artists
sigur rós: heima
Director: Dean de Blois
(Iceland, 2007, 97 minutes)
Wednesday 24 October at Cecil Sharp House
BBC Electric Proms were proud to host the UK premiere of Sigur Rós' Heima and welcomed the band for a unique acoustic performance.
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watch
Sorry we were only able to keep performance videos online for a week after the festival but you can still watch this special clip from the film:
on the bbc
- Radio 1
- Radio 1 hostes Sigór Ros as part of Colin Murray's show
set list
- Vaka
- Samskeyti
- Agaetis Byrjun
- Staralfur
- Heima
- Njosnavellin
- Von
- Heysatan
what happened
Minute by minute report, via text message, by the BBC's Lucy Davies
- 19.34 - The Cecil Sharp house is packed to the gills in anticipation of an evening of Sigur Rós saturation ...
- 19.51 - The first of tonight's triptych is a live set. The Culture Show's Verity Sharp is introducing them.
- 19.54 - Goggi, Jonsi, Kjarri and Orri take the stage. Jonsi says they're just gonna play a few songs, and then it's straight in.
- 19.56 - A baby grand, dry ice and beautiful scenery visuals for first song, 'Vaka'.
- 19.58 - Some tired helium balloons stuck against the ceiling seem strangely fitting.
the film
Last summer, at the end of an extensive world tour, Sigur Rós returned to Iceland and played a series of free, unannounced concerts around their homeland.
These concerts took place in unexpected venues - from an abandoned fish factory, to a protest camp at the edge of a controversial dam, to a far-flung community hall, with tea and cakes for refreshment.
The entire tour was filmed and the result is Heima, a cinematic and musical feast. Sigur Rós' big, beautiful sound resonates against Iceland's majestic landscapes. This, along with intimate interviews with the band, offers a captivating insight into their music, their inspirations and their sense of home.
story behind the film
John Best, producer of Heima and Sigur Rós' manager:
"I have this idea that because when you go and see Sigur Rós, you kind of watch from Row H Seat 19 (or wherever) and only ever really look at the rectangle of the backdrop and the smattering of players arranged variously across the stage. That is, you see it as a - hopefully impressive - whole rather than the constituent parts that make it up.
"Without wanting to demystify the experience we wanted to reveal a little more of who was actually doing what on stage, be it Georg hammering a drumstick against his bass in 'hafsol', the caul of sweat cloaking Orri at the close of 'poppsong', Jonsi sitting on the floor with an e-bow in 'samskeyti', or Kjartan deep in concentration in his "office", as his huge keyboard riser and bank of analogue gear is known..."
websites and links
line-up
- Mark Ronson with special guests and the BBC Concert Orchestra
- Paul McCartney
- Kaiser Chiefs via David Arnold
- Bloc Party
- Ray Davies and friends
- Agaskodo Teliverek
- Amar
- Amplifier
- Battles
- Ben Westbeech
- Basquiat Strings
- The Beatles: Help!
- Blanche
- Bob Dylan: The Other Side of the Mirror
- Breed 77
- Charlie Louvin
- The Chemical Brothers
- Cold War Kids
- The Coral
- Daft Punk: Electroma
- Duke Special
- Durrty Goodz
- Editors
- Edwyn Collins
- The Enemy
- Estelle
- The Flaming Lips:
UFOs at the Zoo - Ghetto
- Hadouken!
- Justice
- Kano presents London Town
- Kid Harpoon
- Noah and the Whale
- Once in a Blue Moon:
A tribute to Lal Waterson - Maps
- The Metros
- New Cassettes
- Radio Luxembourg
- Reverend and the Makers
- The Riff Raff and Riz MC
- Sam Isaac
- Sigur Rós: Heima
- Siouxsie
- SOIL & "PIMP" SESSIONS with Jamie Cullum
- Taio Cruz
audience reviews
Trish
I'd not heard of Sigur Ros until about a week ago and what beautiful music they play - what a great band. I'm hoping to catch the film 'Heime' if it comes to Norwich. This is why we pay the licence fee - no adverts and programmes like this.
Simon Westley
I have been a Sigur Ros fan for a long time and was absolutely delighted to get a ticket for this event. When Verity Sharp opened the evening she referenced the relationship that we, the audience, already had with the band’s music. Following their intimate set and the film we truly feel we now have a relationship with the band themselves. THANK YOU
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Xander
I had no idea who these guys were until i was flicking idly through channels last night. They stopped me dead in my channel browsing, and i was lulled into a dreamy, ethereal calm by them almost immediately. I ended up watching the whole set, and raced to my computer to work out who these icelandic geniuses were. I mean, holy smokes! these guys are really good. Never heard such excellent music to chill out to. A combination of Radiohead, The Archive and the Marks&Spencers Chillout releases (if anyone else is sad enough to have heard them!). More Sigur Ros, and ill be a happier man.
Nicola
i didn't know anything about this band and their music until 6 months ago, I love Takk and I think they are breathtaking in their melodic/classical sounds! Brilliant to have them on Electric proms (but why no tv at a reasonable hour - we're not all students). But great you have given them space and I've loved listening to this....Thanks.... worth the licence fee!
Andy
Spellbinding and very emotional. I wish I could have been there. I want to be there at the next one! I must be! THIS is my kind of music.
Amanda Drago
We only meant to watch a couple of minutes and scan through Sigur Ros's set however we ended up watching the whole thing. Compelling, captivating and heart wrenching. Beautiful performances from genuine musicians that care.
Alex
Absolutely fantastic! What a brilliant evening. I love Sigur Ros and I couldn't have chosen a better first time to see them live. Phenomenal!
Sally Baker
It's 3.30 in the afternoon and I can't believe i'm the first to post a review! A totally compelling night - we shall never forget it. So much more than we could have ever wished for. Emotional roller coaster - holding breath, not wishing to make a sound through acoustic set yet wanting to stand and clap as the band rocked through the film set. Our overall feeling as we left the venue - How honest this band are.