I didn’t really know what to expect from this show. I mainly wondered if I’d see Karin Dreijer Andersson, or if she would conceal herself in a manner similar to her performances as one-half of The Knife. Also, what would the music from her self-titled debut as Fever Ray sound like in a live setting? And: Would there be lasers?
There were indeed lasers, and that was some cool shit, let me tell you. Chilly flood lights and numerous old-fashioned lamps, triggered to switch on and off with the beat of the music, provided additional lighting. The setup made it possible to catch glimpses of Andersson and her band without being able to discern what exactly was happening onstage. Only during “When I Grow Up” did the audience get a fully illuminated look at the whole group, which resembled a scene from a pagan ritual -- the band in costumes, brandishing spears, and Andersson in a dark robe with an enormous collar, hands twitching with energy and eyes never fully focused.
All this provided an excellent frame for the music, which rarely diverged from how it sounds on Fever Ray. Live drumming and guitar effects added the texture necessary for the music to outdo the light show, and amplification increased the intensity of the beats to a bone-shaking degree. We heard the entire album; no encore, and no words from the band. I felt throughout the set that we might all be dispatched to some foreign land presided over by the mysterious figures onstage and live out our days listening to the eerie, unsettling noises resounding through the room. It seemed a fitting sentiment for a show that could have taken place in San Francisco, an ice palace, or outer space.
