Árstíðir – Lutherse Kerk, Masstricht; December 15th, 2018
Maastricht was the first stop on the Netherlands part of Árstíðir’s Christmas tour and brought us to a lovely small church with good reverb that was perfect for the a cappella songs. The concert was part of Fluid Festival, but didn’t draw as many people as I’d hoped it would. hose, who made it there in the early afternoon were in for a treat, musically and otherwise. It was a good show, where especialy the acoustic part in the beginning and the softer songs sounded gorgeous.
In just two days, the guys played four concerts in th Netherlands, one each afternoon and one each evening in different cities. For them, it meant a lot of driving, for me it meant having to decide, because it was impossible to attend all four shows while using public transport. Thus, I settled for three, two on Saturday and one on Sunday. Maastricht was my first stop and because getting there meant changing trains several times, I had an early start, just to make sure to be there on time. Of course everything went unexpectedly smooth and I got there around ten with two hours to kill before the concert.
Walked around the city a bit, arrived at the church before they even opened, but was allowed to wait inside. Said hello to the guys, was offered tea and got to hear the soundcheck. I had a good feeling about this, because from where I stood, the acoustics were perfect. They could have probably played an unplugged concert there. More people arrived, they let us in and I picked a spot on the side, because I wanted to film the show and did not want to be in anyone’s way. There were some pews in a separate compartment so to speak and I was allowed to go in here with my camera. To late I realized that it wasn’t a great idea, because the wooden floor was squeaky and I could not take one step without making a noise. 🙁 Also the speaker on that side was a bit too close so the sound I got was uneven at times. That was due to my position in the room though. As I’d heard during soundcheck it was well balanced elsewhere.
It all started with someone from the festival announcing the guys, which led everyone in the room to calm down and pay attention. Daníel, Gunnar and Ragnar walked on stage, gathered around a single microphone and started with ‘Shchedryk’. The sound rose higher and higher towards the church ceiling and was bouncing back from there so it felt like being completely surrounded by music. I held my breath for a moment, closed my eyes and listened with all of my being. That is the magic of concerts in churches – the acoustics are always wonderful. <3
Ragnar explained how they had their tenth band anniversary this year and would play us songs from all these years as a band. “Ages ago in our fantasy world…” – I have always loved the lyrics to this song and while there was a time when it didn’t speak to me so much any more it has recently gotten new meaning somehow, as I’ve become reacquainted with it during this tour. I don’t even remember if they’ve played this at the first concert I ever attended, but I’ve heard it any times and I still think it’s beautiful. 🙂 Gunnar told us how they’d been surprised by the success of ‘Með hallandi höfði’ that was never even meant to be played on the radio. It may not have been they introduction to the band they had hoped for, but it certainly is a good example of what they do and how well they master harmony singing. Of course it is only a small sample of their talent, but an important one.
After asking Jean-Samuel and Guillaume to join them on stage, ‘Ljoð í sand’ was introduced with mentioning Iceland’s black beaches and ‘Someone who cares’ followed right after. Both songs have especially beautiful string parts that I enjoy. During ‘Scarborough Fair / Canticle’ I tried to sing along with all three of the guys which is impossible, because the two songs are partly sung at the same time. So I sang parts of each song. 🙂 After ‘Passion’, we hear about how dark Icelandic music often is, even the Christmas songs and a great rendition of ‘Jólabæn einstæðingsins’ followed. The song was perfect for this setting.
Gunnar joked about how they like to mess with their none-Icelandic speaking audience by making songtitles as complicated as possible and ‘Þar sem enginn fer’ just being one example. I’ve loved the song from the first time I’ve heard it and it has only grown on me since. It has so much power live that I can’t help but smile every time they play it. ‘While this way’, the song I adore most on ‘Nivais’ was next. I love every line and every note and each time I close my eyes while listening to it, the images of the wonderful video appear in front of my eyes. This is truly a masterpiece. <3
To my surprised they did not take a break this time, but gathered around one microphone again for ‘Hátið fer að höndum ein’. Only Jean-Samuel, who had just recently joined the tour, did not sing with them. I always like having Guillaume’s voice in the mix and they all sounded great. Between ‘Mute’ and ‘entangled’ Daníel mentioned how they had lived in the Netherlands for a months in 2016 and drove lots of roads every day when they toured with Anneke van Giersbergen. He then wondered if he said her last name right and then Ragnar gave it a try as well, saying it a bit differently. Nobody corrected either of them so it must have been OK I guess. 😉 Daníel talked a bit more about everything they had enjoyed on that tour and left it to Gunnar to introduce ‘Entangled’. It always makes me nod and smile knowingly. Me and everyone else in the room, because most people seem to have experienced thinking of a loved one and then hearing from them or something similar. With the backstory the song becomes even better. 🙂
‘You again’ followed and afterwards we hear a bit about Toppstöðin and how it gave ‘Hvel’ a bit of an industrial feel. It fits, the old power plant sure has a special atmosphere that can be seen and felt in the video to ‘Things you said’. From the suddenly ending strings in that song the music smoothly transitioned to the first piano notes in ‘Nú gleymist ég’. This song has held a special place in my heart for a long time. The music feels exciting and somehow soothing at the same time, filling my head with many images. <3 When Daníel said they were down to their last sing nobody reacted so he had to prompt us to say “oooooh”. 😀 ‘Shades’ did its magic though and everyone clapped loudly for more. As the guys walked back to the stage they went right past, all except for Jean-Samuel high-fived me. 😀 They did us the favor and played ‘Heyr hymna smiður’ and even added ‘Góða veislu gjöra skal’. That ended the concert on a high note. We tried hard to get them to play one more song, but that was definitely it. 🙂
I stayed to chat for a while, talked with Gunnar about the upcoming tour, said hello to Robbin and spoke to Ragnar and Guillaume about how I’d liked the concert. Went and took a closer look at Daníel’s setlist too. I’d thought about stealing it, but then I saw that he had written “Don’t steal my setlist” on there, so I wanted to take a pictures and see what else was written on there. It read “That will make me very sad. I will have nightmares and it is you to blame.” It made me laugh and kept me from taking it. Joked about it with Daníel though and he said I could have it after the final gig. I wasn’t planning to go there so he offered to send it to me <3 and I suggested bringing it to the Christmas concert in Reykjavik instead. He promised he would. Eventually I said goodbye and made my way to the train station to travel onwards to the second concert of the day….
Setlist
Shchedryk (Carol of the bells)
Ages
Með hallandi höfði
Ljoð í sand
Someone who cares
Scarborough Fair / Canticle
Passion
Jólabæn einstæðingsins
Þar sem enginn fer
While this Way
Hátið fer að höndum ein
Mute
Entangled
You again
Things you said
Nú gleymist ég
Shades
Heyr hymna smiður
Góða veislu gjöra skal
Àrstíðir European Christmas tour: Five gigs down, two to go. Next stop: Arnhem