Terminal 5 upcoming shows
Jonsi (from Sigur Ros)
Death Vessel
Pre-order new album \\\"Go"\\\ exclusively during presale- Venue:
-
Terminal 5
- Date:
- Sun 5/09
- Notes:
- all ages
- Doors: 7:00 PM / Show: 8:00 PM
- $35 advance / $40 day of show
- Jonsi
- official website
- myspace
- Although it all did start out on just guitar, piano and harmonium, acoustic isn't the first word that springs to mind when listening to 'Go', the first solo album from Sigur Ros frontman, Jonsi. Joyous, exhilarating and fearless, maybe. Ecstatic, dramatic and alive, perhaps. As an album it's more wild extravaganza than solipsistic rumination. Much of the way it has grown and evolved has to do with Jonsi's choice of free-spirited collaborators. All the album's arrangements are by Nico Muhly, the Philip Glass protege known for his work with Bjork, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Antony & the Johnsons and Grizzly Bear. Nico is all over 'Go,' his exuberant, flitting arrangements for strings, brass and woodwind a dizzying counterpoint to Jonsi's broadened vocal range. The off-kilter and original percussive style of Finnish drummer Samuli Kosminen, sometime member of Mum and owner of a suitcase full of magical crap, added another fascinating layer to the album. With the help of his 'Riceboy Sleeps' collaborator and boyfriend, Alex Somers, Jonsi narrowed down the folder of material from 25 to a core of 11 songs and headed off to record with Peter Katis at his Tarquin Studios in Connecticut in Spring 2009 . There, Jonsi made the decision to go for broke and "scale up" rather than rein in the material, and so this minimally-conceived album came to be about "everything". 'Go' completes a personal journey for Jonsi away from the wordless and near-brutal sonic monoliths of Sigur Ros's untitled '( )' album, and is a bold stride beyond the career-redefining pop of 'Hoppipolla', and even the explosive percussive assault of the last album's 'Gobbledigook'. His voice has never been more impressive or breathtakingly arranged; here spectral and wraithlike, there fulsome and gorgeously warm, or else with backing vocals swooping and darting everywhere in a giddying array of crazed inventiveness.
"The energy and emotion evoked was something that anyone lucky enough to be there will never forget."
vancouver city buzz
"Guaranteed to be remembered as the concert moment of the year, it was a conclusion that was nothing less than pulverizing in the best way."
straight.com
"The hour-and-a-half flew by in five minutes but I would've stayed for years."
Portland Mercury
"many .. staring in wide-eyed, jaw-dropped amazement at the five musicians" - KEXP
"a performance so transcendent that many audience members seemed rooted in place."
-under the radar magazine
“On a set that looked like the Museum of Natural History after a fire (trust me), a tight musical arc that fit the songs into one another like puzzle pieces, and gorgeous projections courtesy of London's 59 Productions, the show was less winsome rock and more serious Theatre.” – Spin.com
“Sigur Ros is a beautiful thing, but when he goes solo, Jonsi does something amazing -- he lets his freak flag fly.” – Spin.com
“It blindsided the stunned crowd, yet felt a little apropos -- Iceland's on quite a roll for geologic-level intense events right now.” – LATimes.com
“Jónsi scuttled from piano to center stage, leading his band from precious orchestral pop into a roiling sea of percussion. He ran his lyrics through a series of effects pedals that further illuminated That Voice -- an overpoweringly pure falsetto that is still one of the most uncanny in rock music.” – LATimes.com
"Guitars poured in on the margins, then overtook the song, and finally crescendoed into one of the most pristine yet violent walls of sound that Coachella's ever seen"
– LATimes.com
“Jonsi seamlessly performed the most emotionally arresting night of music I've seen in as long as I can remember, both in it's effervescent, life-affirming orgasmic joy and when it chocked me up—even though the words were in some other, perhaps non-existent, language.” – Portland Mercury
“For his first solo tour, Jónsi made sure his live performance would do justice to his cinematic music. The final production is a hybrid between a theatrical set with physical structures inspired by a famous shop which burnt down, and virtual content projected across the stage.” – KEXP
“The audience bursts into cheer, some with tears running down their cheeks, others embracing their lovers, and many still staring in wide-eyed, jaw-dropped amazement at the five musicians while they clasp hands and take a bow.” – KEXP
“With ninety minutes of genuine, theatrical production, replete with an interactive set and costumes, the unearthly lead singer of Sigur Ros, Jón Þór Birgisson (Jonsi), made the fifth stop of his solo career at the Roseland Theater with a performance designed for an opera house.” –Oregon Music News
“Bringing some to tears, the intensity and sheer of force the final minutes triggered cool perspiration to chill stunned onlookers–one powerful gasp before letting go forever. “ – Oregon Music News
“Wearing a fitted patchwork costume draped with multicolored fabric streamers and sprouting feathers, he led the band through most of the album without much chatter and a whole lot of enchanting otherworldly falsetto.” – The Sunbreak
“Jon Thor Birgisson aka “Jónsi” has a majestic voice and a penchant for clever, extravagant, and utterly gorgeous stage show that converts the already beautiful music into something worthy of an art exhibit.” – JazzSick
---------
fan comments from jonsi.com/concerts
"This was the most inspired and inspiring production I have seen in decades."
"The flawless musical performance alongside the unbelievable visual effects was mind-blowing."
"This is the most beautiful stage show I’ve ever seen, and greater than the sum of its parts."
"When I tell people about what I saw I will hestitate to even call it a concert, and definitely not just another gig. It was an experience."
"This was unquestionable the single greatest concert I have ever seen."
- Death Vessel
- official website
- myspace
- Death Vessel is Joel Thibodeau's work as both a solo artist and band leader. His music, captured on the resplendent record "Stay Close", is an eloquent distillation of a life's tales. Born in Berlin, Germany before The Wall fell... raised in Kennebunkport, Maine before the senior Bush's presidency... this musician lived a childhood where the ghosts of Cold War casualties and seaport tragedies haunted the alleyways and beaches. Leaving Maine as a teenager, Thibodeau moved to Boston, Providence and New York. In Providence he was a founding member, songwriter and performer of the group String Builder. Now as then, Thibodeau captures the surreal and the sublime in wondrous song.
Thibodeau's vocal delivery is astonishing. Perhaps his singing is best-described as descendent from "the high lonesome sound" - unleashed upon the world by Roscoe Holcomb in the early 1960's. With this voice, Death Vessel delivers stunning lyrical poetry that transcends the "whisky 'n' haystack" imagery of its neo-folk contemporaries. Thibodeau brings this same unusual experimentation to the acoustic guitar (his primary instrument). The daringly melodic plucking of strings and the odd tempo changes provide expertly unexpected accompaniment.
To watch Death Vessel perform live is to watch an audience under a spell. This applies whether it's just Thibodeau alone with an acoustic guitar or with an expanded lineup that often includes regular contributors to Death Vessel Pete Donnelly (The Figgs) and Erik Carlson (Area C).
-atpfestival.com
OTHER UPCOMING SHOWS FROM THE BOWERY PRESENTS
© 2010
