Friday, June 26, 2009

This Weekend at the Northwest Film Forum

Posted by Lindy West on Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 4:17 PM

9de0/1246062113-bjork_voltaic.jpgThey're screening Björk's Voltaic: The Volta Tour Live in Paris. Eric Grandy saw her on this tour in 2007, at which time he wrote:

Björk was gnarly, out-of-this-world magic. Her stage setup was a
proper spectacle of flags, television screens, neon-clad (dare I
envoke "new rave?") backing brass band, and of course, Björk herself.
I'd never seen her before, and though I was excited, I wasn't even
ready for this. She jumped and danced and air-drummed around the
stage, looking positively elfin in a yellow gown. The jumbotrons were
intermittently flickering off or interrupted by horizontal static,
but that eventually-fixed technical difficulty didn't damper her show
in the slightest—nor did her apparently reading some of her own
lyrics off the TelePrompTer that Droste pointed out. Her band—
including the above mentioned brass players, Mark Bell (of LFO) and
another man on electronics, a pianist, and a live drummer—was
incredibly tight and adventerous. Bell's wild, electronic treatments
of older Björk material were especially impressive. And the sound was
perfect—that flutter was gone, Björk's voice was clear and primal,
and the low-end synth and drums were intense even in the open night air.

Things peaked with a mind-blowing rendition of "Army of Me"—green
lasers shot out from the stage and across the amphitheater in perfect
time with the song, and floating down there in the darkness, all made
up in neon robes and surrounded by flags, Björk's stage really seemed
like a cosmic warship landing on Earth
. If this is what the aliens
looked and sounded like, I would happily be taken over. The whole set
was incredible, and the song selection was perfect, everything was a
highlight, but especially "Hyperballed," "I Miss You," "All is Full
of Love," "Earth Intruders," "Declare Independence," Hunter," and
"Army of Me." Words more or less fail; suffice to say, I was a casual
admirer of Björk before last night's show, I am now a wholly
converted fan.

The Volta Tour screens tonight and tomorrow night at 11 pm.

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Comments (1) RSS

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I was lucky enough to see the tour in person, and the screening of the DVD at the Pickford in Bellingham. One of the best performances I've ever witnessed. GO SEE THIS, even if you aren't a huge Bjork fan... because you'll leave one!
Posted by Aaron on June 27, 2009 at 12:09 PM

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