Árstíðir – Powiatowe Centrum, Wolomin; April 30th, 2014
After a day off in Broumov, I took the night train to Warsaw. Arriving in the morning gave me a lot of time for sightseeing. It was a beautiful spring day that I spent walking and people watching in a park. In the afternoon I took a train to Wolomin and went looking for the venue. The location wasn’t so hard to find, but at first I didn’t know which building to enter. Luckily one of the guys working there took me directly to Masha and the local organizer. We checked out the museum for a while, then went into the hall where the guys were soundchecking. I hadn’t even planned sticking around, but when they played a new song, I knew I could not leave. <3 It was very beautiful and I told them how much I liked it. Later I learned the working title is ‘Kings of Giersbergen’.
Spent the waiting time editing pictures and found a seat at the front when people started coming in. The venue was a nice size and filled up soon. Since it was the only concert in Poland, some people had traveled far to be there. In this fandom, there are still not so many fans who travel for the band, but they are growing in numbers all the time and I keep seeing the same faces. It makes me happy to see that happen. 🙂
The guys were greeted with loud cheers and started with two older songs before playing the first new one. I realized how lucky I was to have seen them so many times that even the newer songs are already quite familiar to me. I love having them in the mix and look forward to them every time, especially because they are still changing and I’m curious how they will sound the next time around. For most people there, however, these songs were brand new. Therefore the audience did not react to “Kings of Giersbergen” any differently than to “The Cannon” or “Shine”. “Ró”, better known via the Kickstarter campaign got a stronger positive reaction than the other new ones. Personally I love hearing songs I have never heard before, but of course I have favorites too, just like everyone else. The right mixture is important and this was a night where it was pretty much perfect. 🙂
I loved the sound at the venue – it was crisp and clear, every instrument was distinguishable in the mix without sticking out too much. When the music sounds like this I want to close my eyes and just listen, drifting off into a dream world. In-between taking pictures it happened and the music carried me. 🙂 The guys clearly fed off the appreciative audience. They were a bit tired before the gig and Gunnar even had a bad cold, but none of that was noticeable as they played. All the energy they had they poured into the music and made the concerts a beautiful one. The somewhat plain surroundings of the concert hall disappeared and new worlds were created. Everyone there was a witness to magic happening.
Unlike the other full-length concerts this tour, there was no break this time around. Consequently the guys didn’t play ‘Siðasta Kveðjan’ this time. I remembered someone asking for it on Facebook and briefly felt sorry for the person missing the song. Yet it was an amazing concert either way with great renditions of all the songs and a few jokes on the side. Apart from ‘Kings of Giersbergen’, ‘Eris’ and ‘Ro’ stood out among the new songs. The old ones were especially good that night too, as if the guys had just rediscovered playing them. Before ‘Á meðan jörðin sjefur’ Karl joked that “the last time I played this song I was skinnier and better looking and I played the piano” – the only hint on this tour that the band had changed. A good thing I believe. People can see they are a four (plus one) man band now and anything else is not important.
The next to last songs in the main were ‘Shades’ into ‘Tárin’ as often, but this night was the first time in a long time that I loved both songs with all my heart. It was a wonderful rendition, especially of ‘Tárin’, just when I thought it might be better to retire the song. After hearing this, I gladly admitted being wrong in thinking about it. After the last calm sounds of ‘Tárin’ had rung out, the powerful ‘Kill us’ brought the house down. The audience would not stop clapping and of course the guys came back for an encore. Even after these last two songs people still wanted more, but that was it.
Setlist:
Heiðin
Látum okkur sjá
The Cannon
Orð að eigin vali
Eris
Ljoð í sand
You just have to know of me
Ró
Someone who cares (formerly known as “Kings of GIersbergen”)
Days and Nights
Moonlight
Shine
Á meðan jörðin sjefur
Shades
Tárin
Kill us
Nú gleymist ég
Góða veislu gjöra skal
When the band came out to sign autographs, it seemed as if everyone who had been in the audience lined up to have a few words with the guys. They gladly complied and after everyone was gone remarked how appreciative the audience had been. Yes, you should go there more often. This time around there was no night out at the bar planned, because they had a radio interview to do. Thus, it was time to say goodbye until the next concert. See you tomorrow….
Árstíðir spring tour: 6 concerts down, 2 to go. Next stop: Ostrava