Melancholia, beauty and Brestir

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Árstíðir – CCW, Stainach; May 6th, 2016

Stainach is one of those places that can only be referred to as ridiculously beautiful. I am sitting at the train station, looking at a snow-covered mountain with a backdrop of a blue, almost cloudless, sky, wondering if I’ve woken up in a fairy tale. Everything about this place is lovely from the people running the venue to the surroundings and while I am waiting for my train, I let last night’s Árstíðir concert run through my mind, still smiling.

Alone for the first time since Malmö, I set out from sunny, but still slightly chilly Wolfsegg in the morning on my way to the next destination. Despite beautiful, increasingly warm weather and a train ride through amazing landscapes, tour melancholia took hold of me and I spent quite some time crying. It’s tour life, it happens, it’s all OK, just something I have to work through from time to time. When I arrived in Stainach I knew I could not stay inside so I grabbed my camera and took a long walk up a hill, watching, taking pictures and slowly feeling better. Summer days and melancholia just don’t match. 😉

The venue didn’t look like much from the outside, but people were nice and I was even allowed to reserve a seat ahead of time. It was a nicely sized venue with a big stage lower than the rows of seats – perfect for taking pictures. People arrived slowly, the guys came in from having dinner, I said hello, talked to a few people, sat down, and waited.

A little after 8 pm the local venue manager announced the band, this time without mentioning that we were not allowed taking pictures. (Yay!). The guys walked on stage and started with ‘Himinhvel’. The sound was off a bit, too strong in parts, but after ‘Things you said’ it got much better. I was in tears somewhere early on, but gradually the sad mood lifted and I started smiling. By the time they sang ‘Þér ég unni’ I had fully tuned into the music and was enjoying it. ‘You just have to know of me’ made me smile and cry at the same time. It spoke volumes to me like it hasn’t in a while and somehow took me back to the very beginning. “The taste of your voice reveals what before was unknown”.

For ‘Næturylur’ Daníel did not only tell us that it used to be in English, but that the original title was ‘Struggles’ – I love it when they randomly give out bits of information I didn’t know before. 🙂 ‘Systir’ was introduced as a “song about complicated relationships”. It was another emotional moment for me before ‘Nú gleymist ég ’ ended the first set and left me smiling once again.

The guys were chatty all night and in a really good mood. They told stories or at least gave some explanation for almost every song. Before ‘Shine’ Ragnar explained about the Dutch company sending people to Mars and when he asked who wanted to go, Gunnar raised his hand. Thus, Ragnar told him the url to sign up at and he immediately picked up his phone, pretending to go there. 🙂

During the break I took a peak at the setlist and was surprised to see ‘Brestir’ on there. Really? I had not heard that it over two years and wondered what they would make of it.

They started with ‘Ró’ though, once again with Guillaume on the piano. Then Gunnar explained the connection between ‘Silfurskin’ and Russian night trains. I can totally relate, I enjoy those long night train rides too. After ‘Ljoð í sand’ and ‘Við dagsins hnig‘ Gunnar handed the baritone guitar over to Ragnar – it was time for ‘Brestir’. It looked familiar and strange at the same time to see Ragnar play guitar again. I had not expected that. Gunnar was singing and so was Guillaume. I hadn’t expected that either. They did a great job too. Gunnar unconsciously was playing air guitar throughout, which made me smile. When it was over, he explained how this song was written by Jón, who used to play the piano and that it was hard to sing. I had totally forgotten how nice it is.

‘Sunday Morning’ was great and so was ‘Shine’. Two more songs and the set was over – too soon as always. The audience loved it and yelled for more. We got ‘Góða veislu gjöra skal’ during which I actually sang along and finally ‘Heiðin’. I really wished it could have gone on a bit longer, but everything nice has to end some time, right? Still smiling I walked out, told the guys how much I had loved ‘Brestir’, hugged, chatted a bit and said goodbye. The tour is not over yet. 😀

Setlist:

Himinhvel
Things you said
Someone who cares
Á meðan jörðin sjefur
Þér ég unni
You just have to know of me
Næturylur
Orð að eigin vali
Systir
Nú gleymist ég

Ró
Silfurskin
Ljoð í sand
Við dagsins hnig
Brestir
Sunday Morning
Shine
You again
Shades

Góða veislu gjöra skal
Heiðin

pictures of this concert

Árstíðir spring tour: 15 concerts down, 5 to go, next stop: Lembach

A sensitive band, a drinking lady bug and a surprise rendition of Ró

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Árstíðir – Spielraum, Gaspoltshofen; May 5th, 2016

