Sigur Ros - Neil's Blog

Sigur Ros - Neil's Blog http://www.30daysontheroad.com/ 30 Days On The Road - Sigur Ros Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:36:56 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 en The Old Canadian Express http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080923%7C1%7C333%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080923%7C1%7C333%7C0%7C0 Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:34:28 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080923%7C1%7C333%7C0%7C0

Paul Theroux, is the most important travel writer around and was an inadvertent inspiration for this trip. While trying to figure out how to make this trip happen, I came across a discarded version of his 1979 classic,

The Old Patagonia Express. In it, he goes from his home in Massachusetts to Patagonia using only trains and buses wanting it to be "the ultimate book on getting there." There's a lot of

gossip in the publishing world about his embellishments. None of these rumors seemed more bold faced than his constantly running into people in every remote location he finds himself in. It may have happened that way but I was skeptical.

So there I was yesterday morning, trying to recover from a bus ride that dumped me into Toronto at the first Starbucks I could find. The book was sitting on the table, and a well dressed, preppy 50-something with cool black lenses was giving me the eye. Before I could get too sketched out, he pointed to the book, "he's my favorite writer," he said.

"He's good," I said.

"He has a new one one that is good too," he added.

I wondered how many fans he would run into on the way. That offended my new friend, who turned and left. As he was walking away, I turned the book over, and was struck by how much

Theroux looked like the new guy. I doubt it was him and wish it had been. Because if it wasn't, all those fans in Theroux's books may be real after all.

ii.

David Foster Wallace hung himself recently. I met him once, thought he and

Infinite Jest were something.

R.I.P., man.

-Neil]]> Clubland http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080921%7C1%7C194%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080921%7C1%7C194%7C0%7C0 Sun, 21 Sep 2008 17:27:36 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080921%7C1%7C194%7C0%7C0

train, you cannot help wonder why it is so shabby, why the

bathrooms stay dirty, why amenities like happy hour and DVDs at night are gone, why assigned seating is indifferent, why you can't even get to Phoenix by train anymore. The answer, if you can believe the people who work the train, is our great

president. You know, the one who loves poor people, especially those of color. He replaced the head of Amtrak with a

crony and has been slicing budgets, cutting services and raising fares ever since. Isn't democracy in action a wonder to behold?

13 hours later...

Yet another

sunrise. Sitting in McDonald's, the only open place open this early, thinking how cool my friends in Chicago are. And how, no matter how much I say I am going to stick to rock, I always end up in

clubland. Tonight, after a fab dinner with Chelsea and Art,it was off to

Vision, where Milo, Jason, Elena and company proved the electronic scene is one big family. Especially cool was the chance to catch up with

Josh Gabriel, sounding like a free man now that he is spinning solo. In the middle of the set, I got a report from New York saying that Sigur Ros was revelatory. Not a surprise but now that the Djs are done for the night, I know the concert is in a day and a half. I have no clue how I am going to Toronto, where I am staying or any of that. All I do know is that the next music I will hear is that of the guys from Iceland and I am stoked.]]> When Bad Interviews Happen to Good People http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081013%7C1%7C627%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081013%7C1%7C627%7C0%7C0 Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:19:44 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081013%7C1%7C627%7C0%7C0
That's exactly what happened with The Presets, a two person Australian band I've met before and am a fan of. I had missed them in numerous cities, so when I found out that they were ending their tour in Vancouver two days after the Sigur Ros show, it seemed like a natural coda to Sigur Ros.

It also provided me with the excuse to hang with some of my favorite Winter Music Conference cronies, Tyler Mervyn, John Morgan and Kevin Shiu. Over lunch, we started talking about the prospect that the djs and style of clubbing I love, which are built around epic six-hour plus sets, are now almost retro exercises, doomed to playing second fiddle to two-hour mediocre sets by showmen like Paul Van Dyk and Tiesto and, alternately, by pop-based electro acts like MSTRKRFT, Justice, Digitalism and The Presets.

Finding out that The Presets, who have become a wildly popular live act throughout the world in the past three years, were playing a dj set, it seemed like the perfect conversational opener.

Before I got to that, we exchanged pleasantries, talked about how tired they were, how ready they were to go home, how grueling life on the road was and how it was one of those things you had to go through to understand.

After that ran its course, I hit them with the idea that they and the other bands they are grouped with have reinvented the club scene and suddenly I lost them. Kim, the fair one, said he couldn't think of anything worth doing for six hours and Julian, the darker one, seemed to be bored by the entire line of questioning.

I justified the discussion by reminding them that they were, after all, doing a dj set. That seemed to add insult to injury, with Julian muttering about how the person who did that was in need of a talking to and Kim reiterating that they were a band that would never do a dj set.

