Sigrid’s Stunning Performance at Øya: A Review

Photo: Johannes Granseth / Øya

Sigrid has an almost uncanny ability to gather a fringe festival audience.

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What’s going on, Sigrid?

It is difficult to avoid the question. Little has happened on the song front since the last time the undersigned saw her live last spring, when she celebrated the release of her second album “How to Let Go” with a fine concert in Oslo Spektrum.

On Friday, the single “The Hype” came, a UK garage-flirting thing that has a lot going for it, but which would just as well have benefited from stretching the sonic boundaries a few notches further.

A professional, safe and sometimes ordinary song material remains Sigrid’s main Achilles heel as an artist. On the other hand, her strengths as a singer and stage personality have been nurtured through extensive concert activity in the past year.

Thus, a large part of the tension this evening is linked to the extent to which Sigrid has developed the stage show – and whether anything has happened at all. Can we expect some fun at Øya’s closing concert?

Photo: Johannes Granseth / Øya

Sigrid enters the stage in her classic stage outfit – white T-shirt and jeans – and fires off a somewhat beefed-up and very convincing “It Gets Dark”. The sound is liberatingly good, which also benefits a dense and driving “Burning Bridges”. A delightful and slightly cheesy “Plot Twist” reinforces the good vibe.

The power ballad “In Vain” doesn’t quite have the same hold on the audience. “Risk of Getting Hurt”, on the other hand, is exactly as good as pop music in the 90s could be. “Thank Me Later” is the second gross The Killers theft (at least!) in Tøyenparken in the last 24 hours, and it pales in comparison to the subsequent and sing-along-driven “Sucker Punch”.

The suitably disco- and nywave-infused “A Driver Saved My Life” stands out among songs in the Coldplay tradition, of which there are several during the session. Several of them are initially a little boring, but Sigrid still manages to pump presence into them.

Nevertheless, it will be a big upswing when she sits down at the keys for “Dynamite” and “Home to You”. And when she sings the crap out of “Grow”. And when “The Hype” reverberates beyond the Tøyen amphitheater, in a far more potent recording than the studio version.

Sigrid sings more confidently and better than ever, with noticeably fewer overheated exclamations between verses and choruses.

Add in spot-on versions of “Don’t Kill My Vibe” and “Mirror” and it starts to look suspiciously like a satisfying festival finish.

Even for a grumpy music reviewer who still wants even stronger songs next time.

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Published: 12.08.23 at 23:42

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2023-08-12 21:42:45
#Concert #review #Sigrid #Tøyenparken #weather #pop