My wife Ginny and I went to see Ásgeir this past Tuesday with our friends Mark and Meredith. We were terrified that traffic and trains would be awful because, you know, World Cup: France was playing Sweden at the Meadowlands at 5 p.m.
All of that fear was unfounded. Smooth ride. Smooth walk. Delicious dinner. Awesome show.
Regarding the show, Ásgeir seems to be the least known folk singer around here. I mean, Le Poisson Rouge is a small venue (first time going – I loved it, by the way), but it did NOT look like he sold it out. Which is unfortunate because he is a great songwriter. His latest album Julia may be his best yet.
NOTE: I think that Spotify is the only place where you can hear the entire setlist. It seems like he has some streaming issues with Apple and Qobuz. But hey, I don’t care, I downloaded his stuff from Bandcamp, so I can listen whenever I want! If you haven’t heard him before, really, you should listen. An Icelandic mashup of Bon Iver, Iron and Wine, Paul Simon, Suzanne Vega, and Sara Bareilles.
Aside from the show, we had a great dinner at Via Della Pace in New York. Back in 2019, we were watching Matteo Berrettini play at the US Open, and this bearded guy was sitting in his box. The TV announcers said something like, “That’s Giovanni Bartocci, the owner of Via Della Pace in the Village, and Matteo has been eating pasta there every day during the tournament.” I wrote it down, and we went there a few months later when we were in the city and loved it. We went back again this past week. We loved the bruschetta and I had the lasagna. Holy shit. I almost melted the top of my mouth off, but it was glorious! The cheese was crispy. The meat and sauce were perfectly seasoned, and it was an amazingly comforting plate of pasta.
Matteo, if you are so inclined, please invite me and my family to your box this year. We’re your biggest US fans, next to Giovanni, of course. Giovanni, put a good word in with Matteo, please. We really want to go! Like, you know, really, really.
I don’t know if I would have ever heard Asgeir but for a trip to Iceland two years ago with some very good friends.
Our tour guide Thorey had a playlist going on the bus — All Icelandic tunes, and Ásgeir was on it. She was kind enough to share the playlist with me, and this is how we ended up in New York City on June 30.
As a brief aside… Thorey was telling us about the horses in Iceland, and if you are unfamiliar with Icelandic horses, they are not very large. But, as Thorey shared with us, “they are in fact horses, and not ponies. They are very strong — and very good with children!”.
A woman on our bus — I think her name was Nancy? — she then asked Thorey, “So, they’re ponies then?” To which Thorey responded, with a strongly rolled r, “They are NOT ponies!” But damn, they’re cute, aren’t they? I mean, look at those eyes!
Full circle to New York City at Via Della Pace and Le Poisson Rouge watching Ásgeir perform on June 30 with great friends. Great night!
Set List (setlist.fm)
Against the Current
Ferris Wheel
On That Day
Eventide
Summer Guest
Sugar Clouds
Unreleased Song – Icelandic – Couldn’t Tell You the Title
Snowblind
Torrent
Smoke
King and Cross
Universe Beyond
Encore
Julia
[Playlist]
> DEATZ BEATS 
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