He then went on to talk about how no band wanted to be considered part of a movement and that the links to bands like Justice and MSTRKRFT were created by journalists. While I'm not sure he's right - bands benefit from the association and, as much as they protest, do benefit from trends (in this case the Daft Punk school of rock), the interview was for all intents over. They were polite and professional, but I am sure the 30 minutes were just another chore for them and I felt bad for that.

The set, despite that, ended up proving my suspicions. Regardless of what you call them, they played music that would work as well at an afterhours and the floor looked way more like a club than a concert. Fast, furious and fun, it was an intense hour of electronic textures behind impassioned vocals and from the look and sounds of things, for better or worse, it was difficult not to think The Presets were giving you a quick glimpse into the future.

-Neil]]> Girls with Glasses http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081006%7C1%7C574%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081006%7C1%7C574%7C0%7C0 Mon, 06 Oct 2008 23:37:15 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081006%7C1%7C574%7C0%7C0
Nor, for that matter, was there a cooler old turn of the century old theater on the tour than this. Although as ornate as some of the Midwestern venues, this one has impossibly high ceilings and terrific sound.

This being Sigur Ros's penultimate North American performance, there were no real surprises, just business as usual delivering up a set the audience will remember for as long as they think about these things.

The real revelation, in fact, was Portland itself. It is a city that seems to have a handle on the future. Granted, the sky was mostly grey and I was just passing through. But if it's true, as David Mitchell writes in Black Swan Green, that music is "a walk in the woods," seeing Sigur Ros in Portland last night was like a romp in a national forest.

-Neil]]> Showdown at the Avalon http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081014%7C1%7C629%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081014%7C1%7C629%7C0%7C0 Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:14:03 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081014%7C1%7C629%7C0%7C0
That, mind you, is no reflection on the quality of the music, or on the legitimacy and scope of Dear’s reach. Instead, it says way more about the audience than it does about the performer. That’s not a dis on them either: If you ask most any DJ, they’ll tell you that the big clubs specialize in low-common-denominator music.

These people, after all, have shelled out substantial amounts of money to get out of their heads, and dance to music that tells them exactly how to move. The last thing they want is to be challenged or surprised by the music. So, like all those people who expected Sasha to come out with an album of club anthems and felt betrayed by the ambient direction, you can’t blame the Avalon crowd who wanted to hear some head-banging techno and instead got someone dressed up like an old-fashioned barroom piano player, spinning intricate, funky tales of loss and love.

Actually, I couldn’t tell you that those are really the themes, but I’ve nothing but admiration for Dear’s talent and ambition. The live set and his comfort level have improved tremendously from the last time he brought his band to the Echo and Amoeba. And, curiously for someone who has been so tied to Berlin techno, the musical roots to the 1970s Berlin periods of David Bowie, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop (not to mention Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya) have never been clearer.

For all that, however, it remained a hard sell Saturday night. By the time he got on, the room was packed and, to be able to see, I had to stand in the back, by the side of the room. By the fourth or fifth song, most of those people had left for the outlying dj rooms and you were able to effortlessly walk to the front of the room and still have plenty of space to move about.

The real loss in all this is negligible. With good reason, Dear is a critic’s darling and can get a booking whenever he wants. But I'm also guessing that there’s very little difference between the music he’s doing with Big Hands and the music he’s doing as Audion, so it’s a shame that it’s being seen as two separate bodies of work. But since the music seems even more rooted in club textures than the Presets, I hope he figures out how to convincingly integrate the two strains of his work into a place like the Avalon. When he does, I’ll bet you that no one will walk away from his dancefloor again.

-Neil]]> The Door is Now Closed http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080924%7C1%7C466%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080924%7C1%7C466%7C0%7C0 Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:53:09 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080924%7C1%7C466%7C0%7C0
I met Scott the first or second night I was in Detroit in 2004. He already was a legendary doorman and club fixture by then. One of those sensitive giant types, you know within seconds that this guy was a poet, a friend and someone to be reckoned with. Throughout that four months I was in Detroit, he was everywhere and knew everything. So when me and a group of friends were at a Doves/Mercury Rev concert, I wasn't surprised to see him there and wasn't surprised an hour or two later when he told me to keep it quiet but head over to the State Theater because Eminem was going to do a surprise performance.

I love Eminem and salivated over the prospect of seeing him in his own town at an afterhours, but these things hardly come off so I let my skepticism show. He raised an eyebrow, told me he had just gotten a call from them in the car and to stop being silly. And as to my friends, well, he knew them longer than he had known me and would make sure it wouldn't be a problem. So, some 30 minutes later, as instructed, we quietly scurried out of the club and made our way to the State where, true to his word, Scott ushered in through a side entrance.

Having been exclusively going to techno events while I was there, I wasn't prepared for the down and dirty vibe of Detroit hip-hop late on a Saturday night. It was intoxicating, even though Proof, who was parading around the stage flanked by what seemed like an entourage of 50 people, was awful. We got buffeted around by the crowd a bit, and then, feeling very out of our element, noticed a nasty change in the vibe and moved away from the front, back to the relative safety of the mid-floor bar.

