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Jóhann Jóhannsson Setlist
Tour Dates
10/23/16 New York, NY - Cathedral of St. Joseph*
12/01/16 Berlin - Funkhaus Berlin 12/02/16 Nijmegen - Doornroosje 12/03/16 Copenhagen - Bremen Teater 12/04/16 Amsterdam - Paradiso 12/05-16 Leuven - 30CC 12/06-16 Paris - L’alhambra 12/07-16 Hasselt - CCHA 12/09/16 London - Barbican 02/10/17 Hamburg - Elbphilharmonie 03/25/17 Durham, NC - Duke University* 04/17/17 Los Angeles, CA - Disney Concert Hall* 04/18/17 San Francisco, CA - Regency Ballroom* 04/20/17 Seattle, CA - Nordstrom Recital Hall* *w/ American Contemporary Music Ensemble Read More
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Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson stopped by the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis last week, October 18th.
New York’s American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME) opened the show. ACME is normally a seven-piece ensemble, but for logistics and cost reasons, only pianist Jacob Pavek appeared. He played four songs (that’s probably too generous), each epic song had a nice flow that filled out his brief 30-min set.
Setting up the mood for the Jóhann Jóhannsson’s set, they powered up the mist machine. The fake smoke caused the fire alarm to go off twice. In these type of shows, the composer need absolute control over the visual and the audio. One story that I will relate to you was when Olafur Arnalds requested the Cedar to turn off the air conditioner as it was interfering with his music. We suffered for his art, on one of the hottest day of the year.
It would look like Jóhannsson compromised and may have turned down (or turn off) the smoke machine. Personally speaking, it may have looked creepier and moodier with the smoke... but did not affect the music. Unfortunately, the venue did not carpet the stage, so whenever anyone in the band stood up to walk to their stations, it caused annoying creaking noises.
As you can see from the setlist, the majority of the songs were between his debut Englabörn (later re-issued in 2007 by 4AD) and his recent solo work Orphée (Deutsche Grammophon). Rounding out the rest of his set were songs from here and there, including songs from The Miners' Hymns and the title track from Prisoners.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Jóhannsson did not include his Academy Award-nominated Sicario or Golden Globe winner The Theory of Everything, only because these songs probably would not fit in correctly (as a cohesive music set) with the live show.
The string quintet (erroneously called quartet) handled the major lifting of Jóhannsson’s composition, with Jóhannsson handling the piano or adding audio sound via a reel-to-reel audio tape player! We’ve rarely seen these old-style equipment (most modern composers or audio engineers we’ve seen would choose digital convenience), so it was a treat to see Jóhannsson masterfully handling the tape reels.
Although they did list a two-song encore (‘Englabörn’ and ‘The Sun's Gone Dim and the Sky's Turned Black’), they did not play those songs.
With the upcoming release of Paramount Pictures’ Arrival (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) on 11 November 2016 and the forthcoming, highly-anticipated Blade Runner 2049 soundtrack in 2017, Jóhannsson will be very busy next year... so we are very lucky to have caught Jóhann Jóhannsson on this truly unique tour.
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American Contemporary Music Ensemble |
Setting up the mood for the Jóhann Jóhannsson’s set, they powered up the mist machine. The fake smoke caused the fire alarm to go off twice. In these type of shows, the composer need absolute control over the visual and the audio. One story that I will relate to you was when Olafur Arnalds requested the Cedar to turn off the air conditioner as it was interfering with his music. We suffered for his art, on one of the hottest day of the year.
It would look like Jóhannsson compromised and may have turned down (or turn off) the smoke machine. Personally speaking, it may have looked creepier and moodier with the smoke... but did not affect the music. Unfortunately, the venue did not carpet the stage, so whenever anyone in the band stood up to walk to their stations, it caused annoying creaking noises.
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Setlist |
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Jóhannsson did not include his Academy Award-nominated Sicario or Golden Globe winner The Theory of Everything, only because these songs probably would not fit in correctly (as a cohesive music set) with the live show.
The string quintet (erroneously called quartet) handled the major lifting of Jóhannsson’s composition, with Jóhannsson handling the piano or adding audio sound via a reel-to-reel audio tape player! We’ve rarely seen these old-style equipment (most modern composers or audio engineers we’ve seen would choose digital convenience), so it was a treat to see Jóhannsson masterfully handling the tape reels.
Although they did list a two-song encore (‘Englabörn’ and ‘The Sun's Gone Dim and the Sky's Turned Black’), they did not play those songs.
With the upcoming release of Paramount Pictures’ Arrival (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) on 11 November 2016 and the forthcoming, highly-anticipated Blade Runner 2049 soundtrack in 2017, Jóhannsson will be very busy next year... so we are very lucky to have caught Jóhann Jóhannsson on this truly unique tour.
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Jóhann Jóhannsson at the Cedar, Minneapolis (18 October 2016) |
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