Bjork is back (with a 30ft pendulum)

[ods..]

Declare Independence looks SICK

[suprefan]

You remember the setlist, or at least the highlights?

Thunderbolt
Moon
Crystalline
Hollow
Dark Matter
Hidden Place
Mouth's Cradle
Virus
Generous Palmstroke
Sonnets/Unrealities XI
Pagan Poetry
Mutual Core
Cosmogony
Solstice

Encore:
One Day
Náttúra
Declare Independence

[GeezrRckr]

So glad she's playing Nattura...that song is just amazing.

Need.SF.Dates!

[bmack86]

Oof. It'd be hard to get me to that show. Where's the Post, Homogenic and Vespertine work?

[suprefan]

they are back on the tour from 2007.

[Gribbz]

Bjork:

Due to health issues, tonight’s björk show at the new york hall of science is canceled. refunds will be available at point of purchase.

[kreutz2112]

Oof. It'd be hard to get me to that show. Where's the Post, Homogenic and Vespertine work?

There's actually quite a bit of Vespertine...Generous Palmstroke is a Vespertine B-side (and is fucking amazing)...and Hidden Place + Pagan Poetry, but yeah, god damn it. I still think I will try for tickets for at least one CA show.

[kreutz2112]

Now that I take a closer look I actually really like that setlist. Mouth's Cradle, Sonnets/Unrealities XI, Generous Palmstroke and Náttúra are all pretty leftfield choices, plus she she didn't really tour Medulla so it's nice to see 2 songs from that album make an appearance.

[kreutz2112]

I hope Oceania gets played at some point.

[BlackSwan]

Is she really going to play SF? I still think you are guys are liars.

[Spooks]

Is she really going to play SF? I still think you are guys are liars.

When I spoke with Bjork at Antony show two weeks ago (she was sitting couple rows behind us with Michael Stipe) whether she was bringing this production to other parts of US, she said, "Not sure but looking into it." But according to RS review, she'll be touring for the next 3 years so I'm sure she'll come to the west coast...

"Are you enjoying Queens?" Björk asked with an exultant squeal during the February 3rd opening of her Biophilia residency at the New York Hall of Science in Flushing Meadows. It was a peculiar question during a performance set in an alternate universe of music, technology and primordial emotions, in a room that looked nothing like the neighborhood outside. The museum's Great Hall is an eerie windowless space with a cathedral-high ceiling and irregularly curved walls that suggest convulsive ripples in time and space.

But the Icelandic singer's choice of setting was effective and moving, even more immersive than the Biophilia show I saw in Reykjavik last fall. Surrounded by a future-now production of exotic invented instruments (the gravity harp, a gameleste) triggered with iPad sorcery, Björk created a dazzling compact world of heated passions and excited science heightened by the tall black space overhead and an outer ring of darkness that seemed to gently press the in-the-round audience (under 700) against the tiny stage, almost into the show. Björk often sang from inside a circle of gold satin, blue sequins and gleaming blonde hair formed by the Graduale Nobili, her 24-piece Icelandic female choir. It was a shimmering cocoon unto itself.

Biophilia 2012

There have been changes in the production since its October run in Iceland. Bjork's giant orange wig was less like a day-glo Brillo pad in Queens, closer to a mushroom-like bouffant with streaks of robin's-egg blue. The huge Tesla coils that spit lighting and beats in "Thunderbolt" came down in a vertical, rather than horizontal, cage. Max Wiesel, who designed the iPad apps for Biophilia, is actually in the band now, running the electronics. (When Björk introduced him, she noted that it was his first live gig ever.)

Björk also dropped two older crowd-pleasers, "Venus as a Boy" and "Isobel," that were in the Reykjavik set list, along with one Biophilia track, "Sacrifice." The only songs in the Queens show that also appear on Björk's 2002 Greatest Hits set were "Hidden Place" and "Pagan Poetry." There was party time: drummer Manu Delago's orgiastic blast of percussion at the end of "Crystalline"; the lunatic joy of the last encore, "Declare Independence." But this is not, by a long-stretch, a retrospective.

In fact, the evening affirmed the ongoing invention in the spectacle Björk has built around Biophilia. Harpist Zeena Parkins, a longtime Björk collaborator, is a wise addition to the New York run. Parkins' swoops and plucked rings lent a soft warming light to the music. She also provided spare incisive accompaniment for Björk's near-alien improvisations in the second half of "Sonnets/Unrealities" from 2001's Medulla.


The Love in Nature

Biophilia is a record about harmony and turmoil, Björk's equation of human passions with the glory, peace and violence found in nature. It is also a major commitment. After her six shows in Queens, ending February 18th, Björk moves to New York's Roseland for four more dates, ending March 2nd. She will continue to tour this production, in residencies like this one, for the next three years. And, as in Reykjavik, education comes with it. The New York Hall of Science is hosting classes in which middle-school students explore the bonds and boundaries of music and science with iPads and local instructors.

In the show, the disembodied gravity of David Attenborough's pre-recorded narration is a useful guide to the metaphors and themes encoded in each strand of Biophilia. But in every inch of Björk's extravagantly designed space, her voice is still the most powerful instrument and teaching gift in her reach. Unearthly in its range and force, yet absolutely natural and frank in its ardor and hope, it is the vital human tissue connecting everything else.

[ods..]

Wow. That's pretty wild.

[kreutz2112]

Yep. There's no way I will miss this show when it comes to the west coast.

[GeezrRckr]

And..when will that be? It seems to be the biggest (musical) mystery of 2012.