That was a good thing, because a fight broke out on stage shortly thereafter. It would have been amusing but it also meant that Eminem turned right around and drove back to his suburban enclave, thus ending any shot I had at seeing him in his native digs.

I remembered that story with a smile, then asked Dan what Scott was doing on the screen saver.

"Oh, you don't know. He passed a few weeks ago."

The details of that passing are personal and tragic and don't bear repeating because they are mere details to his death. And, unlike the saying, the truth is not in these details, but in the larger picture that was Scott Ross. And what a picture that was. So be at peace, my friend. Detroit may not be as bright without you, but we're all the better for having known you. That's for sure.

-Neil]]> Blood on the Tracks http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081002%7C1%7C565%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081002%7C1%7C565%7C0%7C0 Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:51:55 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081002%7C1%7C565%7C0%7C0
The arena, which has more a high-school gym vibe than anything else, is used almost as infrequently as My Bloody Valentine tours, so most of the people in the audience, which seemed to be primarily music business gents from yesteryear and hard-core fans like the Ghostly crew who came of age to Loveless, had never even been there before. They were as excited as kids, many going tonight as well, because this was a chance to see the band they grew up to live for the first time.

While I loved the whole shoegazing thing, my attachment was less emotional, having always preferred Ride, especially live, to the others. Still, there’s no denying MBV’s influence, so my expectations were cranked up as well. But my emotional allegiance belongs to Sigur Ros, so I had less at stake (besides my hearing). Besides, I had read the uniformly negative message boards from San Francisco the night before, so I didn’t even make it into the venue until after ten, just as the band was getting ready to come on.

The first hour or so was impressive if just what you would have expected. The songs have worn well, and the MBV played with an assurance and power that was remarkable for a band that has started touring after a virtually unheard of stretch of time. Unlike the rest of the crowd, I was still in a Sigur Ros mindset and, when they played a song I had less interest with, I kept thinking mostly about how direct a link there was to the two bands’ sensibilities.

But then, after they thanked everyone for coming, My Bloody Valentine launched into a 20 minute assault that obliterated the ability to think, beyond thanking God that you were in fact wearing earplugs (that ultimately did little good) and not on mind-altering drugs (because you were being led into the abyss with no way of coming back). The band went on and on, cranking the intensity to match the devastating volume, taking you down roads you didn’t know existed. It may have been 14 years in the making, but from the sound that exploded from the stage, it was 14 years well spent.

-Neil]]> Getting There http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080927%7C1%7C512%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080927%7C1%7C512%7C0%7C0 Sat, 27 Sep 2008 12:20:05 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080927%7C1%7C512%7C0%7C0

Red Rocks isn't just the prettiest venue in the States. It's the only one I know of that is a

workout to get to your seat.

-Neil]]> Happy Endings http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081008%7C1%7C579%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081008%7C1%7C579%7C0%7C0 Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:44:10 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081008%7C1%7C579%7C0%7C0
Before we get to the head-scratching, though, there was karma oozing from the front of the room. Sitting next to me in a mostly conservative looking audience were two tatted, pierced, goth-punk Torontons, recent transplants to Vancouver. They told me that the weird thing about the people in Vancouver was that they weren't really into music, having the benefit of all this nature around them, the way city folk back east were.

So, finding themselves without tickets, they got to the campus where the show took place ("these people are spoiled," they marveled. "They have their own bars, movie theaters, even their own beach...") around two, found the buses (not difficult as they were sitting outside the venue) and waited until the band went out. At that point, they begged for pictures, for the band to autograph their drum head and, although they didn't expect it, tickets. The band obliged on each point, and suddenly, they were fourth row center into one of the most difficult ticket buys in Vancouver.

The second instance was even better. Dismayed by the amount of people who were shut out of the show, a fan started a facebook "Second Show in Vancouver" campaign. That didn't work, as he suspected it wouldn't, but he showed up anyway, waited in a stand-by line for hours and was handed the last ticket in the room, two rows closer than the other two. He was so nice and so committed that seeing him sitting there in front of me validated my belief that when you are meant to be there, a ticket falls into your hands.

Speaking of happy, Sigur Ros and the Parachutes, who have gone sadly unmentioned in this running commentary primarily because of space and Internet Cafe time constraints, were not lagging in that department. As bands are wont to do on the last show of the tour, everyone made their way into the Sigur Ros tour bus for a party that raged. All I'm going to say about that is three words: bad disco music. No, make that four words: REALLY bad disco music.

