Everything fits, correct predictions and more shows to see

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Árstíðir – Colos-Saal, Aschaffenburg; December 10th, 2018

My weekend with Árstíðir ended at one of my favorite German venues: Colos-Saal in Aschaffenburg. I’ve only seen good concerts there so far. Lights and sound are always great and the people are friendly, staff and guest alike. It’s a joy to see bands play there and I’m always looking forward to it. It was right in having high expectations, the concert was great and I enjoyed it start to finish. 

I got up early in the morning, because the German train company was on strike once more and I was a little worried I might have trouble getting there, since it takes several hours to get from Reichenbach to Aschaffenburg. Thus, I left earlier than originally planned and then everything went so smoothly that I even arrived an hour earlier than I had expected. There was enough time to get some good food and relax a little before I needed to go to the venue and I still was the first person in line. It was a good start already. 🙂 Once inside I got a seat at my favorite table, pretty much center stage, got a drink, set up my camera and waited.

The guys were greeted with much applause as they stepped on the stage. Then everyone shut up and looked at them expectantly as they gathered around a single microphone, took a deep breath and started singing ‘Schedryk’. It was lovely as always. Ragnar introduced the band and I think it was the first time that people actually replied to his question “Wie geht’s?” (How are you?) with “Gut” 🙂 – quite a few people in the room had seen them before, but there were also some new people, giving them a try. That is especially easy at Colos-Saal, because, as I had only learned recently, the venue classifies some concerts as “for real music lovers” trying to encourage people to come by offering them their money back if they don’t like it and leave after the first three songs. Pretty cool idea I think.

The setlist remained the same it had been at the other shows and by now I did not expect them to change it. In the very beginning of the tour they were still trying things out, but by now they had the songs in a good running order and their stories worked well, so why change anything? Since I love all of the songs in the set, it worked really well for me and I have certain parts of the show I look forward to every night. I especially like the a cappella and unplugged parts, but it also makes me happy to get to hear some of my favorite songs every night. 

This night, I paid special attention to Lotta, because she was going to leave the tour at this point, being replaced by Jean-Samuel for the remaining shows. She is an amazing violin player as far as I can tell. I talked to her about this after one of the shows, saying how I usually do not hear a difference between violin players, but have the feeling she fits in well. She said that the violin is only the cherry on top and if everything else is good and everyone else plays well, it sounds especially nice. That might have been a case of typical Finnish modesty. She is really good and I loved watching her play as well. Strings are really fascinating to me and while I admit that the cello is more important, it sounds much better when a violin is there too.

Everything fit that night, from the great venue to the appreciative audience to the setlist that really goes from old to new and takes you on a journey through their albums if you’re willing to go that way. In the course of the evening we go from just guitars (first album) to more classical influences with piano and lots of strings (second album) to a bit more electro and experimental (third album) to fully open to new stuff including drums (fourth album) with Christmas songs and covers thrown in-between. They always say they are playing songs from each album, but they are leaving out the one they did with Magnús Þór. It makes sense though, they can’t really play those songs without him. ‘Heyr hymna smiður’ can be counted as representing the album they made with Anneke van Giersbergen. Gunnar told us how they picked some songs that felt like Christmas to them along with traditional Christmas songs and I must say they made a good choice there. <3

Before ‘Jólabæn einstæðingsins’ Ragnar explained how traditional Icelandic songs are often dramatic, just like the life in the country used to be and sometimes still is and how this can still be heard in today’s Pop music. I can’t help it, whenever he mentions Björk and Sigur Rós, I smile because of a story Svavar Knútur has been telling this year, but you have to hear Svavar tell it himself. 😉 The notion of wanting to laugh is completely out of place, considering how heartbreaking the song sounds, but so far it has happened every time. I still enjoy the song very much though. When they were done and did not continue with ‘Góða veislu gjöra skal’ I immediately knew they were going to do it as an encore instead. 

People did laugh a lot when they talked about the terrible Icelandic summer and ‘Nivalis’ supposedly sounding like a “winter album” – I still have no idea what a winter album is supposed to sound like – or a summer album for that matter. It does sound like an Icelandic album I think, but would not know what to base that on either. 😉 Anyway, the songs are wonderful and I love hearing them very much. So far, they mostly play my favorites. I cannot wait until I finally get to hear the remainder of the album on the next tour. 🙂

‘Hátið fer að höndum ein’ the first song after the break was really amazing and we learned that it is one of the songs that everyone sings at school and it means “the holidays are here”. ‘Passion’ was next and not for the first time it occurred to me how beautiful the strings in this song are. <3 ‘Mute’, afterwards goes off into a completely different direction. Great strings as well, but with the drums the sound is completely different. ‘Entangled’ then is somehow the best of both worlds, or all worlds, as it is even reminiscent of the early guitar songs. 🙂 This time around, Gunnar spoke about the song and told us what it is all about. Currently this one s my favorite together with ‘While this way’

Ragnar tried his hand at speaking German again (and doing just fine), before trying to teach us some Icelandic. It always works, because people actually gave it their best shot and it created lots of laughter, especially when Daníel zold us to do it “Without spitting on anybody”. I still think it’s easier to say “Eyjafjallajökull” all in one go than breaking it down into three parts, but I’ve been trying for a while. 😉 Apparently the pace to get a tan in Iceland is a glacier or so the guys claim after getting all sunburned when shooting the ‘You again’ video. 

