Sigur Rós & Adelaide Symphony Orchestra @ Entertainment Centre Theatre, Adelaide 16/5/2025
This is not just a gig and not just a concert, it was an experience. Sigur Rós are one of those much revered bands that have captured the hearts and minds of fans everywhere they play but this time it was all the more special combining with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra who are elite musicians in their own right. Sigur Rós are renowned for their ethereal, ambient and neo-classical soundscapes but adding orchestral elements made this experience all the more remarkable.
The build up was low key and quite unassuming as The ASO were either fine tuning their instruments or starting to emerge from backstage to take their positions. Everything runs like clock work and at eight o’clock sharp the lights start to dim and the magic started to happen. Production wise there was nothing elaborate but the way they used classical and minimal aesthetic elements heightened the experience.
Sigur Ros are Jónsi Birgisson, Georg Hólm and Kjartan Sveinsson who methodically went to work weaving this perfectly woven tapestry.
When other bands have teamed with Orchestras they usually are fronting it with the subtle difference with Sigur Rós being they are absorbed in to the wider ensemble making for the perfect collaboration.
Despite this being a massive undertaking to do this in each city, the result is wonderful. The set list might be the same from city to city the nuances of each Orchestra will make these experiences quite unique.
It was really easy to be immersed and swept away in the music as it had that captivating element to it and could be described as pure transcendent ecstasy. The experience was split in to two quite distinct parts spanning two hours covering seven of their albums including their most recent works Átta (2023). It was interesting watching the crowd be absorbed by the performance and in awe of what they were experiencing. Most of the time you could barely hear a pin drop between songs. Touring conductor Rob Ames is the glue that pulls everything together and his influenced cannot be understated.
Their latest album is perfectly suited for this experience starting with Blóðberg which was followed by Ekki múkk, Fljótavík and 8. There was no talking or interaction of any sort but that really did not seem as if it was needed. Von was fantastic and a fan favourite and the serene Andvari was sublime. There was definitely something about Jonsi’s vocals that were calming yet assuring. Big moments came by way of Starálfur, Dauðalogn and Varðeldur to finish set one.
With a short intermission the second set went even deeper with ( ) (2002) taking a greater focus. Even twenty years on and this album has lost none of power to captivate hearts and minds. Moments such as Untitled #1 – Vaka and Untitled #3 – Samskeyti were next level. Ylur gave an insight to how complex this music is to play live with Jonsi stopping the song part way though having acknowledged he had not got it right. I think this added some charm to the performance and if they had carried on I doubted anyone would have noticed the difference.
As the second set was nearing the end there was quite the shift in sound in the later stages being even more uplifting lifting the collective energy on Sé lest and Hoppípolla. There was a sense of joy and optimism that filled the Theatre leaving Adelaide on Avalon. With the band leaving the stage with Ames and returning to take final bows there was at least five minutes of thunderous applause knowing that they had just experienced something pretty incredible.
Live Review By Rob Lyon