BJORK DOES ATLANTA: My love of Bjork is right up there with Kate Bush, so the fact that she decided to bring the Volta tour to Atlanta -- on my birthday, no less -- was really exciting. BFF Mal and I had incredible seats on row K in the orchestra at the fabulous Fox Theatre. We had a quick dinner at George's, paid an outrageous $20 to park (should have taken MARTA, but what the hell, it was my birthday) and got to our seats with no fuss or muss.

We gossiped and chatted with the folks next to us until the opening act came on, although I think most folks weren't expecting an opener. It was a seven-piece collective who reminded me of the Cocteau Twins by way of Skunk Anansie. Couldn't understand a word the lead singer was saying, but the beats were heavy and danceable. She said the name of the band twice and we never could catch it. I thought I heard Santo and that they were from Brooklyn, so when I got home I Googled them and found out the band was Santogold from Brooklyn, NYC. They were quite good.

After nearly 40 minutes of resetting the stage, Bjork came out with her Icelandic brass quartet, a tight band (including Mark Bell) and launched into a storming version of "Earth Intruders." Bjork was enegetic as hell, marching around as giant pillars of flame erupted from the back of the stage. The sold out crowd was on its feet and never sat down for the entire two hours. Bjork never sat down either. She danced, and swayed and shot strings of confetti out over the orchestra from underneath her sleeves. We weren't expecting a laser show either, but when "Army of Me" kicked in, green beams were bouncing off the ceiling and criss-crossing over the audience. It was simply spectacular.

The song choices were good. Probably the highlight of the evening was "Hyperballad" (my favorite Bjork song), where the entire audience was singing along. It gave me chills. "Hyperballad" is a gentle, pulsing eletronic song until the end where the beat kicks in and for this show it was exta heavy and everyone was dancing and had their hands up to the ceiling. Other incredible moments: "Pagan Poetry" (her voice was guttural and soaring), "Five Years," "Hunter," "Wanderlust," and "Innocence." It was also amazing to see everyone swaying to "Joga" and bopping along to a revved up version of "I Miss You."

After a short break, she came back for the encore and did the slowest song of the evening, the horn-drenched dirge "Anchor Song" and then everyone went insane when she did the new song "Declare Independence." The lights were flashing, giant confetti cannons went off on either side of the stage filling the entire auditorium with sparkly bits, some guy at the front of the balcony ripped his shirt off and was waving it over his head, a girl next to me was crying. This was an audience of hardcore fans and since Bjork hadn't played in Atlanta since a 1995 gig at the Masquerade, everyone was hungry to hear all those brilliant songs. It really was one of the best concerts I've ever seen. The perfect birthday present. Thank you, Bjork.

For photos, check out Flickr.

Comments

Clare said…
Glad you enjoyed the concert. I haven't really liked Bjork since the early days.

Hope you had a great birthday.
Anonymous said…
Sounds fantastic! Glad you had great time.

GAV
Gee, Coll, it sounds like her fans were practically "baptized" with her--sounds like a super Birthday!
looking forward to seeing you t'night, kid!
did she wear the swan dress? or were you?! xo
michi said…
ohhhh am i ever jealous! *grrr* she never ever seems to come here anymore, and those few times she did, it was always while i was away. sigh.

happy birthday! :)

and guess who shares my birthday? bjork!

m

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