-Neil]]> Size Matters http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080928%7C1%7C519%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080928%7C1%7C519%7C0%7C0 Sun, 28 Sep 2008 12:22:33 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080928%7C1%7C519%7C0%7C0

Red Rocks seemed like the best of the venues, an angle all the local press had commented on. And the competition for the smart concert-goer was intense, what with Ani de Franco at the posh Paramount Theater and The Dandy Warhols at the Gothic.

But it was the last show of the year for the outdoor venue and whether it was the venue, the size of the crowd (a virtual sellout after all) or just the idea that the tour was half over, but this show lived up to all expectations.

For the first time, for instance, the rollicking second track on Meo...easily my favoriite song on the new album, "Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur," was not-so-rushed that it was thrown away. Although, as they have in the other venues, the crowd greeted Jonsi's invitation to sing, this time they actually joined along. And when it came time to "clap on the beat" to the crowd-pleasing finale, "Glosoli," (this time sans confetti), his timing was perfect because, as he noted, it was getting cold and it felt good to get the blood flowing.

Then, all too soon, it was over. For the first-timers, it was the standard de-virginization and requisite religious experience. For the Sigur Ros veterans, it was proof that intimate venues are great but sometimes bigger really is better.

-Neil]]> The Back-Home Friday Blues http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081017%7C1%7C631%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081017%7C1%7C631%7C0%7C0 Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:07:46 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081017%7C1%7C631%7C0%7C0
So, despite being convinced it would take 48 hours to recover from Sigur Ros, it’s been a slow climb back. And for the first time since I got back, I put on my favorite Sigur Ros song of the season, Inni..., the second track on the album, and images still come flooding back, too quick to isolate if only for a minute.

In the same way, I remember subjects of conversations first, and then work my way to who said it where. I couldn’t remember who told me about Donna Leon, a mystery writer of some accomplishment, for days, for instance. Then, suddenly I remembered it was the Englishman who wore socks with his sandles and had been stranded overnight in Alberquerque. I’m not sure that matters in that I don’t know his name and will probably never see him again, but traveling in the end is based upon snapshots like that.

I am not even sure I want to put a box around the last month just yet. What I can say is that listening to the album for the first time (on its second go-round if truth be told) is that the live sets have pulled this album in focus for me. For some reason, I thought the live sets were drawing more heavily from the older songs, but, as this listening drove home, these are all songs that I got to know live. And maybe because of that, the album seems so much better than it did to me at first.

Now, I fully admit that’s not a punch line that should take thousands of dollars and hundreds of dollars to arrive at. I’ll readily apologize for putting off sorting out the “real” Sigur Ros 2008 story for another day or two because there’s three minutes left before the album is over. And all I really want to do right now is turn off the computer and the phone and play it one more time.

-Neil]]> First Day of School http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080917%7C1%7C113%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080917%7C1%7C113%7C0%7C0 Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:51:39 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080917%7C1%7C113%7C0%7C0 So Sigur Ros is in

New York, and I’m in

Los Angeles. It’s admittedly an odd beginning but, as in most cases, there’s a reason -- several actually -- why the show must go on without me.It happened, as these things are wont to do, with the realization that Sigur Ros was going to be doing a full-fledged US tour. After trekking around the continent with Sasha and John Digweed last spring, this one looked like a piece of cake. Sixteen or 17 shows in a three week period; no late nights; no week-long slides into debauchery in Mexico or Miami. How difficult could it be, right? So we dove in, as we are also wont to do. Then reality struck.

First there was the sticker shock. Even under the most spartan of conditions, it was going to cost at least $11,000, four times more than I could afford, to follow them to every show. Given the tenor of the times, I would question the wisdom of that sort of expenditure -- I mean, if you really get Sigur Ros, would you spend that kind of money?

Next was the realization that I had Spiritualized and Nick Cave tickets at the Hollywood Bowl today. I have to say, Spiritualized is right up there with Sigur Ros for me so, despite the import of the

New York Sigur Ros show, knowing I had plenty of opportunities to see Sigur Ros over the next few weeks, I thought Spiritualized was the better call.

Then I listened to Obama’s acceptance speech, and to Europeans like Femke Wolting, who are to a person shocked at the lack of public involvement in this election. And all of a sudden, I thought that the real Sigur Ros story, or the larger one anyway, was not just how well they played (never less than revelatory, even on an off night) or how long they slept in between gigs (hours), but the world today as seen through the eyes of a Sigur Ros fan.

Admittedly, if we were doing this in 1994, I’d have some editor on the phone screaming at me that he wasn’t paying me to write about Spiritualized. But this is 2008 and editors are in short supply. Besides, it’s not like the link from Spiritualized to Sigur Ros is obscure. There is a reason, after all, why Radiohead tapped Spiritualized to open for them on the O.K. Computer Tour. And that is why Sigur Ros is in

New York and I’m not.