Gaspoltshofen was another small Austrian town that I’d never heard of before Árstíðir announced this year’s tour. The venue was a movie theater with a nice big stage. The sound was good, the audience was a bit reserved, but the concert was beautiful. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Was lucky enough to be able to get a lift from A. and A. who were driving from Freistadt. It saved me a long wait at several train stations and a taxi ride to my hotel. Thank you! We spent the morning exploring Freistadt, having the most awesome food (pancakes with chick peas and cauliflower) and then taking a short drive to Gaspoltshofen. By the time we got there the rainy weather gad cleared up an a beautiful sunny afternoon awaited us. This are must be great for hiking. I, however, needed some rest and slet for a while before heading out to the concert. Met up with A. and A. again at the venue, got nice front row seats and spent the time waiting and joking. The first laugh was looking at the ticket it read “ÁRSTÍÐIR, IRISJH Indie Folk” – so they are an Irish band now? OK.

This time it was announced that the band felt disturbed by pictures being taken because they were very sensitive and we should limit it to the first two songs. Uhm, excuse me? The same band who is asking me to take pictured for them and does not mind me bing on stage as long as it’s big enough? Sure! So we had the first to songs. Result: Really boring pictures, because ethe lights were the same throughout. 🙁 Positive side effect: I got to enjoy the concert camera free. Did see loads of nice picture opportunities, but did not want to risk it.

The setlist was pretty much the same as it had been in Freistadt, but the order of songs changed around and they played ‘Ró’ for the first time in a long time. Guillaume was on the piano. I had guessed he would be, because the previous day there had been a note stand with ‘Ró’ sheet music by the piano and he later took the papers, so I assumed they must be his. I’m not sure if I like this version or the cello version better, but it was really nice.

‘Someone who cares’ was the first song I consciously noticed that night, another disadvantage of taking pictures only during the first two songs. It made the song all the better though. I have always loved it, but this version stood out for me. So did ‘Orð að eigin vali’ and ‘Systir’ just keeps getting better. It has now grown to be my favorite song and feels like the ‘Shine’ of this tour –each version different, trying, reaching, finding the perfect song. I should keep recording it, but I have not in a while. It is so powerful it gives me goose bumps and I look forward to hearing it every night.

During the break A. and A. placed beer on stage, one for each of the guys and they sure liked it. Gunnar thanked the anonymous donor before taking the first sip. Karl, who had seen where it came from, just raised his bottle in a toast to them. 🙂

The second set was just as powerful as the first. The distribution of my favorites was pretty even in both sets so I had moments of total awe mixed with moments where I could breathe for a while. After ‘You just have to know of me’ Ragnar started talking about the financial crisis in Iceland until Gunnar signaled him that ‘Heiðin’ was not the next song. So he went: “Never mind, we are fine now!” 😀 A beautiful rendition of ‘Sunday Morning’ followed. I’ve noticed the older songs are starting to speak to me again and next to the usual suspects I really enjoyed ‘Ljoð í sand’ and ‘Heiðin’.

The audience didn’t really warm up until the very end and when Karl told a few train jokes hardly anyone laughed. They loved ‘Shades’ though and would not stop clapping and cheering when it was over. The encore of ‘And so it goes’ and ‘Góða veislu gjöra skal’ was beautiful and the cheers so string I was hoping for one more song, but they ended it there. It was a good show overall, even though the audience seemed a bit tough. It was the last night on this tour for A. and A. so I had to say goodbye to two members of my tour family. It makes me happy that we are getting more and more, but it is always sad when one of them leaves. It’s always hellos and goodbyes.

We spent some time hanging out after the show, chatting with the band who are getting more tired by the day. I talked about the evolving songs to Ragnar and mentioned ‘Baltica’ – he told me it turned into ‘Unfold’. Only when I listened to it later that night I realized that I must not have done that since ‘Hvel’ came out or I would have immediately realized it. Funny. We stayed until they were ready to leave, then left with them and said our goodbyes a little later at my hotel. It was fun hanging out with you. See you next tour!

Setlist:

Himinhvel
Things you said
Someone who cares
Á meðan jörðin sjefur
Þér ég unni
Næturylur
Orð að eigin vali
Systir
Nú gleymist ég

Ró
Silfurskin
Ljoð í sand
Við dagsins hnig
You just have to know of me
Sunday Morning
Heiðin
Shine
You again
Shades

And so it goes
Góða veislu gjöra skal

pictures of this concert

Árstíðir spring tour: 14 concerts down, 6 to go, next stop: Stainach