Icelandic rock royalty play rare UK live show at West Berks estate
ICELANDIC rock royalty Sigur Rós are playing a rare UK live show at Wasing Estate on Sunday as the finale to this summer’s On The Mount At Wasing series of outdoor concert spectaculars. Primal Scream takes to the stage on Friday and Ben Howard on Saturday.
Widely-known for their track Hoppipolla which soundtracked David Attenborough’s Planet Earth II BBC TV series, and almost certainly the only band on the planet to have appeared in both Game Of Thrones and The Simpsons, Sigur Rós will play as a UK outdoor festival exclusive nestled among the beautiful treescape in Wasing’s natural amphitheatre.
The acclaimed Icelandic trio recentlysurprised fans with the release of new album ÁTTA, their first studio album in more than a decade – released on the same day they headlined the prestigious Meltdown Festival at London’s Royal Festival Hall, their only other UK live show of 2023.
“Few bands cut through the noise and distractions of the world to bring you a pure elemental truth or feeling like Sigur Rós. As can be heard on ‘ÁTTA’ (which boasts collaborators including the London Contemporary Orchestra), there’s a renewed compulsion and drive to the band that comes with the new formation of their line-up. Multi-instrumentalist Kjartan Sveinsson is back in the fold – having left the band in 2012 – to join frontman Jónsi and bassist Georg Holm.
“In a post-pandemic world torn apart by war, economic turmoil, culture wars, and brutally divisive discourse, Sigur Rós’s music feels like a balming and unifying bond.”
Talking of the new album ahead of the band’s Berkshire live show, Jonsi said this week, “We wanted the music to be really sparse, floaty and beautiful. When we do this, we always talk about each album as if it might be the last. We’re always thinking about climate change, doom-scrolling and going to hell. The world felt a bit bleak making this album, but maybe there is hope. When there is darkness, there is light.”
Final remaining tickets available now via https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/on-the-mount-at-wasing
Sunday’s special guest will be Bat For Lashes.