]]> Of Trains and Books http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080926%7C1%7C511%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080926%7C1%7C511%7C0%7C0 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:09:07 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080926%7C1%7C511%7C0%7C0 Reading alters the pages of a book. Once it has been read, it never looks the same again, and people leave their individual imprint on a book they have read. One of the pleasures of reading is seeing this alteration on the pages, and the way, by reading, you have made the book yours. -Paul Theroux

As for the train:
I skipped Omaha because the train, by now four hours late, pulled in at 2:30, destroying any notion of a good sleep. Not wanting too jeopardize the Red Rocks gig, I thought there are worse things in the world than an extra day in Denver. But there is still something screwy about a national transportation system that almost brags about the dilapated state of its equipment, declares its inability to get anywhere on time as a virtue and makes passengers stand outside closed train stations for hours in the cold night waiting for the train to show up. So when you read a book on train travel in poor 1979 South America in 2008 and it feels just like the train you are on, you can't help but think, "why bother?"

-Neil]]> Train Keeps a Rollin' http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081007%7C1%7C576%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081007%7C1%7C576%7C0%7C0 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:29:21 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081007%7C1%7C576%7C0%7C0
This, at least according to the Portland Mercury, is what the title of the latest Sigur Ros album. If only that were true because, although I am showing signs of wear from the 10,000 miles and innumerable zip code changes, sleeping arrangements, 5AM departures, veggie burgers and egg and cheese bagel sandwiches, the thought of not seeing Sigur Ros live for a while is a grim one to contemplate.

Still, barreling towards Seattle and then Vancouver on the first Amtrack train, the Cascades, that is clean, comfortable and even on time, it is difficult not to crib another line from David Mitchell.
The same David Mitchell who knicked the line "fire is the sun releasing itself from wood" that I also used in an essay I wrote about and for the band. (He didn't get it from me since I stole it from somewhere too.)

At any rate, in Black Swan Green, he captures this exchange between a brother and sister that pretty much sums it up:

"it will be all right in the end."
"it doesn't feel very all right."
"that's because it's not the end."

To which I say "Meo My."

-Neil]]> What I Have Not Seen http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080925%7C1%7C474%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080925%7C1%7C474%7C0%7C0 Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:07:05 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080925%7C1%7C474%7C0%7C0

Chicago Theater is an even grander, more formal affair than the week's previous venues. The place is, as usual,

packed and, given the demand for tickets and the prices many had to pay, a lot of people in the audience are older, more

affluent and, from comments in the lobby, first timers. I can't tell if the silence greeting the first part of the set is that of reverence or boredom but somewhere along the line, the applause gets louder and the mood lightens.

Wisely, I think, SigurRos cuts the body of the set short and goes into the

three song set to wild applause. While not the best of their shows by a long shot, I run into two of my friends who hadn't seen them before and are in awe. Even better is the theatre's stage doorman, a big cool black dude. In charge of marshalling the handful of aftershow guests, he can't stop talking about the show. I tell him he should tell the band and he let's me know he's way ahead of me on that one. Sure enough, when we get backstage, he does just that. After seeing Sigur Ros so many times, I figure there's not a lot I haven't seen. That, however, is one of them.

-Neil]]> The Second Time Around http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080924%7C1%7C430%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080924%7C1%7C430%7C0%7C0 Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:53:49 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080924%7C1%7C430%7C0%7C0

The Fillmore).

Rather than establish a rollicking mood, they banked the more somber stuff upfront with an edge that reminded me as much of the feedback of Neil Young or Jesus and Mary Chain as of Pink Floyd. It was a risky strategy, given Detroit's propensity for hard rock.

But, save for one quiet song that had to compete with loud chatter, it worked beautifully, with an apocalyptic intensity appropriate to the city and had the

crowd howling in appreciation. It makes you wonder what's going to happen tonight in Chicago and provides the perfect explanation as to why fans go back

time and time again to see the same band on different nights in different cities.

Yes,

Sigur Ros will ultimately get you to the same place every night.

But that doesn't mean they are going to take the same road to get you there.

-Neil]]> Notes from Toronto http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080922%7C1%7C340%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080922%7C1%7C340%7C0%7C0 Mon, 22 Sep 2008 23:44:31 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080922%7C1%7C340%7C0%7C0
But last night in Toronto, they did indeed rock out. They did indeed mug and cajole the audience into interacting. And they did indeed mess up a song or two mightily.

Which is another way of saying "Oh my God!" Sigur Ros are rocking out now, and hit encore-like intensity about two minutes after taking the stage. Let's hope they make the most of this by spending the rest of this tour living with the new songs and that they do a second loop a few months down the road in bigger venues.

Until that happens, if I were you, I would do everything in my power to see them this time around. Everything.

