Passion, dedication and beauty

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Árstíðir – Openluchttheater de Goffert, Nijmegen; August 6th, 2021

My 200th Árstíðir concert had finally arrived one year late and it was absolutely everything I could have hoped for. The band picked the perfect setlist and were received by an enthusiastic audience. They played and sang their hearts out, told stories and even dedicated a song to me. It truly felt like coming home, leaving me happy beyond words. ❤️

Until about a week before the show I wasn’t entirely sure I would go. The Netherlands had had crazy high Covid numbers for a while and despite them going down, the whole country was declared a high risk area shortly before I left. It made me feel uncomfortable and unsafe, despite being vaccinated, especially because I knew there were no distancing measures in place. Yes, people had to be vaccinated, tested or recovered to attend, but that doesn’t mean one could not get infected. So I argued with myself between thinking that going was somewhat irresponsible and knowing it would kill me to miss the concert. In the end my compromise was wearing a mask throughout, which made me feel considerably less anxious.

Getting to Nijmegen was supposed to be easy and it was until one of my trains was canceled. Luckily I found out early enough to take an alternative route and got there even earlier than planned. Found my hotel, had food, would have loved to sleep a bit but was too scared I would not wake up on time. Eventually I decided to make my way to the venue and met P., who had just arrived. We chatted for a bit and went our separate ways. The venue was an open air theater in a park and despite getting there less than an hour before the doors opened, I was all alone for a while.

When the doors opened, I picked he perfect spot in front row and sitting there I finally felt excited about the show to come. Even though I had just seen them n Lithuania this show felt different and much more like the first one after the long break. The band was reunited with Guillaume, it would be a full set and I saw familiar faces in the crowd. Raggi dropped by for a chat that involved several good hugs and helped us both feel ready for the show. 🙂 🙏🏻
Just before they were supposed to start, P. arrived, happy to have made it on time. The air was buzzing with excitement and I was already smiling.

Around 20 to 9 the curtains opened and the band stepped on stage to many cheers. My heart did a somersault just seeing them together again. Raggi was the first to speak and mentioned how strange the past 18 months had been and how happy they were to be back on a stage finally. We were all happy to have them back too. The first song was ‘Himinhvel’ and the sound was perfect. Everything was clear, sounded beautiful and went straight into my soul. I get goosebumps now, writing about it. ‘Things you said’ followed and it has never sounded so good – the guys were on a roll and any rustiness they might have felt earlier was gone.

Next was ‘Ljóð í sand’ and Raggi talked about how they have played it at almost every show since 2011 and people in the audience who have seen them before will know the song. He then dedicated it to me because it was my 200th show. The choice could not have been better since it was one of the first songs I fell in love with all these years ago. Everyone clapped for me too. ❤️ I looked at him and mouthed “thank you” then realized that he could not see it through my mask and gestured with my hands. What a beautiful moment that was. The tears I was too happy to cry last night, are coming now as I think back on it.

As usual I sang along to everything, not bothered by the fact that nobody could see it. ‘Someone who cares’ was gorgeous, every note perfect. It felt like the audience was cheering louder after every song. 😀 Raggi asked if anyone in the audience spoke Iceland and talked about how they write 50:50 in Icelandic and English, always making sure nobody can pronounce the song titles. Gunni threw in that it started with the name of the band. Everyone laughed and they told the story about touring the US where nobody was able to pronounce or remember the band name which led to them having icelandicbandname.com as a second home page. ‘Þar sem enginn fer’ is always a highlight for me and I especially loved the strings.

Gunni explained how the title of the second album means the state between sleeping and waking and then joked that ‘Days & Nights’, the next song, was written in Iowa. He and Raggi told the story of how their tour bus had broken down. Loved having the song in the setlist and played air ukulele along with it.  😀 I think it was here that Raggi rested his head on the keyboard in the end as if going to sleep.

They talked about playing at a bar in a train station in Germany and then going out into he train station hall after to sing. People confirmed having seen the video. I grinned, knowing I am one of a lucky few who are in it. The band gathered around the microphones and sang ‘Heyr, hymna smiður’ for us. Right then and there I absolutely loved it. Afterwards Raggi explained how the studio recording of the song is with Anneke van Giersbergen and that as a reprimand for having to sing Icelandic she made Gunni sing ‘Het Dorp’.

