Thursday, May 3, 2007

Björk @Radio City Music Hall, May 2nd

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In one of my favorite movies, "Annie Hall," there's a scene where Shelley Duvall's character, after seeing the Maharishi on a date with Alvy, calls the experience "transplendent" -- a made up word. After seeing Björk tonight, I too was inspired to make up a few words. Lumescent. Giddifying. And, this one I borrow from Whitney, who accompanied me -- woooohahahaooaooaoaoaoaodhfaskdjf;dlakjf;lkdsjfa!

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Words alone cannot describe what a dynamo she is. Whitney and I both loved the child-like glee and exuberance with which Björk entertained us for the approximately 75 minutes she was on stage. The set featured a good mix of older hits and many from her upcoming release, Volta. She danced around in gold leggings and bare feet while her powerful voice soared and filled all of Radio City Music Hall very easily.

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While much of her music can be quite delicate and moody, she got the crowd dancing a number of times for the beat heavy songs "Innocence" and "Declare Independence" from the new album, and my personal favorite oldie, "Army of Me" for which tons of green laser beams shot down onto the stage and throughout the venue. Perhaps the highlight of the evening, however, was when Antony Hegarty joined her on stage for their duet, "Dull Flame of Desire":


Absolutely stunning! What a thrill! If the ticket were not so cost-prohibitive, you'd definitely find me at her other shows in the coming days...

5 comments:

Qbertplaya said...

I forgot to mention -- Björk has trained with my Shifu! Kick ass! In a 2001 interview, she mentions kung fu -- "For me the distinction between martial arts isn't so much in the style as it is in the teacher. Maybe that's because I always pick up on the emotional side of things. But I'd say kung fu is similar to dancing. It's very flowing, with soft, filigreed, gorgeous movements. When sixty people are in the room, all doing it, kung fu feels almost like ballroom dancing. Whereas karate is very brutal and explosive — in a good way."

Love that chick!

theyallwantcake said...

oooh thats awesome, thanks for the review...definately looking forward to the show on Saturday!

m said...

omg omg omg, cannot wait for saturday!!!!!

Jay folson said...

Yo yo yo!!! I was at this show! It was the most awe-inspiring, tear-inducing performances I've witnessed. How did you get such close pics? Any more? I was on the first mezzanine level, dead center. Great view, but not for my little cybershot camera. Okay, so I want to know if you have a set list for this show. I wasn't writing them down and would love to build an iTunes playlist that mimicks the order of the show so I can pseudo-relive the moment from time to time. Also, what kung-fu do you study that the Ice-Princess also studied? I train in Fu Hok Yao Gong (www.fuhok.org) and Hop Gar (www.hopgar.com) - Kung Fu is the greatest!!!! Declare Independence!!!! Don't let them do that to you!!!

Unknown said...

you can find the setlist and excellent coverage on brooklyn vegan.

i study kung fu at usa shaolin temple with shifu shi yan ming. amituofo!