- by Scott Colothan
- Friday, November 21, 2008
- Photo by: Carsten Windhorst
- filed in: Indie
Sigur Ros left the sell-out crowd awestruck at London's Alexandra Palace last night at the first show of their two night residency at the ornate venue.
Arriving onstage typically in pitch-dark with the only spotlights in the room honed in on the Icelandic foursome, they launched into a poignant rendition of 'Ágætis byrjun' track 'Svefn-g-englar' with frontman Jónsi, dressed in his military attire, singing into his guitar by the end.
Fan favourites 'Von', 'Hoppípolla' and 'Sæglópur' were dispatched early on in the set, in front of a spectacular back display, featuring giant balloons, star lights and close ups of Jónsi's trademark bow guitar playing.
As always, crowd-interaction was fairly minimal, but when Jónsi did speak he stayed close to his roots mixing his native Icelandic and English.
As signified by drummer Orri Páll Dýrason's ridiculous hat, despite the all consuming, serious music the band were also up for a bit of fun on the night.
The zany 'Gobbledigook' was a perfect expression of this with a flurry of multi-coloured ticker-tape showering the crowd as the band jovially performed alongside support act A Minor Reflection who were providing the drums.
After an awe-inspiring, intense encore of 'Untitled #8' (Popplagið) which rendered the entire audience silent in wonder, the band capped the night by triumphantly bowing to the crowd.
You can see highlights from the show below, or CLICK HERE to see a full photo gallery.


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