Myrra Rós – Dreikönigskirche, Dresden; May 30th, 2014
When Myrra Rós’ tourdates were announced I thought I was not going to see her live, because none of the concerts were even remotely in my area and I cannot travel across Germany for everyone. Then I bought a ticket to see Robbie Williams in Berlin and while Dresden is not exactly on the way, it was actually cheaper to take a detour on the way home than traveling straight from Berlin back to Dortmund. Thus, instead of opting for a weekend in Berlin, a trip to Dresden it was. It turned out to be a good decision.
Since the trip from Berlin was a short one I had some time for sightseeing in the city and managed to see the most famous buildings at least. The weather felt very Icelandic though. It quickly changed back and forth between sunshine and warm enough for a T-shirt and rainy and cold…
Assuming they’d let us in about an hour before the concert, I was at the church at 7 pm and was in for a 45 minute wait. Didn’t feel like talking to anyone so I spent the time outside – the accumulated lack of sleep from the past week was taking its toll and I really hoped the music would wake me up. Once inside I took a good look around. Not only does this venue have great acoustics, but it is also quite beautiful. The perfect setting for a quiet concert.
The stage was set with two microphones, a harmonium and two guitar cases – all an indication that Myrra would not be playing alone that night. At first, however, she was on her own, greeted us almost shyly and played songs not only from her album ‘Kveldúlfur’, but also a few others. he light and the surrounding created an intimate atmosphere and even though the church was nicely filled, it felt like a tiny room and was so quiet that one could have heard a pin drop.
Every song was really beautiful and Myrra’s voice could be clearly heard everywhere. The acoustics were amazing, which also meant the soundguy was doing a great job. Before ‘Láru lag’ she explained that her daughter now pretends to not like the song any more, but plays it to everyone at school. During ‘animal’ I unexpectedly choked up – this song just strikes a chord with me. It was nice to hear more songs than the ones she had played on the tour last September. She even played one she had not performed in a while and quite a few I had not heard live before. 🙂
Among the songs that were not from her album, she played a cover song by Ane Brun. She shared a cute story about seeing Ane at Copenhagen airport and being to shy to talk to her so she called her husband instead and told him all about it. 🙂 The cutest part was that she first said “my boyfriend” and hen explained that she had not gotten used to saying “my husband” yet because they had only recently got married.
Myrra shared a bit of information about every song before she played it, sometimes only explaining what the title means, sometimes telling us little stories. During the last song of her first set a strange noise was coming from outside and Myrra could not help laughing which was so contagious that many others cracked up too. She also mimicked the strange outside noise. I still have no idea what it was, but it was all very funny.
After the break Myrra came back out saying she got a request. Someone had remembered ‘Sail on’ from the concert she had played with Árstíðir the previous September. Once again she asked us to sing along and once again it sounded amazing. <3 after the second song she asked her husband Julius and is brother Egill on stage with her. Together with two others they form the band Var and performed some of their songs.
They played mostly songs in Icelandic, but one or two in English as well. The music was a bit louder than Myrra’s solo songs with more variety in instrumentation. I loved the sound of the harmonium mixed with guitar and the harmony singing. It was nice watching them interact too, sharing smiles and gestures all the time. I enjoyed it very much and it seemed everyone else in the audience agreed with me.
When they ended, great cheers called them back to the stage. Myrra performed one more song with Julius and then ended the concert with a new solo song called ‘Brothers’. If people’s reactions are anything to go by, they will certainly be invited back. Quite a few bought CDs and went for a chat. Before I left, I briefly talked to Myrra as well and picket up a Var CD. She told me they sound different as a full band. Can’t wait to hear that. All in all it was a lovely evening