Ólafur Arnalds
Live @ Café 939, Boston, 07/08/08
The Boston night of Ólafur Arnalds' first American tour at Berklee student-run venue Café 939 was poised to go off without a hitch. The laid-back atmosphere of its new concert space complemented Ólafur's introductory request for the crowd to be seated. So with the hundred-strong crowd sitting and silent, Ólafur began, quickly settling into that particular orchestral noodling that made half of his debut album "Eulogy for evolution" colossally boring. The occasional sequence of the cello, alone, bearing two notes for five "pensive" minutes only served to annoy other seated concertgoers -- including headliner Gregor Samsa's fans -- who were beginning to cramp.
At one point Ólafur acknowledged Berklee's reputation by exclaiming "It was always my dream to come to Berklee to study drums under Mike Mangini." It's not a surprise, then, that the computerized drum sequences were the highlight of the show, rarities where the strings were allowed some breathing room away from the tepid pulse of Ólafur's piano.
Though the introductory titter of Ólafur's synth high-hat was the only thing that inspired real confidence in me, it's there that he lost his. Perhaps understanding album standout "3055" was to be the highlight of his show, he faltered, missing some cues and frantically tapping away at his synthesizer, leaving the song piano-less at its most important moment.
After apologizing, he settled into the closing song, which ill-advisedly incorporated prominent Icelandic avant-garde clichés, trying on Johan Johannson's computerized voice and Sigur Rós' projected-dove backdrop -- leaving us with a much poorer taste in our mouths than the end of "Eulogy" did, with a return to the soft, aimless plodding that colored the night.
- Nathan Keegan