Gunni then spoke about how he was trying to figure out what other languages Dutch reminds him of and that it is actually similar to Icelandic in some ways. Some sounds are so much the same that it feels like home, but then you stay left out of the conversation. He introduced the next song saying that it was about a person stuck somewhere in the wilderness of Iceland, inside buried under snow. So very Icelandic. I can’t remember him ever explaining ‘Nú gleymist ég’ in that way. It was an awesome rendition too. ❤️

The last song before the break was ‘Shades’. The song was, is, and always will be brilliant. They were absolutely on fire, working furiously towards the finale and ending on the dot. It was mesmerizing and the audience responded with loud cheers.

P. and I spent the break talking until Guillaume and Jeam-Samuel walked back on stage and I knew they were going to play something for us. As soon as they started playing everyone grew quiet and listened. It was a beautiful piece of music with softer and more dramatic parts and even a break where many of us clapped too early. ☺️ I don’t know jack about classical music, but I loved it and asked Guillaume later what it was – Castillo Interior by Pēteris Vasks. They did not play the whole thing though. Speaking of Guillaume, he was wearing the most awesome sneakers. I stared at them for a bit, because I was so fascinated.

Danni, Gunni and Raggi joined them on stage again and took us back to the beginning of the band. First of course they had to tell us about sitting on Danni’s couch, drinking his home brewed red wine and playing guitar. The three of them gathered around one microphone with their guitars and sang a beautiful version ‘Með hallandi höfði’, their Icelandic version of Crosby, Stills and Nash’s ‘Helplessly hoping’. The string players joined in for ‘Ages’, one of the first songs they wrote. It made me think of the early days of seeing them and filled me with nostalgia. I do love the songs on their first album.

Raggi explained how said album was recorded live with microphones at the center like they just played it. Their sound has evolved since and to show us how they were going to premiere a new song. Raggi was not sure if they were allowed to tell us the name of he new album yet, but finally decided to do it anyway. It is the Icelandic word for pendulum – I have no idea how to spell it though. 😉 The new song was ‘En Hvenær kemur sól’ sounded very much like traditional Árstíðir with a modern twist, beautifully sung with Danni in the lead. I loved it.

What made me just as happy was that ‘Silfurskin’ was next. ❤️ A happy sigh might have escaped me when they started playing it. ‘Mute’ was next. Gunni introduced it by telling us that it was written in Japan and how you don’t have a voice when nobody understands you and you always need someone else to speak for you, so you are alone with your thoughts all the time. It really spoke to me that night.

‘Lover’ was amazing and followed by my favorite ‘While this Way’. Words are not enough to describe how I felt. It was beyond happiness. 🙂 I had thought it would be the last song, but it was not. ‘Friðþægingin’ followed, complete with the offer of a beer in case anyone managed to pronounce it correctly. Gunni added that it was the second hardest word in Icelandic, right after umferðaröngþveiti and before Ejafjallajökull. 😀 The song was fun as always.

“We are down to our last song” got the appropriate amount of “awwwww” and Gunni told us how strange the past year has been for artists and how they had to move away from music for a while. Now it was nerve wrecking to “stand in front of people and try to remember who you used to be”. He said they found it again that night and thanked us for helping. It was a wonderfully fitting speech and lead to ending the show with ‘Passion’ because their passion for music has taken them to so many paces. It was the absolutely perfect last song. :’)

We could not let them go of course. Everyone was out of their seats for standing ovations and cheered for them to play more. They gladly obliged and moved to the very front of the stage for ‘Góða veislu gjöra skal’ before stepping back to their instruments one last time for ‘Heiðin’. Raggi and Gunni told us the story how they had written it as a song of hope after the bank crash in Iceland and they joked about how dramatic they had been. It was a lovely blast from the past. After that they finally left to more standing ovations.

There were long lines at the merch stand, but eventually I got to chat with them for a bit, told them how much I had loved it. We agreed it had been better than Klaipeda by a mile. As much as I had loved and needed that show, in comparison it seems more like the dress rehearsal for this one. I would not have wanted to miss it, but the show to see was clearly the one in Nijmegen. I am so glad I decided to go. What a truly beautiful comeback show. Thank you Árstíðir, you gave me just what I needed. ❤️

pictures of this concert

Setlist

Himinhvel
Things you said
Ljóð í sand
Someone who cares
Þar sem enginn fer
Days & Nights
Heyr, hymna smiður
Nú gleymist ég
Shades

Castillo Interior (string piece by Pēteris Vasks)
Með hallandi höfði (Crosby, Stills & Nash cover)
Ages
En Hvenær kemur sól
Silfurskin
Mute
Lover
While this Way
Friðþægingin
Passion

Góða veislu gjöra skal
Heiðin

 

Long trip, enthusiastic audience and bug squashing

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Árstíðir – GABYA Festival, Klaipeda; July 17th, 2021

One year, six months and 20 days had passed since I’d last seen Árstíðir and after more than a year of a pandemic where live shows were few and far between it felt surreal to stand in front of a stage again, listening to them sing and play while doing my best to sing along. The feeling was glorious and I can’t even begin to describe how much I’ve missed it.

