Ragnar Ólafsson – Pan Tu Nie Stał, Łódź; April 22nd, 2023
The concert in Łódź was the perfect start to Ragnar’s April tour. It had all the right ingredients: a nice venue, an attentive audience, good vibes and a good setlist. Just the show I had hoped for.
Since my last trip to Poland had been such a disaster, I made extra sure I’d get there on time and traveled the previous day. Thus, I only had to spend three hours on a train to get to Łódź and spent a lovely afternoon there before going to the venue. Shortly after I got there, I met Marta and we chatted for a moment before she went inside.
Once they let us in, we sat on the clothing displays that had been emptied and on the floor. The store had a really nice atmosphere, with a carpet as the stage. Ewelina, who had sung with Ragnar before, said hello and we chatted for a moment as the venue filled up. There was a lot of chatter going on, but it stopped immediately when Ragnar stepped on stage to get his guitar and tune it.
Once everyone was inside, the show started with Ragnar saying hello and asking who had seen him before – surprisingly few people. He joked that he could use the same stories again then an started the show with ‘Warsaw’. Right at the beginning a dog was barking, but that was the only time we heard them. The song was brilliant as always and well received.
Next up was ‘Every Brick in Manhattan’, which made me very happy. It’s one of those songs I never get tired of. It put a big smile on my face. The gig already felt great. People were listening, the sound was great and the lights were nice too. It was time to teach us some Icelandic with “skál”, but that was the only Icelandic word we learned that evening.
Ragnar introduced himself by telling us about all the different bands he has and how he writes for his solo project when traveling, which brings him inspiration. This led us to ‘Deva’, but he left out the backstory and only mentioned he wrote it traveling down the Mississippi. It was wonderful and from time to time we looked at each other as I was singing along.
We then heard about the first album and the breakup that lead to it. Of course he had to mention democratic love songs and invited Ewelina on stage to sing ‘Dozen’ with him. She did a perfect job and we all cheered for her. It was nice to hear she’d be back.
Ragnar told us how he channels his emotions into songs and then explained how you can write your own songs for every occasion, like your own wedding or even your funeral. he has already written a wedding song for a friend and also he has written his own prayer. ‘A Prayer’ was powerful. I just love it.
Next, we moved into Icelandic songs with ‘Hugsanir’. He told us that it’s played during a montage and then explained what that is by referencing Rocky and trying to play ‘Eye of the Tiger’, but could not really remember how the song goes. 😀 ‘Hugsanir’ was perfect and we voted for another Icelandic song with ‘Örlög’. It lead to a great sing-along, where even the kids in te room took part. <3
‘Bravery’ had to be there of course, this time not accompanied by a long story. That song is always great. He kept on rocking with ‘Muddy Waters’, his first and only Blues song. A crowd pleaser for sure and so much fun. We heard about the Poland album in the making and of course it was time for ‘Łódź’, a song that made some people laugh, but they did appreciate it.
Ewelina was back for “a song about cornflakes”, i.e. ‘Petals’ 😀 Apparently the Polish words for Petals and Cornflakes are similar. It lead to a lot of laughter, especially when Ragnar compared what you can do on rose petals, but maybe should not do on cornflakes, like make love. Both of them had a little trouble getting serious again, but then sang beautifully. The last song was ‘Dragonfly’ where Marta joined them on the glockenspiel and they had a bunch of fun with it. There was even a clap along going on. 🙂
We cheered for an encore and got it with the two murder ballads. Some of us sang along to ‘Where the wild Roses grow’ and for ‘Sleep now’, Raggi only sang those two words at first, joking it was a really short song. Then he delivered it perfectly. It was just the right end to the show.
A few people came to chat, buy CDs and deliver compliments. When everyone else had left, Ewelina, Marta, Raggi and I went out for a walk and some late night food and drinks. It was a lovely evening. Let’s do it all again tomorrow.
Setlist
Warsaw
Every Brick in Manhattan
Deva
Dozen
A Prayer
Hugsanir
Örlög
Bravery
Muddy Waters
Łódź
Petals
Dragonfly
Where the wild roses grow
Sleep now