When Bjork goes to your city, you go to Bjork.
Those who followed that creed on Tuesday were rewarded with an electrifying show from the Icelandic singer. Despite clocking in at over 80 minutes, Bjork’s musical and visual extravaganza seem to have gone by in a flash.. or a zap (coming from her own tesla coil).
Dressed with a massive wig and a sparkling blue dress, it’s hard to not be mesmerized by Bjork, who still dances with the unburdened enthusiasm that children only seem to have. It helps that her voice is still as powerful and as unique as ever. The show for me started a bit slowly, primarily because I am not familiar with her latest work. The tracks, especially Crystalline sounded good. Joining Bjork on stage was a 14 piece female choir group who seem to be able to dance and sing with endless energy and stamina. Their group vocal work certainly help elevate the show, as well as the songs. With some of the new material out of the way, Bjork went to her massive back catalog of hits.
Starting with One Day and Joga (and the accompanying Michel Gondry backing video..I think), the second half of the show featured a buffet of hits including Hyperballad , Pagan Poetry and Army of Me. The latter of which provided a sharp jolt to the show, which had started with some nice quiet moments with moonlit backdrops and transformed into a full out dance party. It wasn’t even like, an indie toe tapping dance party. It was Digital Dreams Night 3/blitzing lights freak out dance party. It was awesome. Did I mention there was a tesla coil? Who brings a tesla coil to a concert? Bjork does.
An encore which was dedicated to Trayvon Martin quickly followed and just like that, she was gone.
It took six years for Bjork to visit Toronto again, I really hope it doesn’t take that long next time.