Concert review | Sigur Rós do loud, quiet, loud spellbindingly

Concert Review |

Sigur Rós stunned an adoring and attentive crowd Sunday night at Benaroya Hall, with an intoxicating mix of atmospheric rock — at times as slow as melting ice and as quiet as a basket of sleeping kittens.

Frontman Jón Þór "Jónsi" Birgisson, decked out in a black buttoned-up jacket festooned with feathers and chains dangling from his shoulders, captivated the sold-out crowd with his commanding falsetto and androgynous stage presence.

The Icelandic singer, who sings in a made-up dialect dubbed Hopelandic, as well as in Icelandic, appeared as an operatic rock singer possessed by an Elvin tongue. His soaring falsetto was both beautiful and wonderfully absurd at times.

Birgisson, bowed his guitar throughout the evening — producing eerie high-pitched squeals and lush thick undertones flushed out with heavy sustain.

Backed by Georg Hólm (bass, glockenspiel), Kjartan Sveinsson (keyboard) and Orri Páll Dýrason (drums, keys) the quartet played songs from their eclectic catalog, one that stretches back 11 years and five studio albums. At times they were deafening and dense; at others so quiet you could easily hear Birgisson's breath against the mic, or the quiet hum of the venue's air conditioning.

Sigur Rós mine some of the same formula (loud, quiet, loud, silence) as Scottish instrumental rockers Mogwai, or Austin, Texas' Explosions in the Sky — but Sigur Rós do so with a much more diverse pallet of sounds and instrumentation.

The band's orchestral rock fit perfectly within the classy confines and crystal-clear acoustics of Benaroya Hall. The four-piece played their 13-song set to an audience sitting motionless, waiting as each note faded from earshot — before erupting with thunderous applause.

The highlight of the night was "Gobbledigook," the first and only single from the band's latest album, "Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (With a buzz in our ears we play endlessly)." For that song the audience stood and clapped along in time, creating an electric and intensified end to the band's set, as snowflakelike confetti showered the house.

The band rushed out to play a two-song encore consisting of a stripped-down, somber song with Birgisson on glockenspiel, and a show-closing heavy and rambunctious tune thick with squalls of guitar noise and intricate, pounding drums.

With the audience refusing to leave or quiet down the band re-emerged, applauded the crowd and took a bow before once again leaving the stage.

The opener was Parachutes, a nine-piece collective of multi-instrumentalists who also hail from Sigur Rós' hometown of Reykjavík. Their hushed vocals and soothing music was a perfect precursor to the evening.

Jeff Albertson: 206-464-2304 or jalbertson@seattletimes.com