We are not in California anymore Toto, and yes I’m talking about the dog not the band.
4AM, June 11th and I’m cruising down the 101 in route to LAX, destination Omaha, Nebraska to cover my fellow Icelanders from Sigur Ros playing at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Omaha. My original plan was to cover their show in Tijuana but due to some logistical problems the band had to cancel, so I figured Omaha would be the next best thing. So after a very short layover in Phoenix and 5 hours on a plane I was in a cab on my way to the theater to meet up with everyone from Sigur Ros, Amiina and the brass band Brassgat i Bala. I knew there had been some tornado action the weekend before, and as I saw a hotel parking lot filled with armored cars with all sorts of antennas on the top that looked more like big armadillos with wheels I got a feeling that this was going to be a very interesting night.
I met the bands at a bar where everyone had their face glued to the TV watching the dying minutes of Turkey vs. Switzerland in the EURO2008 tournament in soccer, so after the game and a few beers provided by some very generous Sigur Ros fans it was time to make our way up to the theater for sound check. After a short sound check it was time to kill some time before the show. During dinner the city’s tornado warning alarm started to sound all over the city and we were informed that no one was allowed to go up stairs and we were instructed to stay in the theater’s basement until the warnings had been canceled. It’s not too often that us Icelanders get to watch tornadoes as they form in the sky above us so after dinner, every member of the band, the crew and myself found ourselves outside staring at the amazing and scary Omaha sky; it was like nothing I have ever seen before. When we returned inside the band’s manager told us that some of the 3000 rain soaked people who had showed up for the show had to be moved into the basement for safety reasons until the warning was canceled. With the basement halls filled with people Sigur Ros went on a parade to cheer the crowed up howling on brass instruments and banging drums much to everyone’s delight, surely getting their moneys worth. Finally the tornado warnings were canceled and Helgi Hrafn Jonsson, a member of the brass band, made his way on stage for a short but sweet set, winning over the crowd and making the merch guy run out of his EP in the lobby. It didn’t take Sigur Ros and Amiina long to appear on stage in their newly acquired costumes and receive huge applause from the audience, their set this evening was on the mellower side of the spectrum, but despite that the set was a mixture of old songs and new from the upcoming album combined with a stunning visual show that at times left the theater quiet and the audience in a seeming state of hypnosis. After a few encores and endless applause the crowd re-entered the rainy Omaha night as the bands and crew headed back to the buses ready for the drive to Kansas City.
As for me, after hanging out in the bus with everyone for a few hours it was time to make my way back to the airport; my 17 hours in Omaha were over and it was time to go back to California and get my behind to class.
Its been almost three years since I last saw Sigur Ros at the Hollywood Bowl which was also the night that I meet Matt Allen for the first time and the beginning of my adventures with Ice Cream Man.
Sure hope as many people as possible got to catch their show at Bonnaroo, as the Ice Cream Man himself said it was one of the best shows ever.