When I read about their concert at GABYA festival I couldn’t believe it was actually going to happen. Lithuania had high Covid numbers and was in lockdown when the festival was announced. I still felt compelled to check if travel was possible, but at that time not being vaccinated meant quarantine and  I did not even have an appointment yet. So I tried very hard to forget about it and, as I finally got shot #1 in late Mai, I decided to buy a ticket and see what was possible. I didn’t, however, book any travel until some good luck came my way and shot #2 was rescheduled from July 8th to the 1st which meant fully vaccinated on the 16th. then, and only then, I dared to hope.

Travel was more complicated than I would have liked. No direct flights from Germany to the closest airport (Palanga) and no flights from Dortmund to Vilnius on a Friday. There was, however, a flight from Vilnius to Dortmund on Sunday at 13:25 and a train from Klaipeda to Vilnus that would be there at 11. Close call, but doable. The only feasible option to fly to Vilnius was from Berlin. Then, several things happened: hot weather in Lithuania slowed down the trains, the train between Vilnius airport and the ciry center wasn’t running  and my flight to Dortmund was rescheduled to the morning. Thus, I decided to fly back to Berlin as well. And as if all that wasn’t complicated enough, my area of Germany was hit with severe rain storms and flooding in the days before my trip and loads of trains got canceled. Getting to Düsseldorf airport would have been impossible, getting to Berlin was delayed. I arrived at the airport already stressed out, but I made it and everything worked out OK after that. A night in Vilnius, a delayed train to Klaipeda and all that was left was a ferry to get to the island where the festival took place. This trip clearly breaks the record for different modes of transport: Subway, train, plane, bus, taxi and ferry.

Early on Saturday evening I found myself in Smiltynė, took a lovely walk from the ferry to the festival area and was admitted without any problem. It felt wird to be amongst people without masks on and fro the first hour or so I felt pretty anxious. I sat far from everyone else, listening to Ingaja on the smaller of the two stages, breathing slowly, letting the music in. She played lovely tunes on guitar and with lots of backing tracks, gently reminded me of what festivals, what live music, felt like.

Bands were alternating between the two stages and so was I, but I still felt unusually nervous about it and needed down time in between, just sitting on my own and digesting everything. For so long I had feared something might go wrong and I would not make it to the festival after all that it took me a while to shake the feeling.

I checked out Pawa on the big stage, but their music didn’t speak to me. I liked that people were standing in front of the stage and dancing, but didn’t feel the urge to join them. More walking around, breathing, thinking. I was still too much in my head. A while later, Paulius Kilbauskas was playing on the small stage. It was an interesting mixture of flute and drums, all instrumental. I liked it and listened from afar.

Festival mode finally got a hold of me when Saulius Petreikis ir World Orchestra took the big stage. I don’t really know how to describe their music but they were brilliant and soon I joined the people who were dancing in front of the stage. Then and there, everything felt right and I let the music move me.

Had to take a bathroom break and ran into Raggi, who said he was happy, but not surprised that I had come. Of course not, I had to. 😀 We chatted for a bit, exchanging stories of our respective trips there. He mentioned how they all felt a bit rusty and would play and “oldies goldies” set. No complaints here, I was just happy to be able to hear them play.
The rest of the band walked by, saying hello and soon after he had to join him. We hugged goodbye, knowing that I’d have to rush straight to the last ferry after their set.

I listened to more of Saulius Petreikis ir World Orchestra and just stayed there after they had finished – one hour to go. For a while I sat in one of the seats that were to far away from the stage for my liking. I watched the guys as they set up and soundchecked and for a moment I was the only person in the audience. Slowly though, people came back from the other stage and joined me. I went and sat down on the grass in front of the stage and when it was showtime I took my usual spot between Raggi and Gunni on the left, standing a bit away from the stage still so i could see everyone without craning my neck.

It still felt surreal being there, with a stage in front of me and one of my favorite bands on said stage not on some small screen. It was hard for my mind to process it all, but I definitely had a huge goofy grin on my face. The guys looked so happy too, if a bit tense. The only one who seemed totally comfortable was Jean-Samuel. Sverrir, the cellist for the night, looked just a little lost at first, but there was no need. He did well.

