Setlist

Tour Dates

07/18/13 Jay Pritzker Pavilion – Chicago, IL
09/22/13 “Brisbane Festival”
09/27/13 “Decibel Festival”
09/28/13 Portland – Mississippi Studios

09/29/13 San Francisco, CA – Regency Ballroom
10/01/13 Los Angeles, CA – First Unitarian Church
10/02/13 San Diego, CA – Loft at UCSD
10/04/13 Cincinnatti – Contemporary Arts
10/06/13 Pittsburgh – New Hazlett Theater
11/13/13 Lyon, France – L’Épicerie Moderne
11/14/13 Leverkusen – Leverkusener Jazztage
11/21/13 Bucharest, Romania – Arcub
11/22/13 Caen, France – Festival Les Boréales
11/23/13 Darmstadt – Centralstation
11/24/13 Copenhagen – Koncerthuset Studie 2
11/25/13 Helsinki, Finland – Savoy Theatre

Icelandic neo-classical composer Ólafur Arnalds returns to the Cedar Cultural Center as part of his five-US tour dates in support of his latest album For Now I Am Winter.

On the opposite of “Winter”, Arnalds had requested the air conditioning at the Cedar to be turned off during his performance because the noise was interfering with his music. Just to give you an idea: last night was the hottest night that Minneapolis experienced this year!

The Cedar Cultural Center is a perfect fit for Arnalds because every subtle note can be heard in the venue. Of course, during “Undan Hulu” (dubbed “The Cello Song”), the AC was turned on and remained on until the encore, giving the audience some relief. I only mention the AC-thing because it was almost as important as the performance itself. You really don’t realize the noises until it’s completely quiet.

Prior to the show, Arnalds was experimenting with using the Cedar’s audience to produce the A and G notes for a future “experiment” as he puts it. His English is quite good, and he’s often quite funny with his various stories about each of his piece. For instance, he felt humble that “the Hunger Game” used his music, but he liked “Battle Royale” a little better.

My favorite was when he was explaining “Poland”. His band would often sleep as they drive throughout Europe from city to city. Not in Poland, apparently, because the roads are so bad that they could not sleep… so they turned to drinking!

Anyway, he’s joined on stage with a violinist and cellist (and sometime with the help with programmed electronic beats from his laptop or ipad). The two stringed-players remain with Arnalds for the majority of his set, except for the encore.

As for the encore, which was “Lag Fyrir Ömmu” (a song that was written for his grandmother, literally translates to “Tune for Grandparents”), it was played quietly on piano. Except, for the very end, which you can hear the cello and violin played somewhere off stage (possibly from the green room). The audio didn’t seem like it was coming from the stage, so the performance did give a nice sense of space to it.

If you missed Ólafur Arnalds for this tiny U.S. tour, no worries, he’s coming back in October for some additional cities. Arnalds’ latest album For Now I Am Winter is out now on Mercury Classics.