Árstíðir – Theater am Spittelberg, Wien; November 23rd, 2023

Árstíðir’s concert in Vienna was a truly special one. It was part of “Voicemania”, an a cappella festival and therefore, they had to adapt the setlist. They still played Blik songs, but also added a lot of acoustic and a cappella numbers that they had not played on this tour so far. It turned out to be the perfect mix and pure joy for me. ❤️

I had traveled to Vienna the previous day and arrived in the evening. After drinks with my friend S. and a good night’s sleep, I met with Raggi for a late breakfast. We had a great time and a good talk, before he had to leave for rehearsal. Me, I went shopping, go food and relaxed a bit before going to the theater. When I arrived there as already one person in line, waiting for tickets and I passed the time chatting with him and the people who arrived after me. There was a Christmas market in the area so I got some Punsch and watched Gunnar, Daníel and Jean-Samuel go out for Glühwein before the show. They let us in early and I got a nice spot in front of the stage, curious what the evening would bring.

We cheered loudly after someone from the theater announced them and the band walked on stage smiling. It was a nice setup, where they were surrounded by the audience on three sides of the stage and had turned Gunnar’s and Ragnar’s keyboards outwards to accommodate for that. 🙂 The show started with ‘Himinhvel’ and it sounded great. I already liked it. When they continued with ‘Ljóð í sand’ an unexpected wave of nostalgia and old memories hit me and made me cry. It was beautiful.

Next up was a short Blik section with the fun ‘Bringing back the Feel’ and a great version of ‘Figure’. I enjoyed watching Guillaume, knowing this was his last show on the tour. Ragnar talked about writing songs in English and Icelandic, introducing ‘Glitsky’, for which they went “back to basics with three voices and a guitar”. It sounded wonderful in the room, very delicate. The had already gathered around the double microphone and stayed there for ‘Bæn einstæðingsins’ – for the first time in a long time, Gunnar told the story about the lyrics written by a hermit. It was really moving, and the audience loved it, cheering loudly.

Giving us an example of a traditional Icelandic composition, they sang ‘Krummavísur’ and explained how they had sang like this for centuries. Guiallaume and Jean-Samuel joined them for ‘Ísland farsældafrón’. I really enjoyed the a cappella songs – I love it when they show off how well they can sing. Daníel announced they were going to dedicated the next song to Glühwein, because it was a popular Christmas song, which had everyone laughing. Gunnar added “and to Christmas markets”, telling us the title means “the party comes to your house”. It was ‘Hatið fer að höndum ein’ and a lovely surprise.

The band returned to their instruments for a soft, yet powerful version of ‘Nú gleymist ég’ 🙂 We learned that they had played at the same theater the last time after the release of Svefns og vöku skil. No wonder I had never seen them there. It was just before I joined the circus. They told us we would now see the range of what they had to offer with two much rockier songs. ‘Sanity’, the song that, according to some, sounds like Vikings chanting and ‘Friðþægingin’ concluded the first set. It had been great fun so far.

Returning from the break, Daníel, Gunnar and Ragnar gathered around the double microphone once again, talking about their early days and how they had covered the bands that inspired them. We got to hear a lovely version of ‘Með hallandi höfði’. I have always enjoyed that song and was happy to hear it again. ‘Kill us’ followed and they asked the string players to help them out for the next few songs. First was the beautiful ‘Land míns föður’, for which Guillaume and Jean-Samuel needed the lyrics, but did a brilliant job nonetheless. ‘Heyr hymna smiður’ was next and performed beautifully, but the highlight for me was ‘And so it goes’. It was so gorgeous, it brought tears to my eyes. I fully understand why the band likes the arrangement by The King’s Singers so much. That song alone was worth the trip to Vienna.

‘While this Way’ brought back the instruments and once more, I really felt it. For the end of the second set we returned to Blik for a while with ‘Home’ and ‘Kirin’. Then ‘Seven Years’ and I was routing for them to get it right – they did! Yes! It is such a fun song, especially when it works. 😉 Of course, they closed the sow with ‘Shades’ and the “awwww” for the last song was loud! It was fantastic to watch them rock out. As Gunnar put it “It’s fine to have some constants in life”.

Cheering them back to the stage, I wondered what they would play now and they sang ‘Góða veislu gjöra skal’ for us. That song had not made an appearance so far and I loved it. Then the string players got the last word with ‘Things you said’ and I made sure to focus on Guillaume one last time. They all got their well deserved applause and I as a little set it was over. What an  amazing evening that had been.

Afterwards I talked to Gunni for a while and he asked me if his was better than the more electronic/arranged/full band stuff, because he noticed just how much people loved the a cappella pieces. I told him that I think it is what many people like, but for me personally, I cannot say that one is better than the other and that I love how they change all the time.  I spoke briefly with Jean-Samuel and Daníel, admired a Blik cake someone had brought for the band, said goodbye to Guillaume and thanked Ragnar for the show and the day. There were a few hugs and then I was the last one to leave. Luckily I will get a few more shows.

Setlist

Himinhvel
Ljóð í sand
Bringing back the Feel
Figure
Glitsky
Bæn einstæðingsins
Krummavísur
Ísland farsældafrón
Hatið fer að höndum ein
Nú gleymist ég
Sanity
Friðþægingin

Með hallandi höfði
Kill Us
Land míns föður
Heyr hymna smiður
And so it goes
While this Way
Home
Kirin
Seven Years
Shades

Góða veislu gjöra skal
Things you said