Ragnar Ólafsson – Kino za rogiem, Rzeszów; April 27th, 2023
My final show of Ragnar’s tour happened in Rzeszów and it was a good one. It was a nice venue, the gig was sold out and we had a lot of fun. In short: everything a concert needs. I was happy I’d come.
After the previous night’s party, I was happy that my train didn’t leave until noon and I could sleep late. Travel time was short, I got some food when I arrived and took a little walk around the city before I went to the venue for a pre concert tea. It was an early show and I heard some of the sound check soon after I arrived.
When they let us in from the cafe, I was surprised that the venue was upstaors, but it all made sense, considering the building wasn’t that big and the cafe took up most of the downstairs space. Anyway, I got a good seat and immediately liked the room with sofas, chairs and a small bar.
As he stepped on stage, Ragnar greeted us in Polish and did not seem as hungover as I would have expected. It was quickly established that only one person in the room spoke a little Icelandic and thus he would stick with English. Quite a few people had seen him before.
‘Warsaw’ started great, but with the last verse there was music coming from somewhere, specifically Madonna’s ‘Like Prayer’ and for some confusing moments it was unclear where it came from or how to turn it off. Then, just as he was checking out one of the speakers side stage, it suddenly stopped and Ragnar continued the song. 😀
The beautiful ‘Every Brick in Manhattan’ went by without any disturbance and we heard stories about travel and inspiration. Before ‘Deva’ he asked about the sound and it was fine, so jokes ensued about the Madonna incident. Then, however, it happened again, this time with Ragnar’s own song coming from the speaker and not the one he was currently playing. Turned out one of the hosts accidentally connected via bluetooth. Ooops. She apologized and we all laughed it off. Then he just started the song over. 🙂
Ragnar spoke about his breakup album and how selfish love songs are, especially the sad ones, because we only get one side of the story. He invited local singer Gaba on stage to help him out and she mastered ‘Dozen’ beautifully. ‘A Prayer’ was powerful as every. I loved it.
We heard about the TV series Fractures and the great music on it. ‘Hugsanir’ was the perfect example. <3 When he asked us to sing with him in Icelandic, someone replied “of course” and Ragnar told him he was a brave man. He decided not to tell us what the song was about, but think of a person that is special to us and make the song about them. That works really well for me. With everyone singing, the song came out beautifully.
Afterwards he had to ask some people in the audience to stop talking, because it was distracting. I had not heard them, but I was at a different angle to them. After the show, Ragnar told me it made him lose his stride, but I didn’t notice it. Then, he spoke a little bit about his trip across the rocky mountains and played us ‘Bravery’, which is always a crowd pleaser.
To my surprise, he continued with ‘Water’ and just started playing it without any introduction. I had not heard it on guitar in a while and loved everything about it. <3 ‘Łódź’ was next and again people claimed they didn’t like the city. Why so much hate? I actually think it’s rather nice. The song was lovely, it always is and people really appreciated it too.
‘Petals’ brought Gaba back and she handled that one very well too. It is still a highlight for me every night. ‘Dragonfly’ was the closer. With no cow or giraffe costumes this tour, but fun to watch nonetheless. Marta really gets into playing that glockenspiel. 😀
The demands for an encore were loud and the murder ballads were great. ‘Where the wild roses grow’ had some of us sing along and ‘Sleep now’ brought the usual walking around the room. Ragnar ended it sitting down in the empty chair next to me and singing the final “I love you, you’re asleep now” to me. <3 People cheered loudly after, but this time they stopped too early so no more songs. It had been a good, enjoyable last show for me.
We chatted for a while, about the tour and music in general, then I helped them pack and we said goodbye. It has been great, gee you next time. <3
Setlist
Warsaw
Every Brick in Manhattan
Deva
Dozen
A Prayer
Hugsanir
Örlög
Bravery
Water
Łódź
Petals
Dragonfly
Where the wild roses grow
Sleep now