[Spooks]

Whatever museum you guys have over there! I'll post the pics of exhibit when I have time but the whole show is totally worth $$$. This show was up there with Apollo Theater gig in 2007. Looking back at that set list brings me back great memories:

Set List:
Cover Me
Earth Intruders
Venus as a Boy
Aurora
Dull Flame of Desire (with Antony)
Immature
I See Who You Are
Pleasure is All Mine
All is Full of Love
Jóga
Bachelorette
Army of Me
Innocence
Wanderlust
Hyper-ballad
Pluto
==========
Oceania
Declare Independence

You can check out some of the instruments she uses for the show here:
http://www.thecreatorsproject.com/bl...ai-instruments

Also most of the exhibit @ NY Hall of Science/pics of the stage:

[I'dDoItAllAgain]

Too bad Spooks lost all his cred with that dumb headliner quiz.

[Spooks]

Last night's set list;
thunderbolt
moon
crystalline
hollow
dark matter
mouth craddle
you've been flirting again
isobel
virus
generous palmstroke
sacrifice
pagan poetry
mutual core
cosmogony
solstice

possibly maybe (first time played since 2001)
nattura?
declare independence

Oof. It'd be hard to get me to that show. Where's the Post, Homogenic and Vespertine work?

She's been playing the following songs on Biophilia tour and tends to keep it around 18 songs (w/ half of them being from her new LP) so you can't expect it to be mostly old songs like her last tour.

Debut
Venus As a Boy
One Day

Post
Hyperballad
You've Been Flirting Again
Isobel

Homogeneic
Jóga
Unravel
Pluto
All Is Full Of Love

Vespertine
Hidden Place
It's Not Up to You
Pagan Poetry
Unison
Generous Palmstroke

Medulla
Pleasure Is All Mine
Where Is The Line
Who Is It (Bell Choir Mix)
Sonnets/Unrealities XI
Mouth's Cradle

Volta
Vertebræ by Vertebræ
Declare Independence

[paulb]

She didnt play Possibly Maybe last night, she skipped it and sang happy Birthday to a choir member said my friend on twitter

[Spooks]

Thanks PaulB! I was browsing through Bjork forum this morning and someone had posted that set list. Oh well! Maybe we'll get to hear Possibly Maybe soon...

Bjork adds one more show @ Roseland on 3/5! Goddamit!

In appreciation of her fans' support Björk is adding one final show at Roseland Ballroom on March 5. Individuals who purchased tickets for the February 9 show will be offered these tickets first in a pre-sale to begin tomorrow, Tuesday, February 14th at 10 A.M. Tickets will be available to the public at 10 A.M. Wednesday February 15.

http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/00...&minorcatid=60

ps This was posted earlier...
i wonder if their set lists were messed up - because i was right behind the drummer (next to the woman who took that photo of the set list a few posts above), and it said for the encore the first song was 'possibly maybe'. some are saying though some other set lists said 'one day'. the drummers definitely said 'possibly maybe', and then they ended up not doing either.

[ods..]

So my good friend just posted this on facebook. I am so excited for her!

Everyone, I am ecstatic to announce that Bjork has chosen me the winner of her worldwide lyric competition. She will be singing my original verse on the creation of the universe at her February 18th NYC show! Listen for,

"and they say: back then our universe
was immensely hot, and packed into a point
the size of a dot, an atom, a quark, a string
that shook and became the world we know",

as she sings the mother song off her new album 'Biophilia', called 'Cosmogony'. Thank you Björk!!! Blessings.

What a unique contest by Bjork. My friend's lyrics are a great addition to the song also.

[bmack86]

The other two setlist Spooks posted make this tour much more enticing. The first one was way too Post-vespertine heavy.

[paulb]

i wonder if their set lists were messed up - because i was right behind the drummer (next to the woman who took that photo of the set list a few posts above), and it said for the encore the first song was 'possibly maybe'. some are saying though some other set lists said 'one day'. the drummers definitely said 'possibly maybe', and then they ended up not doing either.

Ya, my friend Cindy got the drummers setlist...were you right next to her? Lol, she posted the photos of the setlist on her twitter account.

[obzen]

I like that set list.

[zimmy1222]

interview with colbert right now... she's just too cute.

except colbert did what he always does and cut her off when she was talking about something interesting...

[Spooks]

Ya, my friend Cindy got the drummers setlist...were you right next to her? Lol, she posted the photos of the setlist on her twitter account.

Nope! I didn't go on Sunday but last night, she finally played Possibly Maybe!!! First time hearing it since Vespertine tour so around 11 years! She said they haven't rehearsed this song before but it sounded wonderful with tesla coil and electric steel drum! I hope she plays it again on Saturday. Maybe I'll videotape it on Saturday. Hyperballad with the choir pleaseee!

setlist for 2-15-12

Thunderbolt
Moon
Crystalline
Hollow
Dark Matter
Hidden Place
Mouth's Cradle
Virus
Plamstroke
Sacrifice
Sonnets/Unrealities
Pagan Poetry
Mutual Core
Cosmogony
Solstice
------
Possibly Maybe
Nattura
Declare independence

[heart cooks brain]

bjork was very cute on Colbert last night.

[Spooks]

bjork was very cute on Colbert last night.

She was on Colbert again? Wasn't she on his show like two weeks ago?

[paulb]

it was a re-run....

[GeezrRckr]

Boot of the 2/12 show posted by nyctaper here. DLing it now.

[HunterGather]

If anyone wants a ticket for the Feb 28th Roseland show, PM me. I bought a ticket before I realized I can't make the trip up to NY.

I don't think the show is sold out, but you'd be helping poor little me out so the ticket/money doesn't go to waste.
If not, i'll put an ad up on craigslists or something.