‘Nú gleymist ég’ brought the house down and people clapped as f it had been the last song already. It lasted so long that Gunnar didn’t remember what he wanted to say when it stopped. When he said it was tie for the last song, we appropriately said “oooh” and Lotta got some extra cheers when he mentioned it was her last show with them. ‘Shades’ led to even bigger cheers and it didn’t take all that long for the band to be back on stage. They had been looking happy all night and smiled even bigger now. 😀 After ‘Heyr hymna smiður’ they left again and I was sure they would play aolne last song from among the audience, but they walked back on stage for ‘Góða veislu gjöra skal’. It was the perfect ending to a perfect night.

I spent quite some time taking with the guys, said goodbye to Lotta and told the others they should think about getting a bigger string section with all the great players they have. We hugged goodbye and I was happy I#d decided to see a few more shows the coming weekend. 

pictures of this concert

Árstíðir European Christmas tour: Four gigs down, three to go. Next stop: Maastricht

Setlist

Schedryk schedryk (Carol of the bells)
Ages
Með hallandi höfði
Ljoð í sand
Someone who cares
Scarborough Fair / Canticle
Jólabæn einstæðingsins
Þar sem enginn fer
While this Way

Hátið fer að höndum ein
Passion
Mute
Entangled
You again
Things you said
Nú gleymist ég
Shades

Heyr hymna smiður

Góða veislu gjöra skal

Creepy Santa, effect light switch and everything coming full circle

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Árstíðir – Ratssaal, Reichenbach; December 9th, 2018

Seeing Árstíðir in Reichenbach was a beautiful trip down memory lane that felt very much like the very first concerts did. Easy and uncomplicated and deeply moving. It fully grabbed me from the first moment on and did not let me go until the very end. <3

Reichenbach (Vogtland) is quite far east from where I live and close to Plauen, the city of my second ever Árstíðir concert in 2012. When I first read about this one I didn’t plan to go, but with it happening on a Sunday Berlin the day before, it wasn’t such a long trip after all and I figured I might as well. Best decision in a long time!

Going to Reichenbach from Berlin was supposed to be easy, only that the S-Bahn from Leipzig didn’t go. Still got there eventually, checked in, found food, walked the city in the rain. There was Christmas decoration everywhere, but nobody was around and the Christmas market was not open. The concert took place at the town hall, but when I arrived, nobody was there and I learned that they hadn’t even sound checked yet.

More people came, there was mulled wine to be had for those who wanted to and I chatted with a few people who had seen them in Plauen and elsewhere in the area years ago. We’ve come a long way since. The hall they played in was huge and I feared it was going to be half empty, but there were quite a few people before they started. The stage was huge with a grand piano that the guys didn’t use and some Christmas decoration, including a creepy Santa on one side. The lights were alright though, after the ones lighting the entire hall had been turned off.

It was an early concert and shortly after 7 the guys walked in from the back. They remained in the audience, standing right next to me and sang ‘Shedryk’ there. <3 The room had great acoustics. They could clearly be heard without any amplification. With them being in the room instead of on the stage, I felt transported right back to my first Christmas concert in Reykjavik, even though I am not sure they even played that song then or did it this way. Right then I was sure the night was going to be special.

By now I knew what was coming in terms of setlist, so it was time to relax, enjoy the familiar feeling and look for subtle changes in the stories they told. I love doing that, because they may tell the same things, but it is never the exact same story. To me it is special that I will notice changes that people who see only that one show will never know about. That also applies to changes in the setlist of course . They aren’t subtle, but with nothing to compare to, most of the audience will not know they even happened. 

Their acoustic set with all three of them singing into one microphone started with ‘Ages’. It is a song I have always liked, but it hasn’t really spoken to me in a long time. That night though, it almost moved me to tears. Now, a day later, I am still trying to figure out why, but I honestly have no idea. It almost felt as if I was hearing it for the first time. I sang along all the way and a deep, happy sigh escaped me when it was over. ‘Með hallandi höfði’ made me just as happy and to my surprise, I was moved by ‘Ljoð í sand’ as well. Somehow everything seemed especially beautiful that night as if we’d traveled back in time to when I hardly knew the band and the whole emotional roller-coaster ride was just beginning. 

