Anneke van Giersbergen & Árstíðir – De Oosterport, Groningen; March 13th, 2016
Ever since it became a huge youTube hit, I have a love-hate relationship with ‘Heyr, Himna Smiður’. Don’t get me wrong, the song is beautiful and being there when said video was recorded was very special, but there are days when it annoys me to no end that some people act as if this was all Árstíðir are about and don’t even realize how amazing their own songs are. Thus, I sometimes feel the song has been overplayed and should be put to rest, but the guys won’t listen to me in this case, which is probably a good thing. 😉 Anyway, last night’s performance of ‘Heyr, Himna Smiður’ was so beautiful it made me forget my surroundings and brought tears to my eyes. I tip my nonexistent hat to Anneke and the guys for this performance. Kudos, well done!
The day had started with sunshine, clear blue skies and my morning workout in Uden before I moved on toward Groningen. It was colder there, but still nice weather and I spent some time walking around before checking out the venue. Since it was still too early, I had dinner first and returned later, ran into a few people who remembered me from Bordesholm, waited, got a spot in front row, slightly to the left – perfect. They let us in early so it took a while before the concert started. Time to think about the tour so far and how wonderful it has been.
Before I set out on this tour there had been quite a few doubts in my mind, because this type of music generally does not move me much and I had seen the guys so many times in the past three years I felt I might need a break to make everything feel new and fresh again. Little did I know that this tour would turn out to be the perfect break, because it is so vastly different from everything else I have heard them do. Within 12 days and four concerts the guys, with a “little” help from Anneke managed to completely restore my faith and made me feel at home like I had not in a while. 🙂
This evening was no exception, bringing us beautiful music and lots of charming chatter. The more I hear it, the more Dutch I seem to understand. Anneke’s stories are never completely the same, but the essence is and by now I can follow most of them. The more I understand, the more I get to laugh too – most of them are quite amusing. 🙂 I might be getting better at pronouncing the Icelandic words too, when it comes to the part of the show where the guys teach us something. Interestingly enough, Guillaume, the only band member who does not live in Iceland, chooses a new word almost every day. When I mentioned that to him after the show he said he likes to keep it interesting for people like me who see multiple concerts. <3
With every concert the songs become more familiar to me and I can hear the differences in playing and singing every night. Some were instant favorites, some grew on me slowly, some still do not really speak to me. Yet, each night is different and so are the songs that stand out and what went by almost unnoticed one night may suddenly stand out on another one, leading to goose bumps or unexpected tears. Like ‘Heyr, Himna Smiður’ did this time around. Of course I enjoyed the entire evening from the first note of ‘Solveig’s Song’ to the last one of ‘Pavane’. The setlist fits perfectly.
Anneke talked even more than usual and the banter between her and the guys is always fun to listen to. She had a cold and kept sipping tea, but her singing was still perfect. 🙂 As far as the playing goes, it gets a little more smoothly every night, with occasional small bumps in he road. It is always very enjoyable and watching them on stage makes it clear how much everyone enjoys this collaboration. The audience loved it too and gave standing ovations at the end of he night. Knowing how hard they worked on this album, it makes me happy to see this reaction and I’m truly grateful to be able to witness this. 🙂
Setlist
Solveig’s Song
Everwake
Russian Lullaby
Het Dorp
A Simple Song
Þér ég unni
Shades
Circles
Four years
Londonderry Air (Danny Boy)
When I am laid in earth
Lost in you
Leaves
Bist Du bei mir
Heyr, Himna Smiður
Pavane
Verloren, Verleden tour: 5 concerts down, 7 to go. Next stop: Leeuwarden