert Hall, May 23. Also May 24 and 25.
Reviewed by ROD YATES
★★★★
Before starting this tour, Icelandic three-piece Sigur Ros were at pains to point out these shows would be more than just a traditional group performance with the backing of an orchestra. Indeed, bassist Georg Holm told this masthead that concertgoers would be seeing 'the orchestral version of the band'.
And so it is that when the trio follow British conductor Robert Ames onstage, each member clad uniformly in black, they position themselves among the already seated Sydney Symphony Orchestra, rather than at the front of the stage. The message is clear: Sigur Ros are a part of the ensemble, no more or less important than the 41 musicians surrounding them.
It's a point made time and again throughout this two-hour excursion through the band's cinematic, often ethereal catalogue, from the title track of their 1997 debut album Von to material from their latest, 2023's Atta.
The rich cellos that usher in Untitled #1 – Vaka lend it a warmer, more sombre gravitas than its recorded counterpart; the rousing oompah climax of the exquisite Se Lest benefits from the added bombast, one of the rare occasions the orchestra takes full-blooded flight.
The very presence of the SSO affords the band the opportunity to realise the string-laden Staralfur in all its glory, a feat they long stopped trying in their more traditional live shows.
Loading
They are masters of navigating dynamic musical ebbs and flows; as Ekki Mukk draws to a close and the orchestra slowly dissipates, Kjartan Sveinsson's haunting keyboard refrain is rendered even more fragile by virtue of the sound that came before it, a contrast that renders the audience completely silent as the notes fade to a whisper.
On occasion the songs do tend to blend into one another, vocalist Jonsi Birgisson's majestic falsetto (an instrument in itself) gliding above the sweeping strings. It would, however, be a disservice to label it repetitive – instead the effect is more hypnotic and dreamlike, as though the entire Opera House is one giant, fully immersive sound bath.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
West Australian
a day ago
- West Australian
Stella Rimington, first UK female spy boss, dies at 90
Stella Rimington, the first female director general of Britain's MI5 security and counter-intelligence service who ushered in an era of greater transparency at the agency, has died aged 90. Rimington, who ran the domestic security agency between 1992 and 1996, was its first head to be publicly named and later wrote a memoir Open Secret about her career at the formerly secretive organisation. She went on to write a series of espionage novels and is also widely thought to have inspired actor Judy Dench's tough but playful characterisation of the fictional spymaster 'M' in several James Bond movies. "She died surrounded by her beloved family and dogs and determinedly held on to the life she loved until her last breath," a family statement quoted by local media said on Monday. Rimington was given one of the British state's highest honours when she was made a dame in 1996. She joined MI5 in 1969 and worked in roles including counter-subversion and counter-terrorism. Under her leadership MI5 took a more prominent role in Britain's fight against Irish republican militants, according to a profile on the MI5 website. "As the first avowed female head of any intelligence agency in the world, Dame Stella broke through long-standing barriers and was a visible example of the importance of diversity in leadership," current MI5 Director General Ken McCallum said in a statement. She committed the agency to a more transparent approach to its work, softening its post-Cold War image. "We are, of course, obliged to keep information secret in order to be effective, this is not to say that we should necessarily be a wholly secret organisation," she said in a publicly broadcast 1994 lecture. "Secrecy is not imposed for its own sake. It is not an end in itself." Foreshadowing her later literary career, Rimington opened that same speech with a nod to the British spy novel tradition and the fascination with the security services it had inspired among the general public. "It is exciting stuff and has led to the creation of many myths - and some lurid speculation - about our work. I must admit that it is with some hesitation that I set out tonight to shed some daylight," she said. "I have a sneaking feeling that the fiction may turn out to be more fun than the reality."
Perth Now
a day ago
- Perth Now
Stella Rimington, first UK female spy boss, dies at 90
Stella Rimington, the first female director general of Britain's MI5 security and counter-intelligence service who ushered in an era of greater transparency at the agency, has died aged 90. Rimington, who ran the domestic security agency between 1992 and 1996, was its first head to be publicly named and later wrote a memoir Open Secret about her career at the formerly secretive organisation. She went on to write a series of espionage novels and is also widely thought to have inspired actor Judy Dench's tough but playful characterisation of the fictional spymaster 'M' in several James Bond movies. "She died surrounded by her beloved family and dogs and determinedly held on to the life she loved until her last breath," a family statement quoted by local media said on Monday. Rimington was given one of the British state's highest honours when she was made a dame in 1996. She joined MI5 in 1969 and worked in roles including counter-subversion and counter-terrorism. Under her leadership MI5 took a more prominent role in Britain's fight against Irish republican militants, according to a profile on the MI5 website. "As the first avowed female head of any intelligence agency in the world, Dame Stella broke through long-standing barriers and was a visible example of the importance of diversity in leadership," current MI5 Director General Ken McCallum said in a statement. She committed the agency to a more transparent approach to its work, softening its post-Cold War image. "We are, of course, obliged to keep information secret in order to be effective, this is not to say that we should necessarily be a wholly secret organisation," she said in a publicly broadcast 1994 lecture. "Secrecy is not imposed for its own sake. It is not an end in itself." Foreshadowing her later literary career, Rimington opened that same speech with a nod to the British spy novel tradition and the fascination with the security services it had inspired among the general public. "It is exciting stuff and has led to the creation of many myths - and some lurid speculation - about our work. I must admit that it is with some hesitation that I set out tonight to shed some daylight," she said. "I have a sneaking feeling that the fiction may turn out to be more fun than the reality."
Perth Now
a day ago
- Perth Now
Bonnie Blue eyes sex education TV series
Bonnie Blue is keen to make a sex education TV series. The 26-year-old adult entertainer recently appeared in Channel 4 documentary 1,000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story - which focused on her stunt to bed 1,057 men in 12 hours - and following the interest in the film, she wants to do more to help people improve their intimate lives. Speaking at the launch of her documentary, she told host Anna Richardson: 'Everyone wants different things, everyone has different requirements. 'I know from sleeping with thousands of people everyone wants it differently, so they [men] know not to assume that every woman wants it the same way. If they're going too fast or if they're being too rough, speak up. 'You've got a voice. Tell them you don't want it like that, tell them how you want it.' But Bonnie insisted she isn't a "world educator", simply just a performer and businesswoman. She said: 'I didn't join this industry to say, 'I want to change the world'. I'm not the world educator.' Former Naked Attraction host Anna replied: 'But in a way, you are.' Meanwhile, Bonnie has claimed she has been inundated with messages from "big celebrities" who want to sleep with her - but she's turned them all down. She told the Daily Star Sunday newspaper: 'My inbox is always busy. I get messages from big celebrities all the time. A lot of footballers and pop stars contact me. I might have had politicians too, but I wouldn't know because I couldn't name any of them. 'Celebrities message me because they think I'm going to get on my knees for them just because they're famous. But I 'Some famous singers have told me they want to meet for a social media opportunity, so I've met them. But when I've turned up, they've asked me to go to the back of the studio for sex. That's not something I entertain." However, Bonnie would be open to offers from famous men if they agreed to be filmed having sex for the footage to be made public. She said: 'If they want to make a sex tape and show their face, that's brilliant. My pants will be down. But if they want to do it behind the scenes, no chance.'
