Páll Óskar and Sinfó
I am extremely fortunate, in that I have a good friend who takes it upon herself to organize fun outings for her girl-friends, which is awesome on so many levels! About a month ago she sent out a notice that a fun concert was on the horizon, featuring Páll Óskar, who is one of the most beloved singers of Iceland, and the Icelandic Symphonic Orchestra (plus a four-piece regular band). She was kind/wily/persistent/quick enough to call and book tickets for us as soon as they began selling them, because the two shows (later four) sold out in a couple of hours.
Tonight was the night, and I walked over to the concert hall to meet them (5 mins walking). Right from the get-go it was obvious we were in for a treat, and we all walked out with smiles pasted on our faces. I must admit that Páll Óskar turns out to be a much better singer than I’d ever imagined (I haven’t really seen him perform live before, at least not in this capacity). He isn’t a fancy singer but he’s got a direct link between his heart and his lovely voice. He also happens to be flaming gay and boy oh boy did he have fun with his costumes! 🙂
We sat in the third and fourth rows from the stage! This is from before it all started.
Hjördís (the organizer extraordinare) and Íris. All in all there were seven of us girls there, but I didn't get a photo of all of them.
Páll Óskar obviously LOVED singing with the orchestra. There was a catwalk leading up the middle of the stage, and at the beginning of almost every song, he positioned himself smack in the middle of the orchestra, and stood there with a deliriously happy smile on his face as the music welled up around him. Seeing how much he enjoyed the whole shebang made it even more enjoyable to watch, at least for me!
Video of the intro to ‘Ást við fyrstu sýn’ (Love at first sight). The symphony
made many of the the songs truly magical!
Páll Óskar synging ‘Allt fyrir ástina’ (Everything for love). ‘Love’ features heavily
in Páll Óskars biggests songs,but this was obviously a concert near and dear to
his heart, because he chatted quite a bit, reminding us to not let money-issues
rob of us the ability to see and enjoy the fantastically simple things in our
environment, such as, yes, ‘Love’. He also touched on how happy he was to live in Iceland,
where gays are now no longer openly persecuted, told how one lyric had just flowed out of
him before coming true ten years later, etc. Also, sequined jump-suits make people look shiny on camera!
Páll Óskar the supernatural!! This is what happens when you wear a jump-suit-ish garment, entirely made up of silvery sequins!!
Oh yeah baby! 🙂
Addition:
Found this on YouTube just now. The sound quality is head and shoulders better than my cell-phone
is capable of delivering, but it still doesn’t come close to the auditory awesomeness of being there.