Pop shows don't get much more spectacular than last night's Björk gig at the Kings Theatre. And we mean that literally: When an artist known for her beyond-striking multimedia savvy—e.g.. the illustrious selection of Björk music videos, currently on display at, ahem, MoMA—turns up at a gorgeously refurbished 1920s-era movie house in support of a wrenching new breakup-themed LP (Vulnicura), you know that spectacle is in store. Yes, it would've been awesome to catch one of the two Carnegie Hall gigs that preceded this one, but there was something especially Björkian about last night's lavish Kings Theatre happening.
Backed by only the string ensemble Alarm Will Sound, electroacoustic percussionist Manu Delago and rising Venezuelan beatsmith Arca, Björk played two very different, equally arresting sets: a somber, at times prickly suite of Vulnicura songs (during which she sported a soon-to-be-legendary dandelion-esque headpiece), followed by a career-spanning run of tracks in which she ditched the mask, unleashed that trademark megawatt voice of hers and boogied and beamed with abandon. When at the start of the encore, Björk cheerfully commanded, "Brooklyn, on your feet!" she didn't need to ask twice.
Click through our photo gallery, and prepare for a visual feast. For those keeping tabs, Björk plays the Kings Theatre again on March 22—seriously, folks, you need to see this place asap; it's stunning—before moving to Manhattan's City Center for two more gigs on March 25 and 28.
