The Sugarcubes, Laugardalshöll, Reykjavik 17/11/06 - Review

November 17th 2006 I saw something that I never thought I would see, The Sugarcubes live. I have been a huge Björk fan since she went solo, first discovering her via a couple of 'The Chart Show' and 'Top Of The Pops' appearances, but I had missed the Sugarcubes era (too busy going through my Jean-Michel Jarre and thrash metal phases). That night I (and I suspect everyone else) had huge expectations of them (though also half expecting that they might be a tad rusty given the passage of time since they last performed), and I am delighted to say that my expectations were exceeded.

Björk looked as lovely and youthful as ever and her voice was on superb form. Einar's rantings (for want of a better word) and antics were energetic and amusing and there seemed to be a genuine rapport betweem the two. The whole band seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely throughout and musically I didn't notice anything awry. A good number of the songs in the first half of the show were performed in Icelandic which added a nice sense of location to the proceedings and certainly didn't distract from them. The second half was mostly performed in English and things seemed to step up a gear to a fantastic finale and double encore for which Sjón and two young lads (who were they?) playing guitars joined in for a rendition of Luftguitar. The set was excellent with a varied selection of some of their classic songs from across their 3 albums.

The crowd (most of which seemed to have been taking photos and blogging, myself included) whom I gussed to be about one-third non-Icelandic, rightly sent them off to rapturous applause and cheers.

Apparently the event was recorded, but whether or not it ever gets released is another thing. I sincerely hope so.

Trying to look at things neutrally this was a great gig, my wife who is more neutral then me agreed. Personally as a huge fan this was easily one of the best gigs I have ever been to, made all the more special because I never thought it would happen, and it when it did it was in Reykjavik.

Set list: Traitor, Leash Called Love, Deus, Water, Bee, Planet, Shoot Him, Walkabout, Mama, Pump, Regina, A Day Called Zero, Birthday, Coldsweat, Blue Eyed Pop, Motorcrash, and Delicious Demon. Encores consisted of Hit, Fucking in Rhythm & Sorrow, and Luftguitar