Summer Concerts

I’ve gotta say, its been a good summer for concerts. And heading into the fall, I’m pretty happy to know that if I haven’t crossed them off the list of shows-to-see yet, then I’ve got tickets sitting here on the desk. From what I had read on countless blogs and music sites was if you were to see two shows this summer, the advice seemed to be ‘go see Radiohead and go see Sigur Ros’. Last month, a couple of us took a journey to Indianapolis to see Radiohead perform a slew of classics and new material off one of our faves here, In Rainbows. This past weekend, I was lucky enough to see Sigur Ros perform at Pont Jacques-Cartier in Montreal. Quite better than a great show it was.

If I had any requests, it was that I wanted to see Amiina perform with the band, or see a Mariachi band walk through the stage, or a horn section. What we got was an original, stripped-down version of Sigur Ros; four super-talented multi-instrumentalists from Iceland putting on an amazing show for the eager who came to enjoy their music. A good mix of old songs and new; I never found myself thinking of the songs they didn’t play. I also had problems remember what song came from what album as the order of songs they performed seemed to find a new way to fit together. And we all sang along. Not sure what we were actually saying, but that didn’t matter. The highlight for me was in Hoppipolla Afturabak when Jonsi asked the crowd to join in.   Give it up for Sigur Ros fans who never let the accompaniment go out of time or key, which happens so commonly at concerts involving fan participation.

The band saved Gobbledigook for the encore, inviting members of the opening band on stage with them.

I do love these road trips, but I think I’ll have to get better at buying tickets for Toronto shows in the future.  Anyone got a connect at ticketmaster?

Going into the fall, I’m looking forward to seeing Frightened Rabbit, Friendly Fires and M83.  All bands have records that spin quite heavily here at the Filter.  Search the articles on the site if any of those don’t sound familiar.

Speaking of Radiohead, dust off your remix software, they’re asking you to put out again. This time its Reckoner. Can’t wait to hear what we’ll get.