-Neil]]> On the Bus to Phoenix http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080929%7C1%7C528%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080929%7C1%7C528%7C0%7C0 Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:40:15 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080929%7C1%7C528%7C0%7C0
-Neil]]> Downward Spiral http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080919%7C1%7C181%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080919%7C1%7C181%7C0%7C0 Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:45:09 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080919%7C1%7C181%7C0%7C0

Service is being cut. The trains are packed with people you would rather not sleep with. And yet another American institution seems locked onto a downward spiral.

Having said that, you get used to the rhythm and the enforced inactivity. The idea of another 25 or 26 hours, though,is probably best not dwelled upon.

People who take the train seem to be

salt of the earth, elderly, often obese. But they talk and,while specifics seem to be avoided, there is an unmistakable sense of fatigue, and a nostalgiac longing for a world that wasn't just about money. It is so sad to me, especiAlly for these older people who have given so much, just to see it all go to hell.

New Mexico, though, sure is pretty.

-Neil]]> Desolation Row http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080923%7C1%7C426%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080923%7C1%7C426%7C0%7C0 Tue, 23 Sep 2008 19:19:00 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080923%7C1%7C426%7C0%7C0

wandering around the

ruins of

downtown Detroit. It is

Desolation Row and a pipeline to the past. Beautiful in it's own way, it is also, if you allow yourself the chance to look and listen, a place of

brutal honesty,

heartbreak and

dignity. Which is why to me

Detroit remains one of the few truly great American

cities and why I spent the entire day in an eight block area, looking at

buildings people don't live in

anymore.

-Neil]]> The Happy Accident http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080925%7C1%7C472%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080925%7C1%7C472%7C0%7C0 Thu, 25 Sep 2008 09:59:30 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080925%7C1%7C472%7C0%7C0

Paul Theroux, one of this trip's patron saints, is giving a lecture on railroad travel. I suddenly envision this amazing conversation we have where I fawn over him and him me. Then I remember how I wrote about his tenuous relationship with the truth and I decide some relationships are best left undeveloped.

Theroux is everything I expected: witty, pompous, amusing. Although the library is crowded with blue-haired ladies and gigolos (just kidding), he begins by complaining that he is sort of on a book tour and then goes off on being reduced to speaking at venues like this.

When he was growing up, he says, you could turn on the Today show and see people like Norman Mailer, Gore Vidal and Jack Kerouac. Today, tv's idea of a worthy book is The Tonya Tapes, a book by mediocre skater, criminal and now author Tonya Harding (who dictated the book, thus giving new meaning to the word "writer"). He's spot on but goes into a lengthy conversation about Trollope. By now I'm already late for dinner so I sneak out of the auditorium. Mindful that he was a teacher, I half expect him to demand I return to my seat but he is now talking about Trollope's mother, an early travel writer, and I make it out of the room unscathed.

-Neil]]> Right by the Stadium http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080930%7C1%7C553%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080930%7C1%7C553%7C0%7C0 Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:01:20 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080930%7C1%7C553%7C0%7C0
That is not to say they haven't lived up to expectations. Instead it has to do with the realities of travel in today's world. Spend any time on the road on a budget and you won't need the bailout mess to remind you that things are falling apart.

Take, for instance, the Econolodge I ended up in last night. It looked like a steal on the web - less than $50 and, if the Internet was to be believed, right by the stadium (Rattle and Hum anyone?). But it was actually within walking distance of nothing except a Circle K and, if you wanted a hike, a Waffle House and a Jack in the Box. "That's why it's $50 bucks," said the personable guy, the son of the owners', it turns out.

Even though it looked like a place where very bad things happened, I was there and was tired so I took the room and had gotten settled when I found out that the remote on the big new TV didn't work. So I changed rooms only to find that the toilet didn't work. ("what ya' want for $50," I could hear him say.) in fairness I did get a bigger bed but it came with a much smaller TV.

Breakfast was some tinny orange juice, some watery no milk coffee and a mini-mini little Debbie type cinamon roll that despite being one bite big, still managed to supply 32 percent of the day's fat intake. There was a Usa Today and the opportunity to read in peace, but only because anyone with a car had left at the crack of dawn, as if surprised they had made it through the night alive, and because the owners made it clear they were not to be disturbed until they were ready, which turned out to be around ten.

So I guess there's a reason why I am missing my family and friends and funky house (no cleaner or functional than the motel other than the fact that it's my dirt.)

It's also far enough into it that any enthusiasm for being a tourist in a city you know no one in has also lost its motivational appeal. Rather than brave the heat - dry as a sauna - for very long, you wait out the day at Borders, a coffee house or, if we're talking right now, the Student Union, just to get out of the sun and into some chill air.

Don't get me wrong: There are a lot worse ways to spend the day. And in just four hours or so, the band will be taking the stage. Maybe then I'll be able to have a solution to the tour funk blues.

