Great sound, Christmassy vibes and a surprise setlist change

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Árstíðir – Klub Akademicki ARKA, Krakow; December 9th, 2024

Árstíðir’s show in Krakow was my favorite one yet and all because they made a small change to the setlist. I loved it before that, but until then Brno was still the top one. Lovely club, nice audience, great vibes overall – perfect concert.

It was an easy trip to Krakow and when I arrived, I even had some time to relax at my hotel. First I checked the shortest route to the train station though – I would need it in the morning. Was happy to find out that it took five minutes to get from my room to the platform. 🙂 Left for the venue around 17:00  to get there an hour before the doors opened. Was a bit confused when I got there, because, while my ticket and the poster on the door said the concert would start at 19:00, a sign said 20:00 – WHAT? Doors were closed, but luckily Jean_Samuel came out for a smoke and let me in. Someone had already ben sitting there and we’d met before at a Krakow concert, so we spent some time chatting. Then went up to the bar, which was in the same room as the concert. We could order drinks and were allowed to stay. Nobody ever checked our tickets. Oh, and the concert started at 19:00 after all.

The stage looked lovely, with Christmassy lights at the back and I reserved a seat for myself at the front. Said hello to A. and Marta, chatted for a while and eventually it was time for the show to start. The guy walked on stage and I was surprised when Ragnar sat down at the piano. Had they changed the setlist. Nope, turns out he had momentarily forgotten that they started with a cappella song and only realized it when the others called him over. 😀

‘Grafskrift’ sounded wonderful as ever and I was into it from the first moment – no distraction this time. I just love watching them perform so much and this time I looked at the little details like how each of them held their hands while singing. <3 Ragnar greeted us, in Polish and English, introduced Guillaume and Jean-Samuel right away, then told us about the new album. We got an amazing version of ‘Ljóð í sand’ and an equally great one of ‘Nú gleymist ég’. I really loved every minute of it, singing along as much as i could.

Ragnar spoke about their obsession with the weather and seasons and the influence they have on their music, hence the bandname. With ‘Hvenær kemur sól’ we had finally arrived in winter, waiting for the sun to come back. It sounded fantastic too. <3 The first Christmas song of the night was ‘Allt er hjlótt’ of course, but Ragnar joked they were going to play ‘Last Christmas’. I was never so happy that they wrote their own Christmas song. 😉 It is such a great song too, really fits the season.

Ragnar introduced the a capella songs and suddenly the sound from his mic was gone, so he tapped it and said “raz, raz” (Polish for one). I laughed, because I remembered him making that joke at his solo concerts. He then asked if we knew what the word means in Icelandic. As Gunnar shook his head, he continued “we’ll tell you after the show. The people, who just laughed know what it means”. 😀 Then he mentioned how it had taken them 11 years to finally record the album people had been asking for since singing a song at the trains station in Wuppertal.

‘Heyr himna smiður’ sounded so good. I have always had a love/hate relationship with this song, but right now I fall on the side of love. They have really made it their own. <3 We then learned that most of the songs they sing on the Vetrarsól album are arranged for mixed choirs, but for one song Daníel called the composed “and said What’s up?” – that lead to jokes of Icelanders talking a lot of slang, before we gor the lovely ‘Ljósfaðir’. It has quickly become a favorite of mine. *sigh*

Ragnar tried some more Polish and spoke about how music transcends language and you can feel what they are singing about, even f you don’t understand. True. ‘Heiðin’ followed, then the “title track of our 2021 album Pendull”, ‘Lifsins Pendúll – this time if was so beautiful it brought tears to my eyes. Such a powerful song. ‘Meanderings’ was a really nice closer to the first set, it really spoke to me this time.

During the break I walked around a bit and decided to take a few pictures from the bak, so I stayed on the side when Jean-Samuel and Guillaume came back for the second set. They played a beautiful version of ‘Chante, Ô Peuple Misérable‘ – it feels like the song is getting better every day. 🙂 I’m really looking forward to listening to their full album when I get home. They got their well deserved applause. ‘Ró’ was fantastic as well. This show was definitely on par with Brno. <3

I was back in my seat in time for ‘Lost in you’ and got lost in the music right away. When Gunnar said the next song was from the Nivalis album, I was confused for a moment, because I had forgotten, that ‘While this Way’ is not the only song on the setlist from that album. Gunnar mentioned it had been released in 2018 and Ragnar added they had been to Krakow last in 2019, saying “it’s been too long, we’ll never do it again… stay away so long I mean”. We all laughed. “What we keep doing, “Gunnar continued, “is creating song titles no non-Icelandic person can pronounce.” well, mostly true. 😀 ‘Þar Sem Enginn Fer’ is always amazing. 🙂

Ragnar introduced the next a capella songs and kept talking for so long that Jean-Samuel chose to sit down on Guillaumes chair while waiting. 😀 Considering he wanted to “keep a long story short”, he talked quite a lot. 😉 It is always interesting to hear about the development of Icelandic music though. ‘O min flaska friðda’ is another song I like more very night and ‘Hátið fer að höndum ein’ I always enjoy. Of course, this audience got a taste of the “strange lullaby ‘Krummi Svaf í Klettagjá’ as well. It was fun.