I leaned back in my seat, enjoyed, smiled at the guys whenever any of them looked at me and even remembered to take pictures from time to time. 😉 ‘Someone who cares’ was just as good as it was the very first time I heard it and there are not enough words to describe the beauty of ‘Scarborough Fair’. It is a song I have always loved and this rendition was a close to perfect as it gets. I sighed again and never wanted this concert to end. All the love I’ve ever felt for the guys came rushing back and the smile on my face grew bigger by the minute. The previous night Gunnar had told me that he knew everything was alright when he saw me smiling and singing along – he  certainly had nothing to worry about. 😀

For ‘Jólabæn einstæðingsins’ they gathered around the center microphone again and with a seat just slightly left of the center this time around, I had an unobstructed view of everyone for a change. Oh how much I love watching them sing! After a great rendition of ‘Passion’, Daníel used one of his effects, tried again and then asked us if we could hear a humming sound. I confirmed so he called out for the tech guy to help, because apparently his effects were connected to the same electrical outlet as the dimmer for the lights and that created the sound. At first nobody came, so Daníel went to check if he could fix it. Meanwhile Ragnar told us something about their Christmas concerts, talked to Gunnar briefly and they started playing ‘You again’. By now the tech guy had arrived and fixed things and Daníel was back at his mic right when he needed to start singing – perfect timing! 🙂

Gunnar told us they had one last song before the break and Ragnar mentioned they were only taking it so they could go downstairs to get more Glühwein (which they actually did). But first they gave us ‘While this Way’. I can’t even put into words how much I love this song. I sang along happily and took a deep breath when they said goodbye for now, already awaiting their return.

After the break ‘Hátið fer að höndum ein’ sounded especially nice with Lotta’s voice in the mix. I loved hearing her slight Finnish accent. In pronunciation of certain letters, especially the rolled “R” Icelandic and Finnish are very similar, but it sounds just a little bit stronger in Finnish and that’s what I heard. It was lovely. Gunnar explained that what we just heard was an example of an Icelandic Christmas song and that they were going to do an even happier one now, ‘Góða veislu gjöra skal’. It always makes me smile. 

Ragnar spoke about the terrible Icelandic summer that made them productive, because there was nothing else to do and how critics claimed ‘Nivalis’ sounded like a winter album. I don’t really have an idea what a winter album is supposed to sound like (or a summer album for that matter), but I know that I loved it and don’t care which season it represents. ‘Mute’ and ‘Þar sem enginn fer’ were both great. Somehow the latter never seemed to rock as much on the album as it does live. 😀 ‘Entangeled’ was played without much introduction and they delivered the explanation afterwards, but it really doesn’t need one. The song has spoken to me from the moment I’ve first heard it. It’s nice to have the theory of quantum entanglement explained but even before I knew that part, the song spoke volumes and the video they made just added to the images in my head. <3

‘Things you said’ hasn’t changed all that much since they have first played it, but the meaning and importance of the song to me has. I’ve always liked it and right now it is just a good song, but there was a time when really resonated with me. I was quite ad and angry then so it feels much better now. 🙂 Next Ragnar talked about how the eruption of Eyjafjallajökul in 2010 almost kept them from their first tour, but made them interesting everywhere they toured and now they wanted to teach us the name of the volcano. No problem! 😀

I enjoyed absolutely everything about this concert and it felt like they’d been especially good at choosing the setlist this time around. I can never get enough of ‘Nú gleymist ég’. This song often moves me to tears and yet makes me so happy at the same time because it contains all the elements I love most about the band. It was already time for the last song as Daníel told us and we appropriately said “oooooooh” in response. He asked us to meet them after the show to talk, or tell our life stories. 😉 ‘Shades’ was brilliant and showed again just how brilliant the acoustics were in that room. The guys really rocked, including Daníel and Ragnar both head banging with flying hair. Yay! 😀

As they left the satge I clapped them on the shoulders and hi-fived Guillaume on the way out. Cheers and much clapping called them back to the stage immediately after they had walked off. For a moment I was convinced they would stand somewhere in the crowd for the last song, but they walked all the way back to the stage. ‘Heyr hymna smiður’ was just right to close the show. When they said goodbye I’d already decided that I needed to see a few more concerts before the end of the tour.

Afterthe gig I finally let them sing my ‘Nivalis’ album which I’d always forgotten to take with me so far. There was time to chat and for a few hugs too. I told them I’d loved it and we said goodbye. It was really a special concert for me. I felt at peace and left with a happy smile on my face.

pictures of this concert

Àrstíðir European Christmas tour: Three gigs down, four to go. Next stop: Aschaffenburg

Setlist

Schedryk schedryk (Carol of the bells)
Ages
Með hallandi höfði
Ljoð í sand
Someone who cares
Scarborough Fair / Canticle
Jólabæn einstæðingsins
Passion
You again
While this Way

Hátið fer að höndum ein
Góða veislu gjöra skal
Mute
Þar sem enginn fer
Entangled
Things you said
Nú gleymist ég
Shades

Heyr hymna smiður