-Neil]]> When Good Things Happen to Good People http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081001%7C1%7C563%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081001%7C1%7C563%7C0%7C0 Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:25:50 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081001%7C1%7C563%7C0%7C0
What’s more, I realized that Paul Theroux (yes, him again) was wrong. It’s not the getting there that’s important. It’s what you find when you get there that makes it worthwhile or not. In this case, the getting there was utterly miserable -- almost 48 hours of general nastiness. But then you walk into the Marquee Theater and it’s just a hanger with a gently sloping concrete floor, and everything seems right.

It’s a venue that’s made for raw music so in its own way, it works better with the stripped down show they’ve been doing than the more ornate, beautiful opera houses and stately halls they’ve been concentrating on. And the crowd was scruffy, about two notches down from an Orange County audience, and more rowdy than reverential. They also knew the songs, and were not the slightest bit shy about showing their approval.

In return, Sigur Ros played a blistering set that was easily my favorite of the tour so far and the first that raised the bar they set with Takk. I could, of course, be crazy and be so invested in that two-day journey that I was hearing what I needed to. But that doesn’t explain the other 1400 people screaming with a religious fervor. Regardless, I wanted to be blown away and blown away I was.

Blown away enough, in fact, to risk missing my local bus to the bus station so that I could tell them just that. And, sure enough, that’s exactly what happened. Cursing myself for not hitting the ATM to cover the unexpected cab ride, I boarded the next bus, which only went as far as the airport. But -- and this has never happened to me before -- the woman took pity on me and, although she was going off the clock, drove me the extra five minutes to the station. Which proves, given the ordeal of getting from Denver to Tempe, that all good things come to those who wait!

-Neil]]> Bowled Over http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080918%7C1%7C126%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080918%7C1%7C126%7C0%7C0 Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:19:52 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080918%7C1%7C126%7C0%7C0

New York show, I made my way up the hill to the Hollywood Bowl. The bill was unbelieveable: Cat Power, Spiritualized, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the place seemed packed to the rafters.While the Bowl is one of the world’s great venues, it’s outside and it’s huge so performers like this are often better suited to smaller indoor halls. Cat Power in particular seemed to get lost in the space every once in a while, making me wish I had gone to one of her numerous

LA gigs over the years, especially when she and her fine band were sounding like a ‘luded up Mick Jagger, circa 1969.

Spiritualized, my main attraction, also is more effective in smaller venues and in the headline slot, but, with no stage moves or verbal chatter to speak of, rolled through the as usual stunning set. My guess is that most of the people in the audience had never heard of Spaceman 3, much less Spiritualized, but knockout renditions of “Shine a Light,” “Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating in Space" and the new “Death Takes a Fiddle,” convinced them they should. In fact, after the show’s final number, a rousing “Come Together,” had the person sitting behind me loudly telling his friends that it was the best song he had ever heard.

Nick Cave was in equally fine, if exceedingly odd, form. Looking much like Harry Reams, one of the first male porn stars (“Deep Throat”) and letting his Doors roots fly, he managed to be sleazy, silly, gangly and ultracool all at once. It’s a tough act to balance, but he did it effortlessly. Also, because he’s an entertainer with big moves and over-the-top guts, the hour or so sped by until 10:36. At that point, knowing “curfew” was in nine minutes, he stayed on stage (“pretend this is an encore,” he said), charged through three more songs, and earned a well-deserved standing ovation.

Granted, it wasn’t Sigor Ros in

New York. But sometimes, as Mick sang way back when, “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you get what you need.”]]> Indian Summer http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081005%7C1%7C571%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081005%7C1%7C571%7C0%7C0 Sun, 05 Oct 2008 11:52:19 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081005%7C1%7C571%7C0%7C0

Elvis Costello but I somehow fell into a leisurely brunch at the Zuni Cafe and subsequent rooftop house party that San Francisco does so well.

As luck would have it, the day was bracketed with random Sigur Ros moments. First was a short article in the S.F. Weekly that translated the new album's title as something like. "we better lighten up before people get bored with us." It's an amusing comment that is given some bite by comparing the band to

Spiritualized and giving them both congratulations on a job well done. Having said much the same thing several weeks ago, it was validating.

The second thing happened at dinner, just before getting on the road to

Portland. I was talking to a young waiter about the wisdom of ordering a $15 ahi burger (not encouraging) when somehow the talk turned to Sigur Ros and Friday's concert.

He admitted he had been too cheap to buy tickets but also admitted he loved them and, along with "70 or 100 other fans, they snuck into this field above the Greek and that the band sounded amazing, even from there.

The only complaint he had was that in the middle of the set, someone official came up, hassled them and pushed them back 20 feet. It may not seem like a lot, but when you're already out of the venue, it seems a bit vindictive.

In any event, it made me really happy to find out that a kid taking orders at a diner in the Ferry Building was enough of a fan to figure out how to see Sigur Ros for free. Is that sort of thing that makes me think the spirit of rock is still alive and that is a good thing.

