September 12, 2007
I’d like to share with you a note about the 9/11/07 Bjork show that a fellow Motorcityblog reader just sent in. - Check it out.
9/12/07
Dear MotorCityBlog:
I’m still buzzing from the amazing Bjork show last night at the Fox. Coming from a die-hard fan, I have to tell you that I honestly don’t know how it could’ve been any better. I saw her in Detroit in1990 when she played at the Latin Quarter with the Sugar Cubes…besides an obviously larger production budget and a few more albums, her electric energy, youthfulness, pixie skips, and mind-blowing voice haven’t changed one stinkin’ bit.
The curtain came up to Innocence and of course every-single person in the venue was on their feet. Well, actually every-single person in the venue stayed on their feet until after the encore. (I don’t recall too many shows where the balcony stays on their feet throughout the entire concert.) It was phenomenal from start to finish with a set filled with music from her body of work. And of course, her singing was as gifted and expressive as ever.
Visuals were…stimulating. Nobody knew what to expect, but we knew to expect something fun. And it was. She wore a gold metallic, ruffly-fluffy little number with silver metallic leggings. She also wore orange and green triangular patches of color (makeup?) on her forehead. Clearly Volta’s Declare Independence had a strong influence over the visual aspects of the show. The lyrics go, "Make your own flag. Raise your flag."And "With a flag and a trumpet go to your highest mountain." Flags and horns were strong motifs. Large banners with images of fish, frogs, and lizards hung in the background. The nearly 20 women that made up her horn section also wore the matching forehead design and orange and green "dresses"(each dress had a flag attached to it). You know when you go snorkeling and wear the orange flag to warn boats of your presence in the water? That’s the best description of the flag-trim I can come up with. The orange and green colors, the "silly string, "and white confetti looked great under the black lights, and the lasers and lamparis (pyrotechnic exploding balls of fire) polished off all this visual fun. Also on stage was a percussionist, two Djs, and three plasma screens. The screens showed the audience close-ups of the Djs manipulating their computer/instruments. Nice touch.
Since I was too busy enjoying the show, I didn’t jot down a set list, but these songs were memorable:
::Innocence (Volta) – Opener
::Hunter (Homogenic) – One of my personal favorites. Loved it.
::Hyper-Ballad (Post)
::Army of Me (Post) – Brought the house down. Crowd went wild. Incredible delivery.
::Birthday (Life’s Too Good, Sugarcubes) – Had a "creepy" "Halloweenish" sounding arrangement with organ. Crowd-pleaser.
::Cover Me (Post)
::I Miss You (Post)
::Alarm Call (Homogenic)
::Joga (Homogenic)
::Anchor Song (Debut) – Encore. Another personal favorite.
::Declare Indendence (Volta) – Encore. Heart-pounding, inspiring, encore/closing song. Best song of the night. Tied the visual flag-theme together.
How could you not enjoy a show with a horn section like that? My friend who attended the show with me said, "Don’t you think the girls playing horns all kind of look like Bjork?" They were all blonde, but when I looked at their faces again, it registered…yeah, kind of. At the encore, when Bjork introduced everyone on stage, she mentioned that the horn section was from Iceland.
Flags. Declarations. Independence. Nationalism. It was tight on 9/11 in the D. Something to remember.
Best, Sue Antosh