‘Nóttin var sú ágæt ein’ is also a favorite every night. It lead us back from Christmas songs to their own compositions. We got an awesome rendition of ‘Endatafl’, hen the wonderful ‘While this way’ and finally they had arrived at the last song. There was enough “aww” that Ragnar said “if you don’t want t to end, it means we did a good job”. Daníel quipped “It would be horrible if the reaction was “YES!” 😀 They added that in Iceland people clap and yell “meira!”, if they want more and Gunnar thanked us all for coming.

‘Things you said’ was fantastic. Every note was right. We did clap loudly and after I started yelling “Meira! Meira!” everyone joined in. They gladly came back ans we got the biggest surprise of the night. Gunnar said they had sang this during rehearsals and would change the setlist now to a song by Paul Simon. “Billy Joel” Daníel corrected and Gunnar was like “I think everything is by Paul Simon”. They gave us a gorgeous rendition of ‘And so it goes’. I loved it so much, it made me cry and also made me decide that this was my favorite show so far. “Shall we leave you with one Christmas song?” Daníel asked. Yes please! ‘Góða veislu gjöra skal’ is always perfect.

I spoke to every one after the show, got a few hugs and we all hoped we’d manage the long trip to Aschaffenburg the next day. I told them this was my favorite show so far because of ‘And so it goes’, then spoke to Gunnar about the previous show and that I had heard the subwoofer sound he had mentioned on my recording (but not at the show). From Jean-Samuel I learned that Guillaume had written the duo arrangement for ‘Chante, Ô Peuple Misérable ‘ on the way to Hannover and they had played it with no rehearsal. Wow, much impressed. Final hugs ans goodbyes and “see you tomorrow”. What a wonderful evening!

Setlist

Grafskrift
Ljóð í sand
Nú gleymist ég
Hvenær kemur sól
Allt er hjlótt
Heyr himna smiður
Ljósfaðir
Heiðin
Lifsins Pendúll
Meanderings

Chante, Ô Peuple Misérable (Néstor Romero Clemente)
Ró
Lost in you
Þar Sem Enginn Fer
O min flaska friðda
Hátið fer að höndum ein
Nóttin var sú ágæt ein
Endatafl
While this Way
Things you said

And so it goes
Góða veislu gjöra skal

Vetrarsól tour: 4 gigs down, 7 to go. Next stop: Aschaffenburg

Strange distractions, familiar faces and cat stories

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Árstíðir – Scena MCER, Marki (Warsaw); December 8th, 2024

My third concert on Árstíðir’s Vetrarsól tour took me to Poland, more specifically Marki, just on the edge of Warsaw. It was a lovely concert hall with good sound and lights and a great show overall. I enjoyed being around my friends and especially liked the second part of the show. Once I relaxed into it, it was bliss.

The trip from Brno worked well with no delays and even getting a bus to Marki was easy enough. It was an early show again so I had little time at my hotel. enough to eat and get changed, then I went to the venue, early as usual. Watched Ragnar’s online hangout while I waited, ran into a few people I knew , hugged Bartek and talked to Jean-Samuel briefly as he went out for a smoke.

They finally let us in at about 15 minutes to 7 and I found a spot at the front. Most people moved further back, because it was a high stage, but the view was nice and I don’t like people in front of me. Soon after I had settled down, A. appeared and decided to move seats and sit with me instead of further back with family. It was nice catching up for a bit. Juts before show start, K. arrived as well. We barely had time to say hello, before the lights went down.

The show started a little late at 19:10 and despite great sound and beautiful light I felt strangely distracted and had trouble getting into it. I could not figure out why though. Tried taking pictures, but realized it was impossible to capture the lighting – at least from the front and I really didn’t feel like getting up and walking to the back. So the first half went by in sort of a blur and I wasn’t really there, more in my head than in the music. I had some nice old tour memories flashing by though. 😉

Anyway, they started with ‘Grafskrift’ and the sound was brilliant. The song is one of my favorites on the Vetrarsól album and I love hearing it every night. <3
Ragnar greeted us in Polish and said it was great to be back “for many reasons” and then seemed to have forgotten what those reasons were. 😀 He told us about the tradition of their Christmas shows and promised to try more Polish words later. ‘Ljóð í sand’ was beautiful, but I struggled a bit to get fully into it, having my thoughts drift away. When even ‘Nú gleymist ég’ could not grab my full attention, I started wondering why I was so distracted, but did not find an answer, so eventually I just let it be and decided it was me, not the guys or the venue.

