Ragnar Ólafsson – Cafe Szafe, Kraków; April 26th, 2023
Concerts in Kraków are always good, no matter where they happen and Cafe Szafe is one of my favorite venues there. It didn’t disappoint. The show was a lot of fun and the audience the best on this tour yet.
I had traveled to Kraków the previous day, enjoying a break in the tour. There had been a concert that night, but it was so in the middle of nowhere that I didn’t even try getting there. As I sat in the Cafe, waiting for the show, Raggi came by for a chat and told me I didn’t miss anything. 😉 I also learned that Jaga, who was supposed to be the support had canceled because she was ill. 🙁
Scored my usual seat at the front and waited as the place filled up. I already had a good feeling about it.
Raggi started with asking us who had seen him before and then told us how hungover he was, because they had celebrated the release of his latest single. 😀 ‘Warsaw’ was the perfect first song then, as it allows him to use his baritone voice and that’s easier when hungover (or so he has told me). Either way, it was beautiful. I like the song better every time I hear it.
Right away, he started whistling and played ‘Every Brick in Manhattan’ with me singing along every word. It’s such a good story. 🙂 Before ‘Deva’ we got a bit of an introduction to his music and how he approaches writing. I quite liked the image of sitting on a boat that he conjured before starting the song. It is still just as powerful as it was the first time I heard it.
Since Jaga was not available, Marta had to sing with Raggi on ‘Dozen’ and she did so wonderfully. Before she started she said that she does a lot of thigs, but singing is not one of them and Raggi had to add everything she is to him “tour manager, dominatrix,…” 😀
A great rendition ‘A Prayer’ followed, then ‘Hugsanir’. I loved both. He didn’t even aks if we wanted more Icelandic songs and just said he was going to play one more. The sing-along for ‘Örlög’ worked just fine. Any audience that gives it a try sounds really good doing it. <3
‘Bravery’ was great and afterwards Raggi decided to make use of the old piano, pointed the mic in the general direction and played a beautiful version of ‘Water’. <3 To lighten the mood, we got ‘Muddy Waters’ after and that was fun as always.
When he mentioned he might write a song in Kraków, someone quipped “it will be your masterpiece”. He spoke about Łódź and predicted it will be the coolest city in Poland in ten years, before playing us his love song to the city. The set ended with ‘Dragonfly’ of course and Marta was back with the glockenspiel. It is so much fun watching them play together. 🙂 They ended the song with a kiss. I almost said “awww” out loud.
As instructed we cheered “Ragnar, Ragnar!” and clapped loudly to get him back to the stage and he gladly obliged, playing first ‘Where the wild Roses grow’ and then ‘Sleep now’. He walked around the room and came back to the stage for the last verse, singing the final line to me and together with me. Turns out, smiling and singing at the same time is possible. 😀
We did not want to let him go and cheered a lot more until he caved and came back one more time to play the second cover song of the evening with ‘Hero’, complete with a story about imagining Enrique, naked and sweating, trying to come up with lines for the song. It was hilarious and the perfect ending to the show.
There was a lot of chatting afterwards, as many friends had come to the show. S. and O., whom I had met in Reykjavik during airwaves, invited me to the after party at their place and we sat in the kitchen together talking until 2 am, when it was bedtime for me. What a great night.
Setlist
Warsaw
Every Brick in Manhattan
Deva
Dozen
A Prayer
Hugsanir
Örlög
Bravery
Water
Muddy Waters
Łódź
Dragonfly
Where the wild roses grow
Sleep now
Hero