-Neil]]> Long Day's Journey into Night http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080929%7C1%7C525%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080929%7C1%7C525%7C0%7C0 Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:26:10 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20080929%7C1%7C525%7C0%7C0
It caused the trip's biggest clusterfuck, causing me to beg a ride with some virtual strangers and then either check into an overpriced hotel for four hours (and $200), go clubbing or figure out a way to fritter away 300 minutes.

At first, it seemed easy. I got in touch with two clubber friends and sounded the party alarm. But one was out of town; the other recovering from a hard Friday night and wanting nothing to do with anything more than his bed. I figured I could drop into Church as a last resort but BT was spinning and that pretty much finished that.

So at first I hung around the bus station, which is open until 2:20 am and gives you a bird's eye view of young Denver after the bars closed.

It is not a pretty site.

Then, with fatigue setting in, I went to 7-11, thinking I could at least buy some snacks for the morning ride. But before I could pay, the manager accused me of shoplifting and made me empty my pockets.

Figuring it would waste a few minutes, I pulled everything out of every pocket slowly, identifying each one - wallet, keys, pen, cell phone, second cell phone.

When I had run out of things, he told me theft was a problem but when they were wrong, they wpuld graciously apologize. I was tempted to point out that he had confused grace with surliness but I doubted he'd get the distinction. Besides, I was little more than a vagrant at this point and figured I should maybe quit while I was ahead.

Under the theory that hope springs eternal, I next tried to convince a person at the Sheraton to rent me a room for a few hours. She turned me down flat but was amused enough to let me use the bathroom.

By then I was stumped and, despite having eaten around midnight, was thinking about taking a cab to the Denver Diner, which the hotel said was the closest place that was open.

Thinking I would use that as a last resort, I took to the streets once more. And there on 15th and Charma, I found a 24-hour coffeeshop smack out of William Burroughs. Not one to throw stones, I bought the largest cup of coffee and wondered why I had gotten myself into this position in the first place. The hours dragged by until it hit 5:10.

Staggering across town, I felt very much like Edgar Allen Poe as I muttered, with regretably little sense of accomplishment, "nevermore."

-Neil]]> The Ascension http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081003%7C1%7C567%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081003%7C1%7C567%7C0%7C0 Fri, 03 Oct 2008 22:47:33 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081003%7C1%7C567%7C0%7C0
The friends thing first. I don't mind going to these shows by myself at all. There's always someone to watch or talk to. But it's way more fun to go with people you know, especially if this is their first Sigur Ros show, if for no other reason than the sheer joy of hearing your friends' jaws hitting the floor.

What was even better was seeing the band work a big stage. The first email we got about the tour came from New York, where the report was that the shows were "historic."

While I understood the impulse, I thought the claim was overstated; the shows seemed more to me holding patterns, with moments of majesty but lacking the impact of some of the Takk dates.

In part that may have been pacing problems and normal wear and tear, but in part I thought it might have been that the more raw and stripped down sound would play better in a bigger space.

It did exactly that these past few days and, for the first time on the tour, I thought these were indeed historic concerts. By now the sets are perfectly paced and the visuals, stark and beautiful, are as evocative as the music. Make no mistake: This is a rock star turn, and Sigur Ros has now, to my mind, entered the world of rock royalty.

You don't have to take my word for it. At the tail end of the concert, just as the band was about to go apocalypcto, it started to rain. It was cold and as rain often is, wet. To the Hindu way of thinking, said my good friend Geetika, the rain was a sign the gods were impressed. With sets like the ones Sigur Ros are playing, it seems the least they could do.

-Neil]]> Ask the Angles http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081020%7C1%7C633%7C0%7C0 http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081020%7C1%7C633%7C0%7C0 Mon, 20 Oct 2008 11:36:56 -0500 Neil Feineman http://www.30daysontheroad.com/sigur-ros/#day%7C20081020%7C1%7C633%7C0%7C0
Now, as the esteemed journalist Denise Sullivan and I said at the bar, you either get the fact that Patti is the true American artist or you don't.

I'm one of those who get her. To my mind, she's probably the only artist from that long-gone era who is actually consistently better than she was back then both as a performer and a writer. And she's become the funniest racounteur of all, a master of ironic self- deprecation, political provocation and fantastic anecdotes.

All these traits were on center stage during an almost hour long set of lots of talking and a very few songs, including "Grateful," "Gone," a mangled version of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" and two spur-of-the- moment spoken recitations of "Elegy" from Horses and "People Have the Power."

I've been going to see Patti for some 32 years now and on the way to the venue, I isolated 11 indelible moments and epiphanies that happened at Patti Smith concerts. This may have been too low key and talky to reach those heights. But it was of damn close. So, Kelly Watson, thank you very much.

-Neil]]>