Árstíðir & Kyle Woolard – Kulturzentrum Dieselstraße, Esslingen; April 23rd, 2016
The first word that comes to mind when I think back on the Árstíðir concert in Esslingen is “weird”, but then I find it difficult to pinpoint why. The venue felt somewhat sterile, the lights were somewhat boring and the sound was somewhat flat. So, not the best conditions for a concert. Also I was not in the best of conditions to listen to one since I was still tired from the sleepless night I’d had in Stuttgart. Thus, this concert was hard for me to get into. Luckily I had K. by my side and she loved it. Overall it was a solid show, but not a special one.
There wasn’t much I remembered about the venue in Esslingen, other than its somewhat remote location. At least the last time around it had been a long walk from our hotel to get there. It didn’t seem so bad this time around and I got there way too early. Even seeing the building and walking in it still didn’t seem familiar. Guess I have just been to too many different venues to remember them all. 😉 Chatted with Masha and A., waited for K. who had promised to come, finally walked inside and kept a seat for K. just in case.Right next to me there was an empty seat with a sign “Sorry, this seat is taken” – there must have been a ghost sitting there, because nobody showed up.
Kyle played a good set, telling stories, getting some of us to sing along. I had the feeling the audience liked him, but apparently not everyone did. Afterwards he mentioned someone expressing their disappointment with him not being Icelandic. Anyway, I certainly had enjoyed it. When K: finally showed up, telling us she got out at the wrong stop, Kyle proceeded to tell her what she had missed, claiming he had stage dived in the end among other things. We had much fun exaggerating. 😀
Setlist:
Blurry
Minnesota Part 1
Patagonia
Ecuador
Fools rush in
Occupy Anchorage
Vancouver
We walked back in and K. was happy I had kept a seat for her. When the guys started playing I had some trouble getting into it. After the fun and relaxed feeling in Stuttgart this seemed a bit anti-climatic. K. was fully into it though and seeing her enjoying the show made it all worthwhile. She was just happy to be there among a bigger audience than in Stuttgart and with better sound. She told me it was amazing and brought a smile to my face. It reminded me of being at my first Árstíðir concert. 🙂
The guys played well, but it seemed to me they were not feeling it. That might have been my imagination and projection though. Seeing so many shows I notice subtle differences and while they are always professional and always deliver a good concert, their mood changes just like mine, and this night it seemed tougher to get the energy flowing between stage and audience. Either way, I loved seeing them, watching them work.
There were no surprises in the setlist, but no technical difficulties either. I love it when they change things around, add new songs, try something they have not tried before (or at least not on the current tour). Yet this night was not one for experiments, just a regular show. Surely amazing for people who don’t see them regularly and still enjoyable for me. There are songs I can never get enough of, no matter how many times I hear them and as long as a few of those are on the setlist I will always like the concert. Just being there makes me happy. 🙂
After the gig K. and I spent some time chatting with the guys and it turned out they had partied hard the previous night – small wonder they seemed so tired. After K. had to leave I still hung out with A. and a few other fans staying too. For fun, the guys started drawing on their poster giving themselves and the others new haircuts and such. They ended up taking pictures and uploading the pictures to their Facebook profiles. 😀 It was fun, but eventually I needed some sleep and said goodbye. Until next time.
Setlist:
Himinhvel
Things you said
Someone who cares
Moonlight
Við dagsins hnig
Shine
Ljoð í sand
Á meðan jörðin sjefur
Þér ég unni
Nú gleymist ég
Silfurskin
Systir
You again
Shades
Ages
Góða veislu gjöra skal
Árstíðir spring tour: 6 concerts down, 14 to go, next stop: Erlangen