Árstíðir – Lucerna Music Bar, Prague; April 27th, 2014
The concert in Prague was the third stop on this tour and the highlight for me up to that point. Not only was the venue amazing, but the sound, performance and audience were great. Finally, Árstíðir had had some time for long rehearsals and were at the top of their game. The fact that it was not a seated concert and people had a chance to get close to the stage made it even better. I absolutely loved every second of the concert.
As usual on tour the morning started too early, but at least I didn’t have to get up in the middle of the night and the hotel served a nice breakfast. The train ride to Prague was uneventful and I arrive dearly enough to go sightseeing before the concert. It had been more than 20 years since I had last seen Prague and I didn’t remember much. My walk took me downtown and to the famous Karl’s Bridge in beautiful sunshine. The city is surely beautiful. Somewhere on the way I grabbed dinner, briefly returned to my hotel and set out for the venue.
The club’s entrance was inside a passage and I tried the door, not expecting it to be open. It was though and I followed a set of stairs down to the basement. since I was going down, I expected some dark, dingy venue with a low ceiling. To my surprise the doors led me to the upper gallery of a wide and high room with a large stage in the middle. I took a look from upstairs, saw the guys soundchecking and found my way down more stairs until I reached their level. The view on both levels was rather nice and the venue was full of mirrors that could be useful for taking pictures later. 🙂 I waved at the guys as I walked in and they smiled back at me. A few people were sitting by the side of the stage and one of them came up to me asking me who I was. I explained that I am “a friend of the band and their photographer” and she introduced herself as Alice, their local promoter. The other two were local journalists, waiting for an interview with the band.
Soundcheck didn’t take much longer and the guys went for dinner after. I stayed and chatted with the journalists, then found an electrical outlet at the bar and charged my computer while editing pictures. when I went to check out the upstairs area to find a good spot for taking pictures I realized that it had been closed. I talked to Gunnar about it and he asked if I could go up there to take pictures. <3 Thus, I didn’t need to secure a spot by the stage, because I had the entire upstairs gallery to move around. Perfect! 🙂 Doors opened about one hour before the concert and slowly the crowd shuffled in. The average age was noticeably younger than usual, maybe because it was not a seated concert this time. After a while the floor was nicely filled and I made my way upstairs. The view was great and I counted down the minutes.
The started with ‘Látum okkur sjá’ and I immediately realized just how awesome the sound was. Clear and beautiful every note rang out. Later, when I spent some time downstairs I learned that it was like this everywhere in the venue. 🙂 The guys were in a great, telling us about their first time in Prague and how they loved coming their. The audience thanked them with great cheers and hung on to every word that was spoken or sung that night. Me, I spent much time walking back and forth on the upstairs gallery with two other photographers, taking pictures from different angles. Ever so often I stopped and just listened, marveling at the beauty of their songs.
The new songs from the previous concerts stayed on the setlist and ‘Eris’ was back too. It had changed a little bit since the last time I heard it, but I still loved it just as much. I wondered if they’d leave out any of the new other songs in its place, but they did not. ‘Siðasta Kveðjan’ ended the firs set and I took some time to set down the camera during it.
During the break I went downstairs, determined to take a few pictures from up close and see what I could do with the mirrors. The latter proved to be difficult, because there were too many people standing I front of them and I could not move around freely. Thus, I went back upstairs until the encores. the guys told a few stories about the songs that night and we learned that “Shine” is about taking a one way trip to Mars and the things one might miss on the way. I never knew what the song was about, but this surely would not have been my guess.
Everyone in the room looked like they were absolutely loving the show, including the journalists and photographer. It made me feel happy and proud of the guys. It was an amazing concert.
Setlist:
Látum okkur sjá
Heiðin
The Cannon
Orð að eigin vali
Eris
Ljoð í sand
You just have to know of me
Siðasta Kveðjan
Ró
Days & Nights
Moonlight
Shine
Á meðan jörðin sjefur
Shades
Tárin
Kill us
Nú gleymist ég
Góða veislu gjöra skal
The night ended at a bar with the band and a few other fans (M., M. and K.) at around 3 in the morning. We chatted and had a good time until they told us they were closing. We said goodbye and the guys walked off in one direction while the rest of us went the other way. M., M. and K. accompanied me to my hotel and we had a nice chat on the way. Then it was time to say goodnight, knowing we’d see each other again in a few days.
Árstíðir spring tour: 3 concerts down, 5 to go. Next stop: Broumov