Sigur Ros

Last Thursday was the Sigur Ros concert at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. The venue was upscale. Not a normal rock n' roll concert joint. More like an opera house. We had seats in the nose bleed section but they were still good. It was a weird concert in that it was totally quiet while they played and people only clapped and cheered when a song finished. It was really good. They had a 4 piece string group (cello and 3 violins I think) and then a kick ass drummer a bassist, a guitar/piano guy and then the lead singer who played his guitar with a bow (the object you use to play a violin). It was really cool. The band that opened up before them was called Amiina. Unfortunately I only got to hear 2 of their songs because we arrived late from dinner at Pazzo Ristorante. The restaurant was upscale and had really good food. Maybe if I was a millionaire I'd go there more often. But back to Amiina, of the two songs I heard, 1 was really good - the girl was playing a hand saw... the other song was ok. Overall I think it would be worth checking out there music. Next time I'm making sure we get to the show early - I can't tell you how many times Ray and I have found new bands during a show.

Btw, I'm finding it a little annoying that some of these Portlanders ride on the wrong side of the road against the grain of traffic. I know, I know. I shouldn't complain. It's nice that there are so many riders. The spot that aggravates me most is going over the I-5 bridge. There is only enough space in the lane for 1 rider - it's basically like singletrack. You can go over the bridge on either side, so there should be no excuse for riding against traffic but yesterday as I was coming home from work I had to pull over 3 times in the steel girders to let some bonehead by that was riding the wrong way... /sigh Perhaps I was just feeling a little aggressive because I was jamming to Tool on the iPod while I rode [which would be hypocritical of me since you should ride and listen to headphones because you can't hear as well to your surroundings].

Update:

I found a short video of Amiina - this was actually the 1 song I liked. She's play a hand saw... There's some additional info on the girls as well. Check it out.