They kicked off the show with Himinhvel and immediately I was drawn in by the sound I had missed so much. I had feared I might not get into it so easily or I might not remember the words to any of the songs, but I was wrong on both counts – well, in case of the Icelandic songs the words in my head probably don’t have much to do with what they actually sing, but I sing along something. 😛 It was so beautiful to hear their voices again and after that first song was done, they all relaxed, realizing they could still do this.

‘Things you said’ followed and I was no longer alone at the front. Other people joined me and they were dancing! I too, moved in tune with the music, singing along, sometimes closing my eyes to fully sink into the feeling. ‘Ljóð í sand’ was a good choice – it always appeals to new people and it’s probably the Icelandic song I can best pretend sing. Raggi smiled at me, checking up on my singing at the same time. Yep, I still did remember how to do that. Funnily enough Gunni said ‘Things you said’ was “a song from our second album, but I’m not even sure he noticed and I was probably the only one who thought it sounded funny to hear the same words again for ‘Ljóð í sand’. 😀

The band was fully in the flow of the concert now and the audience loved it. They danced, they cheered happily after each song and enthusiastically repeated the Icelandic words, Raggi was teaching them. He and Gunni shared all of the announcement, while Dani kept quiet and concentrated on singing. It was completely dark by now, so the beautiful stage lights were nicely visible. Not only to us though, they attracted all sorts of different bugs, flying above and around the guys.

‘Someone who cares’ was a happy surprise for me – I will never not love this song. Overwhelmed with emotions I had expected to cry, but was too happy to do it. In the moment I wasn’t thinking about labeling my feelings, but now I can see it felt like being free and having my life back. Strangely, at the same time it felt like picking right up where we left off as if no time had passed at all. With ‘Þar sem enginn fer’ we finally arrived at Nivalis and stayed there with ‘Mute’. Especially the latter was powerful and took on a new meaning for me that night. Every artist who could not perform the way they used too in the past two years must have felt mute in one way or another.

I had brought my small camera, but I wasn’t really feeling it, so I took very few pictures to begin with. When my SD card ran out of space I took it as a sign to stop and I’m glad I did. The first concert in too long should not be wasted worrying about how to capture it. Being there was more important than anything else and that meant enjoying it with my heart and soul.

The guys played a lot of Icelandic songs, even more than English ones and they served well for introducing the band. Two of them were sung a cappella, first ‘Land mins föður’ and then ‘Ísland farsældafrón’. the people next to me decided that was the time to start chatting, but before I could say anything the guy on my other side shushed them. Thank you! Both songs were beautiful and afterwards Gunni explained a little about Icelandic music and Icelandic fifth, saying they used that in the next song too.

it was ‘Nú gleymist ég’ and I was over the moon. Watching closely, I waited for Gunni to go quiet and then loud again during the song and he did. He never fails me and I cannot get enough of it. <3 What an amazing song! After wards he stopped and told us he had to take a picture of the grasshopper sitting on his computer. Raggi added he had accidentally been squashing flies that decided to sit on the keys of his piano during the song.

‘Passion’ was beautiful and ‘Lover’ was absolutely amazing. Then we were offered a beer for pronouncing ‘Friðþægingin’ correctly before they played it. It was the only song that fell short for methat night, because from were I stood the drum samples made Dani’s voice get lost in the mix and I could hardly hear him at times. The audience had fun though, so maybe it was just me.

They ended the show with ‘While this Way’ and I loved every second of t. <3 It is another one of those songs I never get tired of and depending on my mood and state of mind it changes meaning, but it always calls to me and I always will sing along at the top of my lungs. I might be falling off the edge of the world at times, at least emotionally, but Árstíðir’s music is always there to catch me. <3

The audience demanded and encore and the band gave us ‘Góða veislu gjöra skal’. It was the perfect way to end the show. They bowed a few times and I smiled up at them, knowing I would not get a chance to talk to them again until the next show. Good thing we managed to say hello beforehand. Happily I left for the ferry, finally feeling restored and at peace with the world again. Thank you Árstíðir, this meant everything!

pictures of this concert

Setlist

Himinhvel
Things you said
Ljóð í sand
Someone who cares
Þar sem enginn fer
Mute
Land mins föður
Ísland farsældafrón
Nú gleymist ég
Passion
Lover
Friðþægingin
While this Way

Góða veislu gjöra skal