Árstíðir – CCW, Stainach; May 6th, 2016
Stainach is one of those places that can only be referred to as ridiculously beautiful. I am sitting at the train station, looking at a snow-covered mountain with a backdrop of a blue, almost cloudless, sky, wondering if I’ve woken up in a fairy tale. Everything about this place is lovely from the people running the venue to the surroundings and while I am waiting for my train, I let last night’s Árstíðir concert run through my mind, still smiling.
Alone for the first time since Malmö, I set out from sunny, but still slightly chilly Wolfsegg in the morning on my way to the next destination. Despite beautiful, increasingly warm weather and a train ride through amazing landscapes, tour melancholia took hold of me and I spent quite some time crying. It’s tour life, it happens, it’s all OK, just something I have to work through from time to time. When I arrived in Stainach I knew I could not stay inside so I grabbed my camera and took a long walk up a hill, watching, taking pictures and slowly feeling better. Summer days and melancholia just don’t match. 😉
The venue didn’t look like much from the outside, but people were nice and I was even allowed to reserve a seat ahead of time. It was a nicely sized venue with a big stage lower than the rows of seats – perfect for taking pictures. People arrived slowly, the guys came in from having dinner, I said hello, talked to a few people, sat down, and waited.
A little after 8 pm the local venue manager announced the band, this time without mentioning that we were not allowed taking pictures. (Yay!). The guys walked on stage and started with ‘Himinhvel’. The sound was off a bit, too strong in parts, but after ‘Things you said’ it got much better. I was in tears somewhere early on, but gradually the sad mood lifted and I started smiling. By the time they sang ‘Þér ég unni’ I had fully tuned into the music and was enjoying it. ‘You just have to know of me’ made me smile and cry at the same time. It spoke volumes to me like it hasn’t in a while and somehow took me back to the very beginning. “The taste of your voice reveals what before was unknown”.
For ‘Næturylur’ Daníel did not only tell us that it used to be in English, but that the original title was ‘Struggles’ – I love it when they randomly give out bits of information I didn’t know before. 🙂 ‘Systir’ was introduced as a “song about complicated relationships”. It was another emotional moment for me before ‘Nú gleymist ég ’ ended the first set and left me smiling once again.
The guys were chatty all night and in a really good mood. They told stories or at least gave some explanation for almost every song. Before ‘Shine’ Ragnar explained about the Dutch company sending people to Mars and when he asked who wanted to go, Gunnar raised his hand. Thus, Ragnar told him the url to sign up at and he immediately picked up his phone, pretending to go there. 🙂
During the break I took a peak at the setlist and was surprised to see ‘Brestir’ on there. Really? I had not heard that it over two years and wondered what they would make of it.
They started with ‘Ró’ though, once again with Guillaume on the piano. Then Gunnar explained the connection between ‘Silfurskin’ and Russian night trains. I can totally relate, I enjoy those long night train rides too. After ‘Ljoð í sand’ and ‘Við dagsins hnig‘ Gunnar handed the baritone guitar over to Ragnar – it was time for ‘Brestir’. It looked familiar and strange at the same time to see Ragnar play guitar again. I had not expected that. Gunnar was singing and so was Guillaume. I hadn’t expected that either. They did a great job too. Gunnar unconsciously was playing air guitar throughout, which made me smile. When it was over, he explained how this song was written by Jón, who used to play the piano and that it was hard to sing. I had totally forgotten how nice it is.
‘Sunday Morning’ was great and so was ‘Shine’. Two more songs and the set was over – too soon as always. The audience loved it and yelled for more. We got ‘Góða veislu gjöra skal’ during which I actually sang along and finally ‘Heiðin’. I really wished it could have gone on a bit longer, but everything nice has to end some time, right? Still smiling I walked out, told the guys how much I had loved ‘Brestir’, hugged, chatted a bit and said goodbye. The tour is not over yet. 😀
Setlist:
Himinhvel
Things you said
Someone who cares
Á meðan jörðin sjefur
Þér ég unni
You just have to know of me
Næturylur
Orð að eigin vali
Systir
Nú gleymist ég
Ró
Silfurskin
Ljoð í sand
Við dagsins hnig
Brestir
Sunday Morning
Shine
You again
Shades
Góða veislu gjöra skal
Heiðin
Árstíðir spring tour: 15 concerts down, 5 to go, next stop: Lembach