Jónsi

With his band Sigur Rós on 'indefinite' hiatus, this was the final UK date from front-man Jónsi's world tour. The Hammersmith Apollo is one of the bigger venues on the tour outside of festivals, and this is his second time in London after two earlier shows this year at the Kentish Town Forum.

This gig was all about the atmosphere, with so much going on that to call it a gig would perhaps be an understatement. Behind the band was a massive canvas screen with four smaller screens around the stage. Each of these were independently showing various animations and displays throughout the night and the stage was nearly always clouded in a light fog.

It took a while for things to get started though, instead of something to get the crowd going, Jónsi's first four songs were all slower, acoustic and melodic. Each song blended into the next with no let-up for any interaction with the crowd. So much so that until 'Tornado' the audience was watching on in appreciative silence – not even starting to cheer or applaud until literally the last note of each song was played.

'Tornado' signalled a midway point of sorts for the set, with things taking on a more upbeat turn thereafter. This was soon followed by the main track of the album, 'Go Do', which saw the band, music, animations, lights and effects all coming together beautifully.

That said, throughout the whole performance you couldn't escape the feeling that, even with everything going on to try create the right atmosphere, this wasn't the right venue for it. Not that there's anything wrong with the HMV Apollo, but to try and create an intimate, beautiful and almost at times haunting atmosphere in a venue this big was trying to do too much. After the show I spoke to someone who was at the other London date earlier in the tour and he was of the same opinion.

This criticism aside, it was hard not to be seriously impressed with the performance and the artistic animations used across the screens. Whether they were showing a deer being chased, the screen slowly filling up with water or for the final track, a thunderstorm complete with falling rain, it fitted perfectly with the music to create an atmosphere that was still something special.

The standout tracks of the evening really showed this off, with ‘Animal Arithmetic,’ demonstrating every aspect of Jónsi’s voice and the range of the band supporting him and the final song before the encore, ‘Around us,’ was equally impressive.

Returning back on stage in a Native American headdress for the encore, the final song of the show – 'Grow Till Tall', was the song that the whole evening had been building towards. With the screens showing a heavy thunderstorm and Jónsi throwing himself around the stage like a man truly in his element, it was a song that illustrated everything the show could deliver.

In one of the few moments of speaking to the crowd, Jónsi mentioned that this was one of the last dates of the tour and possibly the last in the UK for "some time." It would be a shame if it was, if and when he does return to the UK the show is well worth checking out, just make sure you get in early for tickets at a smaller venue.

FUTURE GIGS

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