“Next we would like to sing about the Icelandic sun or the lack of it,” Daníel introduced ‘Hvenær kemur sól’. It was the first song I felt that night and I really loved it. <3 Next, Gunnar told us how they were going to mix Icelandic traditional song with their own music and Continue with their very own Christmas song ‘Allt er hjlótt’. It was beautiful. Then Ragnar spoke about starting with Icelandic a cappella and choir songs at their Christmas concerts and finally releasing an album containing these. The beautiful ‘Heyr himna smiður’ followed.

Gunnar told us about ‘Ljósfaðir’ and how they got a new arrangement of the song from the composer. It sounded lovely. Ragnar wanted to share more stories about how small Iceland is and mentioned how they sang with the Prime Minister once. That was in Washington, D.C. if I am not mistaken. What it had to do with the composer story I don’t know, though. 😀

‘Heiðin’ was great. Somehow it seems to have gotten new life this tour. I like it. ‘Lifsins Pendúll’ is always welcome. Even when I am distracted I can get lost in that song. “You might have noticed that we sing in both, Icelandic and English, ” to introduce ‘Meanderings’ and I thought: “How? You’ve only sung in Icelandic so far.” 😀 It was a nice ending to set one though and I enjoyed it.

During the break I caught up with K. and exchanged impressions of the concert so far with her and A. They were both liking it so the distraction seemed to be all me. A. mentioned how much she loved the beautiful lights and I decided to give up on talking pictures and just take in the atmosphere. During the second set I did just that and it worked much better. I had finally arrived.

The break was a short one and soon Guillaime and Jean-Samuel were back on stage, bathed in beautiful backlighting, playing Clemente’s beautiful string piece. I like it better each night. They got their moment of applause, being introduce as “Europe’s finest string duo” and Ragnar also mentioned all their other projects. ‘Ró’ followed and I really loved it. It does not always speak to me, but then and there it was perfect. I noticed that Daníel did some of the piano work on guitar and wondered if they had played it the same way the previous day – I really had no idea.

Already now, the second half felt much better to me and ‘Lost in you’ made it even more so. Old love of mine, followed by a newer one, ‘Þar Sem Enginn Fer’. It was wonderful. Ragnar spoke about the new album being only a cappella songs and gave a short introduction to traditional Icelandic music. To show us, they sang ‘O min flaska friðda’ which sounded great to me. Ragnar told us about parallel fifth and hen forgot the title of the next song, so Guillaume had to tell him it was ‘Hátið fer að höndum ein’ 😀 I love that song and it was amazing. Daníel, Gunnar and Ragnar gave us one more demonstration of that technique with ‘Krummi Svaf í Klettagjá’. Everyone laughed, especially when Gunnar joked it took them years to learn to fall asleep to that lullaby and Daníel added that he was too afraid to fall asleep.

‘Nóttin var sú ágæt ein’ was very beautiful and one of my favorites that night. ‘Endatafl’ was brilliant, I think the best version I have heard on this tour so far. <3 During the first half I had almost forgotten that I had the option to song along. but ‘While this way’ reminded me. 😉 The guys had a fun time announcing the last song, because we just kept saying “awww”  every time they mentioned it until Ragnar said “possibly the last song”. ‘Things you said’ was awesome so we all cheered a lot and clapped loudly until they agreed to sing some more. ‘Land mins föður’ and finally ‘Góða veislu gjöra skal’ really ended the show then. It had been a good one.

After the show I went and talked to everyone. Guillaume spoke about the lovely cat he had met at their last hotel and how he just didn’t want to leave. I feel you. I told Gunnar I had felt distracted and he said he was the same and for him it was the soundscape at the center of the stage. I can’t really repeat how he described it but it was the echo of the sounds somehow. He thought maybe I felt that too, because i was at the front. Interesting. Ragnar said he felt distracted as well, just strange vibes, but everything went away during the second half. Same for me. We’ve had that before, picking up on each other’s vibes. 🙂 The cause will remain a mystery, but the good thing is that the second half went better. Malko asked if I had taken pictures, because the lights looked so god, but I had to tell him I did not. Sorry. Said hello to Marta briefly, who had arrived at the last minute, then it was time for final hugs and goodbyes. A. and K. won’t be coming to Krakow, but they brought me back to my hotel. See you next time

Setlist

Grafskrift
Ljóð í sand
Nú gleymist ég
Hvenær kemur sól
Allt er hjlótt
Heyr himna smiður
Ljósfaðir
Heiðin
Lifsins Pendúll
Meanderings

Chante, Ô Peuple Misérable (Néstor Romero Clemente)
Ró
Lost in you
Þar Sem Enginn Fer
O min flaska friðda
Hátið fer að höndum ein
Nóttin var sú ágæt ein
Endatafl
While this Way
Things you said

Land mins föður
Góða veislu gjöra skal

Vetrarsól tour: 3 gigs down, 8 to go. Next stop: Krakow