PHOTOS | REVIEW: Sigur Rós and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra bring a once in a lifetime show to the Masonic Temple Detroit

DSP-SigurRos-18 — Sigur Rós at the Cathedral Theater inside of the Detroit Masonic Temple (Photo: David Painter)

The Icelandic post-rock group known as Sigur Rós has been bringing us their unique ethereal ambient, dreamy, and at times hauntingly beautiful music for the better part of three decades now. With having toured North America throughout 2022, the group had an idea for something a little bit different for the future and in 2023 announced a small number of shows to be played with the 41-piece Wordless Music Orchestra. Something that would undoubtedly add a bit more excitement and drama to the orchestral work that was the artists latest album release, 2023’s Átta. Luckily, at least for a few cities, they have chosen to play a few more dates with the addition of an orchestra for 2024 only this time playing songs from the entirety of their discography.

Night one of the eight show tour took place in Detroit inside the gorgeous Cathedral Theater, itself one of multiple venues within the Detroit Masonic Temple, the largest room of which Sigur Rós played during their 2022 tour. Tonight however was not only night one, it was a one-of-one show, different from the rest of this short United States run as it featured the Detroit Symphony Orchestra on stage with the trio from Reykjavík. The orchestra was being led by Robert Ames who has been the principle conductor for the London (UK) Contemporary Orchestra since 2008. To say things were in good hands would be an understatement.

With the evening being split into two sets and an intermission between it helped to make the night somehow feel even more special; a true evening out at the orchestra. Ushers made sure guests were in their seats promptly by 8:10 as once the music began doors would only be opened between songs so as not to break the full on immersion happening inside of the Cathedral Theater.

As dim red lights washed over the stage the first sound to reach our ears was the slow building rhythms of “Blóðberg” coming from a bass, soon joined by additional sections of the orchestra before those rhythms lead to the distinct vocals of front-man Jónsi Birgisson. Jónsi sings in both his native Icelandic and the bands own non-linguistic language referred to in English as Hopelandic. With the lights coming up slightly you could see bassist Georg Hólm and pianist/keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson flanking the sides of Robert Ames’ slightly elevated conductor platform.

Playing through their catalog was not only a journey back in time in the sense that the first Sigur Rós album was released in 1997, but in the music itself. The beating percussion during “Von” evoking memories from good days gone or feeling like you’ve returned to The Shire after a grand adventure with the vocals and strings of “Dauðalogn.”

Set two began as the lights turned from red to orange, the Edison type bulbs adoring the stage casting the most stunning light onto the DSO. It was easy to get lost in the sounds like mentioned a moment ago, it was a truly transcendent experience only added to by the room itself feeling like it could be a set from Game of Thrones. Early during the set “Samskeyti” was played, one of the songs that pulled out a few cheers from the crowd, a crowd that was really listening to the music and mostly reserving their ovations for the end of each song. Nearing the end of set two the slightly more uptempo “Hoppípolla” was an delightful treat when accompanied by the whole of the DSO.

The evening ended with a long, standing ovation from the crowd that felt like it went on for several minutes before isles began to empty and the house lights came back on. It would be impossible for us to truly detail what kind of an experience Sigur Rós is with the addition of a full on orchestra and it really does create an experience with a unique addition you will not see on very many tours. Hopefully these shows are something they will continue to do in years to come, but for now there are just a few dates (and likely tickets!) left between when you read this and October 4 in Austin, TX.