Fever Ray, aka Karin Dreijer Andersson, brings overwhelming visual and olfactory sensations into the auditory experience as well as tapping into the human desire to connect with a force of creation.
When the curtain at the Musicbox (10-07-09) rose, a thick cloud of sandalwood incense billowed out over the audience, propelled by equally thick clouds of mist. The soupy atmosphere was maintained during the entire show, and with the face paint and costumes (some also worn by audience members), it added to the aura of mystery and the suggestion that some kind of ancient tribal rite was taking place. The blades of two lasers pierced the swirling smoke while dim table lamps pulsed with the drone of “If I Had a Heart.”
As the set progressed, the twin sabers split, rotated, and flickered in coordination. Unlike with other bands who ignore the lighting, Karina and her very capable stage band used the play of light to amplify the music, posing in sillouette or sticking their hands or instruments up into it reflect from their surfaces.
Karin played the role of shaman in a large hooded robe made of antlers, feathers, fur, and who knows what. She took it off during the middle of the show, but put it back on for the last couple of songs. It might have been during “Coconut” that she spread it open to reveal a network of lighted tubes in the inner lining (see the last photo in the Gallery).
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, this was my grandson’s first concert, and I was glad that it turned out to be something so breathtakingly splendid as this show. He got to experience being close to the stage and to the artist so he could feel that force that made an entire audience raise their arms in response to Karin’s gestures. At the end, I asked him if all the discomfort of waiting was worth it, and he gave a big grin and said, “Yeah!”
The setlist contained no surprises from her previous performances, and no encores, but the performance of her entire album plus two covers, only available at present on 7″.
Setlist:
1. If I Had a Heart
2. Triangle Walks (live)
3. Concrete Walls
4. Seven
5. I'm Not Done (live)
6. Now’s the Only Time I Know
7. Keep the Streets Empty For Me
8. Dry and Dusty
9. Stranger Than Kindness (Anita Lane cover)
10. When I Grow Up (live)
11. Here Before (Vashti Bunyan cover)
12. Coconut
Live tracks from Kulturens hus performance, Lulea, Sweden 03-28-09
Where are you?
Leave a comment if you see yourself in this photo! (Click to enlarge)
MySpace | Website | Label: Rabid Records | Buy
- alt-gramma (370)
- indie.mom (395)
- Uncle T (7)
I’m in the picture, near the middle!
October 11th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
I guess it was just you and me, Remy. Thanks for the comment!
October 22nd, 2009 at 7:58 am