Björk in concert at the Accor Arena in Paris: we were there, we tell you all about it

Bewitching and poetic, moving and committed, powerful and creative... words fail us to describe the beautiful performance given by Björk and her army of musicians this Friday, September 8, 2023 at the Accor Arena in Paris. Let's take a look back at this not-to-be-missed concert.

While the heatwave has been raging in Paris for several days, a breath of fresh air blew into theAccor Arena on Friday, September 8, 2023. This invigorating and more than pleasant breeze came straight from Iceland with one of the world's most gifted and celebrated Nordic artists. It's already been 30 years since Björk turned the music world upside down, with a new and unique sound and hits to make us cry and dance, all carried by a voice that's recognizable among a thousand.

Björk is not only a world-famous singer, she's also a complete artist: musician, songwriter, composer, performer, producer and actress, as seen in Lars von Trier's film"Dancer in the Dark" (2000). With her constant need and desire to create, Björk also has an incredible gift for creating breathtaking concerts and shows where music, scenography and costumes form an incredibly harmonious and enjoyable whole.

And that's exactly what we experienced on Friday, September 8 at theAccor Arena in Paris, on the occasion of the highly ambitious, but oh-so-successful, show"Cornucopia". For the record, the "Cornucopia " tour kicked off in 2019 in New York, following the release of the"Utopia" album in 2017. For the new"Cornucopia" tour, the original show, which covers the whole of Björk's musical repertoire, has therefore been reworked to incorporate several tracks and the universe of her latest album"Fossora".

So, what does this new Björk show sound like? Bewitching, powerful, beautiful, fairytale-like, deeply poetic, avant-garde... the"Cornucopia" show presented on September 8 at theAccor Arena in Paris literally captivated us. Special mention must go to the incredible staging imagined by Björk herself and Argentinian director Lucrecia Martel. The mushroom-like stage, designed by Chiara Stephenson, also played a major role.

Then there are the costumes, as innovative and sumptuous as ever, the flautists' choreography and the digital visuals (not always synchronized with the music) projected onto the back of the stage, but also onto a transparent veil and two fringed curtains that open and close throughout the set.

Not to be forgotten are the talented artists accompanying Björk on this tour, including percussionist Manu Delago (incredible on the track " Blissing Me " when he starts playing with water, giving rise to a beautiful arrangement), musical director Bergur Þórisson, harpist Katie Buckley and the Viibra ensemble of 7 flautists. The result is a totally mad and innovative show, in which Björk quickly draws us into her offbeat universe, blending futurism and nature.

In fact, nature is omnipresent in this show. The Icelandic artist doesn't hesitate to show her commitment to the fight against global warming by projecting a militant message on one of the fringed curtains, followed a little later by a video of Greta Thunberg. The only drawback is that the video is not really recent, since the Swedish activist explains that she was 16 at the time of filming, whereas she is now 20. But whatever, the magic works. For her part, Björk seems delighted to be back in Paris, and on several occasions gets close to her fans by joining the small stage advance. The Icelandic artist also had fun and danced, even going so far as to make the horns sign on the rousing " Notget " played as an encore.

As always in recent years, Björk relies on an incredible wardrobe and hides her face behind sublime sculpted masks. That evening in Paris, the artist unveiled two outfits: one tight-fitting, covering her entire body and featuring the white-flowered anthurium, and another, white this time, sublimated by a flurry of hanging leaves.

Despite her small stature, Björk commands all the attention. It has to be said that, at 57 and despite vocal cord surgery in 2012, the artist still manages incredible technical feats. We shudder when she performs " Show Me Forgiveness " in her futuristic reverb chamber, exult when the first notes of " Isobel " ring out, get emotional on the sublime " Victimhood " and shake our heads frantically on " Fossora ". Because"Cornucopia" is intended to be both a sonic and visual spectacle, each song is conceived as a unique, meticulously staged tableau.

In the end, you come away from this memorable Björk show, lasting around 1h30, with the sensation of having experienced a unique, avant-garde and creative musical moment, the likes of which have rarely been seen in recent years. The setlist was a little disappointing, however. We would have liked to hear a few tracks from the emblematic"Homogenic" or the more discreet but highly successful"Biophilia".

After Paris, Björk plans to continue her European tour with two further dates in France, on December 2 in Nantes and December 5 in Bordeaux.