Árstíðir – Dreikönigskirche, Dresden; September 20th, 2013
Four photo cameras, two tripods, one microphone recorder and a few enthusiastic people with a crazy idea is all it takes to film a concert. Right? Well, that’s what we figured anyway and I think we might have gotten it all on SD cards too. I personally spent the night filming each song individually with the camera I was holding. Everything that follows now is out of my hands.
All this started in Neustadt, when Ragnar asked me if I could film one song that night. He had brought a camera too. Thus I tried my luck at filming there. He told me later he was thinking about filming a complete concert and Dresden was gonna be the one. For all the ones that followed I used my own camera to get a feel for it and spent the time planning how to do it in Dresden. It was down to Linda and me to do the filming, each one of us having one camera on a tripod and holding another one. Good thing I had a front row ticket for that night so there was a seat I could use. My tripod was a few rows behind me where I had to keep checking, because more than 30 minutes of continuous filming is not possible on that camera. Ragnar brought a microphone to record the sound that we attached to the tripod with duct tape. Other than that I had a setlist with the important songs circled and planned out which songs I would use to move to the tripod and reset the camera. Linda took care of the one mounted up on the balcony. We got a lot of material, I just hope it is good enough to make something of it.
The concert did not start until 8 but I’d been there since soundcheck, planning, fiddling with camera settings, being nervous because I don’t know jack about filming. I absolutely wanted to do this right. The nice part about all this was that I got to hang out with the band and watch them prepare for the concert. <3
Doors opened at 7:45, Myrra was on at 8. As soon as she walked on stage everyone went quiet. For a brife moment she looked a little lost there, facing the big church, but as soon as she started singing she filled the room with her voice. We shared a smile, it sounded beautifully. The audience welcomed her, listening intently. I found myself singing the words along with ‘Insomniac’ and ‘Animal’ as well as I could.
For ‘Sail on’ she asked us to sing along – no venue could have been suited better for the resulting choir, it was magnificent. I soon regretted not filming that. After that she asked Jón, Hallgrímur and Karl to join her on stage for the last two songs. I walked up to the tripod and pressed the “record” button. The show was on the road. Like every night, Myrra’s set ended in great applause. Like every night it made me happy to see and hear all that.
Setlist:
Insomniac
Animal
Kveldúlfur
Sail on
Við og við tvö
Láru lag
During the break I had a little debate with the concert’s organizer who assumed that he could just give my seat to someone else, because surely as the photographer I could not have paid for it. He was quite surprised when he saw my ticket. Sorry, I am staying right here.
Soon everyone returned to their seats. The guys walked out and I restarted the camera. Game on! They started their set with ‘Heidin’ and it sounded so good. 😀 Sometimes I think they should only play in churches. As much as I love small clubs, it just adds an extra layer of awesome when they play at a venue with naturally great acoustics.
Still nervous I did my best to capture each individual song on my SD card and always film wherever the action was. It worked OK, but I sometimes had trouble with the picture being out of focus, didn’t always frame right and twice apparently forgot to press the “record” button altogether. Sadly, one of those times was during the final encore and I didn’t even notice until I later checked the movies on my camera. 🙁
Despite concentrating on filming, I still managed to enjoy the concert and marvel at the beauty of it all. The mood was happier than the previous day and the usual banter took place, with jokes about not translating and long explanations of a cappella songs. Watching the guys was so much fun, the venue truly inspired them and the audience appreciated it.
With the setlist at my guide, I regularly checked the camera on the tripod, so I’d get a complete recording of the show. From time to time I looked up at the one we had taped to the railing at the gallery, but could not tell if it was filming or not. Either way this really got me interesting in doing something like this more professionally some other time. Learning to film would make an interesting new challenge.
The show felt longer than usual, because I had to concentrate so much, yet it was over way too soon. The audience clearly loved it and formed long lines at the merchandise table. I hung out, giddy-happy, talking to the guys, stealing hugs from Jón, who told me I had to get in line if I wanted one. <3 It was a good night, everyone in high spirits. 🙂
Setlist
Heiðin
Á meðan jörðin sefur
Ages
Orð að eigin vali
Brestir
þér ég unni
Day and Nights
Við dagsins hnig
Ljoð í Sand
You just have to know of me
Land mins föður
Júli lag
Heyr himna smiður
Nú gleymist ég
Shades/Tárin
Encore:
And so it goes
Góða veislu gjöra skal
Eventually we packed our stuff and left, agreeing to meet at a bar later. We did and it was a night of good conversations. I managed to make it home around 3, knowing I would not get much sleep as t was. What a lovely day, I wondered what the next one would bring. 🙂
Árstíðir Germany tour fall 2013 – 7 concert down, 4 to go. Next stop: Marienberg