A brief sine tone burst, soaked in reverb, somewhere around E. At first, you’ll think you’ve wondered into a screening of Das Boot, but you’d be wrong. And pleasantly so. Not to say Das Boot was a crap film; it was fantastic. But standing in an open-air concert isn’t the place to appreciate it fully; in the same respect, it is however the best place for music.

Not long ago, NPR were given the green light to webcast a Sigur Rós concert, from Bethesda, Maryland. Some enterprising young chaps took this webcast, cleaned it up, and threw it onto the web for all and sundry to hear in mp3 format. I grabbed it, and listened eagerly.

Back in July, I had the chance to see SR live in London at Somerset House, and the experience blew me away in a manner I’d never expected live music to do. Somerset House holds three thousand people; at the time, I’d gone along with Beccy after spending the day together in London. And as soon as the music had started, 2, 998 other people just seemed to vanish. Somerset House is already a pretty intimate venue as open-air goes, but as soon as they took the stage, it was as if the gig had become a private show for two people. I stood the entire time; somewhere from half seven to just after 11 PM. I was incapable of doing much of anything; the film I’d loaded into my camera sat un-exposed, the lenses tucked into my bag, and my right hand held to Beccy’s left for what seemed an eternity.

Our hearts were in our throats on the walk back to Waterloo after the concert. One of those real “I-can’t-make-out-words” moments.; it was that beautiful. If I’d thought about it properly, I’d have pictures, but all I have are the memories in my head. By about half nine, the sun was well and truly spent, and the sky burned dark orange. It lit up the clock tower, and above the stage awning were seagulls; oddly fitting for the then new track and single, Glósóli. If you’ve seen the video, you’ll know why. The scene looked as if it had been lifted directly from an album cover or video still. Jonsi stood, centre stage with his Gibson and a cello bow, and just sound flooding the courtyard.

Hence this; NPR recorded and broadcast it, and with the band’s permission, it’s available to re-distribute. Right click, save as… Sigur Rós Live at Bethesda, Maryland (105mb) Enjoy.