This last week I experienced another one of life’s great moments – a Sigur Ros show.
I’ve made a lot of poor decisions in my life, but seeing this band has never been one of them. Magical, otherworldly, unique, immersive, contemplative, massive, and powerful.
So much respect for this band. They create music that is completely their own. While you can hear influences, there’s nothing quite like it. They’ve stayed true to who they are, bringing that Icelandic sound across the world.
This particular North American tour was special. Just a 3 piece band, layered stage design, insane lighting, and lots of sound. Of course, as a worship leader, I had to draw some parallels.
5 Lessons Learned From Sigur Ros
Yes, I can’t help but apply everything I see and hear to what we do on Sunday mornings. So, here are my reflections of the 2017 Sigur Ros North American tour:
1. Atmosphere & Vibe Doesn’t Equal Worship – I’ve never experienced a greater vibe than Sigur Ros. Their sound is massive, delicate, explosive, and simple all at the same time. The melodies are incredible. I’ll be honest, I found myself compelled to lift my hands at times. Matter of fact, people were doing so the whole night. I may have shed a tear.
But it reminded me that it’s possible for us to be moved by sound and melody in corporate worship but not moved by the cross. We can be so immersed in the emotion of song and sound that our attention is directed away from Christ and Him crucified. Our challenge as worship musicians is to use the vibe to serve the clear sight of God’s glory.
2. Feelings Alone Aren’t Enough – To expand on the previous point, feelings alone don’t equal worship. The warm fuzzies are not the Holy Spirit. Our affectionate, emotional response needs to be rooted in the revealed Word of God. Sometimes I fear we love worship more than we love Jesus. We’ve developed a love for sound and songs in worship but do we really love Jesus – who He is, what He does, how He works, what He says? Let’s anchor our worship in the right place.
The purpose of songs on Sunday is to prepare the worshiping church for Monday. The purpose of drawing near to God in song is train our hearts to draw near when the diagnoses is dark, the suffering is strong, and we don’t know what to do. The sound of praise must always rise.
3. The Word of God is Power – There is no worship apart from the Word of God. Throughout the concert, I appreciated the beauty of the music. To me, it was a reflection of the beauty of God, whether they intended it to be or not. Some Scriptures came to mind, such as “The heavens declare the glory of God. The skies proclaim His handiwork.” But I had to bring that truth to light from my own heart. It was not an explicit reference. As worship leaders, we need bring explicit attention to Jesus – who He is and what He has done.
4. Simplicity Speaks Louder – There was not a single moment throughout the night where I said about any one musician, “Wow, that was technically challenging, impressive, and blew my mind.” Why? Because each musician practiced restraint. It was the sound of everything together that created impressive, beautiful art. The bass player had incredible tone and played the notes. There wasn’t anything that screamed, “Look what I can do.” And for that, I was impressed. The drum grooves created a massive space for other parts to cut through. Matter of fact, the snare was hardly used. Only on 2 or 3 occasions did the musicians lose control – but that was intentional and amazing in its own right.
5. Melody is King – What’s the most moving aspect of music? By far, it’s the melody. Melody communicates story. It carries the ache. It expresses tension. Without it we have nothing to carry us, nothing to narrate. And the melodies of Sigur Ros are masterful. It was always central. Most of the time it was Jonsi’s falsetto, then giving way to his walls of electric guitar. At times, the bass stepped up front & center. Then the keys. It was a beautiful dance of each member telling part of the story. Worship musicians, take note. Serve the melody. Stop stepping all over the song with self indulgence on your instrument. Carry the lyric. Spotlight the main idea.
What are some of your favorite concerts you’ve been to? What have you learned?
Let’s discuss it in the comments.
[ois skin=”Beyond Sunday 2″]
I just have to say one thing here. Worship at church on Sunday is not to prepare people for Monday. It is to sing to our King that His glory might come down and invade, and touch each and every person. That’s when things happen, that’s when sin is confessed, that’s when healings occur, that’s when lives are transformed, and that my friend is when and where the power of God is revealed to us through Jesus Christ His Son! Glory to God!
^^^ I think if you parse out what David means by worship preparing people for Monday (and I’ll let him correct me if I’m wrong) is that corporate worship does not exist as an isolated event unto itself. Being drawn up into the trinitarian experience of God in corporate worship draws us into the God who is missional and ever-outwardly focused. As such as we experience his glory, and the forgiveness of sins, and his healing, his transformation, etc., the appropriate response and natural outcome is a life that is lived by faith in Christ, Monday-Saturday, so that the Church can be who it is called to be.
I have noticed you don’t monetize your blog, don’t waste your traffic, you can earn extra bucks every month because you’ve got high quality
content. If you want to know how to make extra bucks, search for: best adsense alternative
Wrastain’s tools