joy + tragedy : jónsi stuns the roseland

In front of an artistically imagined and singularly stagecrafted set, one fragile voice rang softly, slowly. Whispering in and out, incomprehensible at times but always utterly recognizable.

With ninety minutes of genuine, theatrical production, replete with an interactive set and costumes, the unearthly lead singer of Sigur Rós, Jón Þór Birgisson (Jónsi), made the fifth stop of his solo career at the Roseland Theater with a performance designed for an opera house but contained to a mid-sized theater in front of a few hundred people.

Spiritual and spectral, Jónsi strode ahead and Portland followed on his organic journey of birth, growth, and death as he told an auditory story accompanied by visually captivating animations and lights designed by 59 Productions.

The narrative ran the gauntlet from lonely sadness (as Jónsi opened the set alone on an acoustic guitar strumming “Stars in Still Water” to an awed, silent audience) to exuberant joy (“Go Do” followed by “Boy Lilikoi” at the midpoint), from violent climaxes to hopeless depths completely uninterrupted...

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jónsi solo : surreal set design at the roseland

Enlisting the help of 59 Productions, Jónsi, the ethereal lead singer of Sigur Rós, brings the most fantastical and theatrical stage show that Portland will see all year–at least for a spectral rock concert that is.

Stepping out solo for the first time after more than 15 years surrounded by his Icelandic band mates, Jón Þór Birgisson (Jónsi) chose a company that designs sets for the likes of the Metropolitan Opera Company and the English National Opera to help realize his vision.

Part museum exhibit, part interactive rock showcase, this concert is the live stage experience for Jónsi’s debut release Go–an experience that intertwines film, theatrical performance, an art installation, animation, and a live gig to reflect the epic, cinematic quality of Jónsi’s music.

The construction combines a physical set based on a burnt down taxidermist shop with video content projected across the stage. But the content is truly woven into the fabric of the show rather than just televised on a video screen as images and lights appear inside windows and museum-like cases as well as on Jónsi himself.

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Read the rest and see videos of Jónsi's stage production on OMN.

album : jónsi is happy ‘go’ lucky

Out of the cold, dark depths of Iceland, a project has been flowering for more than a decade hidden beneath the confines of minimalist, fantastical rock. Zipping like a hummingbird, spring has sprung and with it the most robust, joyous album of the year–the debut solo album from Sigur Rós falsettic frontman Jónsi, out this Tuesday, April 6th on XL Recordings.

Go sees Jón Þór Birgisson following the same trajectory that Sigur Rós last left with us on the sonically divergent yet accessibly poppy Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust.

More acoustic guitars and fewer strings defined the band’s last effort giving fans a new auditory outlook, and Jónsi has continued in this vein adding the most complex textures of his career to his unmistakable, spectral vocals.

An epic environs surrounds the nine songs thanks to arrangements courtesy of Philip Glass protegé Nico Muhly...

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Read the rest on OMN.