Árstíðir – Kulturzentrum Dieselstraße, Esslingen; September 14th, 2013
Once in a while with all these concerts seen and all these memories collected, there are nights that stick out, that for one reason or another were so special I will remember them for the rest of my life. Árstíðir’s concert in Esslingen was one of those. Now, the day after, it still hasn’t sunk in and I am still waiting for the flood of happy tears that will come when it does.
The day started with breakfast in Neustadt, packing and saying goodbye to the guys for a few hours. B. and I had decided to “race” them to Esslingen. Despite barely making our train connections we got there first. For a change there was enough time to rest a little and get some food before going to the venue. 🙂 It was quite a walk there, but we still arrived before the doors opened – front row seats were ours.
The place filled up slowly and it took some time for the concert to start. Myrra played a great set. I like her songs more and more every night, even started to sing along to a few of them. She managed to fully capture the audience with her music. For the last two songs, she again invited Jón, Hallgrímur and Karl on stage claiming they make her sound much better. It does sound great, but she can very well do it on her own too. 🙂
There was something in the air that night, I could feel the magic already. The guys were pretty much hiding from me before the gig, but they’ve done that before. I just always assume they do not want to be disturbed before going on stage. Caught up with Ragnar after Myrra was done and asked him if he wanted me to film any song, but he gave me a break for the night, saying they had something special planned for me. I knew immediately what it was, because there was one song I had been asking for since April.
B. and I settled down again and waited, chatted a little while people returned to their seats. I was way too excited to sit still. So many thoughts ran through my head. I wondered if I would cry, I wondered how they would announce “my” song, focusing was hard all of a sudden. It took me a little while to get into the concert when it started. Luckily the venue was perfect for taking pictures, with enough room to walk everywhere. It kept me busy.
The guys were in such a great mood and kept telling us jokes on stage. Karl had brought a joke book and was reading them to the others on the bus. First he told one about Willie Nelson being killed, because he had been playing on the road again. Next Gunnar and Daníel shared one as well. “Why was the ant confused? Because all his cousins were ants” and “Why was the math book so sad? Because it had so many problems” – I giggled. It was a great stress relief.
Before the break in Árstíðir ‘s set, the first surprise of the night happened to the setlist: ‘Næturylur’, a song I had not yet heard this year. The story to it was also interesting. Apparently it was the first song Daníel wrote for the band way in the beginning, just before Gunnar went to Belgium as an exchange student and they took a break. Made me very happy to hear it again. Of course all the others songs were amazing too. The setlist hadn’t changed all that much since the previous nights, but somehow the little changes made it perfect.
The audience was attentive and seemed to enjoy the show. For a moment I wished the guys would get back to asking who has seen them before. I always find it interesting to know how many people are new and get drawn in by their magic for the first time. It didn’t really matter though, because nobody there could resist them for long. It never ceases to amaze me how effortlessly Árstíðir take over any audience. It really is impossible not to be impressed. The setlist was flowing perfectly between quiet and more dramatic songs, so everyone easily found something they loved in there. As every night, the a cappella songs took my breath away. <3
It had been a while since they had a break in their set and I realized I have gotten used to hearing the concert uninterrupted. In my state of giddiness the break seemed to last twice as long as it actually did. Finally, two songs into the second half of the concert it happened: Ragnar announced ‘Sidasta Kvedjan’ and dedicated it to me. The song is so beautiful and so beautifully dramatic it makes me cry almost every time I hear it, even without knowing what it is about. It also changes pace in the middle, which makes it feel to me like two songs rolled into one. I tried to take everything in, watch every little detail, always focusing on whoever was playing or singing at any given time. Especially the cello part of the song does it for me and it was pure joy to see and hear Hallgrímur play it. I watched in awe, so happy that it was impossible to cry. This is as close to perfection as it gets. <3
I was floating on air for the rest of the show; just waiting for the moment I could go and hug each one of the guys. It was still a few songs to go though and I enjoyed each and every one of them. Spent some time walking around, taking pictures from the back and the sides. The audience was quite captivated and every time I returned to B. she smiled. It was a good night. When the guys left stage, the audience went nuts calling them back and got three encores, one of them being played in the audience. It was a big room so they were quite far from each other, but still managed to fill the entire space with their voices. Indescribable!
Once outside I hugged each one of them, thanking them for my song. Gunnar claimed it was the most dramatic one he has ever written and if I wanted to know what it was about I’d have to get him really drunk. We will see about that. 😉 I praised Hallgrímur for his cello playing – that awesome solo has no equal; then thanked everyone else as well. I joked that I could die happy now, but everyone told me to not do that just yet. Ragnar was just happy he made me happy with the song. Of course dear, I’m not gonna ask any more of you. 🙂 It was an unforgettable night.
Setlist
Sunday Morning
Heiðin
Á Meðan Jörðin Sefur
Ages
Orð Að Eigin Vali
Brestir
Þér Ég Unni
Days & Nights
Lost In You
Næturylur
Nú Gleymist Ég
Ljóð Í Sand
You Just Have To Know Of Me
Land Míns Föður
Við Dagsins Hnig
Síðasta Kveðjan
Til Hennar
Shades / Tárin
Encore
And so it goes
Góða veislu gjöra skal
Ísland farsældafrón?
Árstíðir Germany tour fall 2013 – 4 concert down, 6 to go. Next stop: Wuppertal