SIGUR RÓS and OSLO BG ORCHESTRA – live at Sentrum Scene

Text and photos by Andrea Chirulescu

Most of the concerts that I have attended so far at the big Spektrum Arena in Oslo have had some sort of fancy-ness level. Show wise, visual effects wise, noise wise…lots of everything and well,it’s a stage meant for allowing such massive productions to thrill the audience. But one cold late November evening, that experience has changed when Sigur Rós and Oslo BG Orchestra have delivered a dreamy and ethereal kind of show, full of emotion and void of any fancy production like light shows or projections. And that was a rare occasion to fully focus on the music and try to spot, among the rather thick layer of smoke, where each of the instruments and musicians are placed.

The choice was to have the orchestra’s conductor in the very front row and then the band members right behind. So from certain angles you couldn’t really see the musicians fully, but again, I don’t think seeing was the point of the evening. But it was always interesting to notice whether there Jónsi Birgisson was playing the guitar with or without a violin bow or he moved to one of the organs/keyboards placed nearby. Being so dark, I couldn’t really make out the instruments placement either. But all this has probably turned the evening into one of the most emotional and massive post-rock live experiences for me. Especially the older songs, but the playlist was a nice built and flow between old and songs from the newest release, “Átta” – from 2023.

Given that the Icelanders’ music is not a stranger to classical elements in its structure and that the band has already toured with orchestral performances, I believe there was a really pleasant flow in everything. Even the silence had its importance. As I read in a comment, each orchestral show feels like a once in a life time experience, even if you’ve already seen two or seven of them. So I can only be very glad I had my chance at such an experience.

Sadly, I left after the first half – the concert was split in two, one hour each and a break of about 15 minutes in between. As I also had a photopass for the show, I had to meet up with the other photographers at the time of the break, then be led in, take photos during two songs – good luck being silent when camera has a mechanical mirrors that has to go up and down, and it was never as loud as that evening. And after two songs we were escorted out and it was such a hassle to drop the camera bag again, go find my place – in silence. But it’s ok, I had a good portion of magic and looking forward to another Icelandic performance, no matter the shape in which it is delivered next time.