SIGUR RÓS LIVE

And then there were three. When Kjartan Sveinsson left Sigur Rós in 2013, it seemed implausible that the band could go on as a three-piece without some reinforcements. Early on in their international touring days, the band brought fellow Icelanders Amiina along as a string section-come-random sound generator. The saw solos were a true highlight. Then they added The Horny Brasstards (Brassgat í bala in Icelandic) for the Takk… tour. Even with all the extra help, the keyboardist always looked like the floater in the band — pumping organs, clocking glocks, playing any guitar parts that don’t require a bow — doing anything and everything to fill the space around the bass, drums, vocals and Jonsi’s bowed guitar.

The band since released their seventh album Kveikur, which was noticeably heavier than even their industrial-sounding debut Von and longtime final number, Untitled 8 (Popplagio). Still, it sounded like Sigur Rós, with delicate arrangements laid amongst a bed of noise.

Onstage at Margaret Court Arena for the band’s Splendour in the Grass sideshow, there were two setups — bass, guitar, drums across the front, and a three-station keyboard riser at the rear. I immediately figured the band had pared the string and horn sections back to a laptop rig, but FOH engineer Ingvar Jónnson set me straight, “No there’s no extra players. They go up there and play the start of the second act. They also have two downstage keyboard positions, one for the drummer and a