BJORK ON TOUR

Saw Bjork for the second time on her tour last night. The Toronto venue was beautiful. It was on the Toronto Islands, so everyone had to board a ferry to get to the show, which was included in the ticket price. We arrived to this manicured dream park where we had to go over this picturesque bridge to get to the stage. The Stage was set in front of the Toronto city sky-line....and like any city always looks better from a distance. Kid Koala opened, then Bonnie Prince Billy and then BJORK! Kid Koala is the Canadian Scratch Turntable King, so he geeked it up and also dedicated a Audrey Hepburn song for his mom. Awwww. Bonnie Prince Billy has been touring with Bjork, practically the entire time, but I felt like they just didn't work. It's folky, great song writing stuff...but really needs to be appreciated in a small intimate venue with a glass of wine, not before the anticipation of electronic pop artist BJORK! Bjork was fantastic as per usual....entering the stage wearing a black glittery dress with allot of green puffy lace. I would have to say the Toronto Olympic Island show was better than the New York, Coney Island show which I saw two weeks prior. The crowd was cooler in New York, much older and better dressed, but the fireworks and visuals were better in Toronto. At one point last night the sky was completely lit up by gold sparkles. It was fuckin' fantastic and the fire on stage was choreographed perfectly to her music. Bjork's voice was so clear and euphorically emotional...words can hardly describe how inthralled and ecstatic I was. Her poetic clarity consumes me. Desired Constellation must be a new song, but it was defiantly a highlight for me. Matmos are the masters of sound. Their synth noises with twerk-y new sounds added to her performance...made it uniquely brilliant. Nature is Ancient had the actual video play behind it during the song and the rest of the visuals that took place were organic swirls and lines with limbs and body parts floating around. During the Soft Pink Truth remix of In Our Hands, which has defiantly been the song of the summer for me...there was some eskimo animation going on, but I was too busy dancing and cheering to really pay attention. The visuals I remember at the New York show were sparse. Only one screen to the right of the stage with Bjork in a ball rotating in air...very Matthew Barney, but that was about it. The Toronto show was over-all presented better with a more attentive audience. Bjork's performance is always 100%, and defiantly always worth the ticket price. I can't understand why anyone would miss out on the opportunity to see her, as her performances and now memories are a true highlight to life. Yeah BJORK!
Bjork interview after Sonar 2003