Having not had the chance to see its stunning performance in person ourselves, we couldn't be more honored to share official video footage of the special Jóhann Jóhannsson tribute Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie (Stars of the Lid, A Winged Victory For the Sullen) led at Brussels' Saint John the Baptist Cathedral a couple months ago. A rarely heard rendition of the drone suite "Virthulegu Forsetar," it's a heart-wrenching sendoff to the peerless composer, who passed away last February. Watch it full below, courtesy of L'Ancienne Belgique, right alongside Wiltzie's own thoughts on the night....
Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie Leads Special Jóhann Jóhannsson Tribute
Watch the 70-minute performance in full
I am forever being asked to relate some sort of emotional resolution about JJ—almost always bittersweet. I remember this one time back on the Fordlandia tour, we were in Pittsburgh playing the Warhol Museum, and after soundcheck we were lucky enough to be perusing the gallery after closing hours and he made a reference to an old quote by Mr. Waits, something to the extent of "shite art is destroying the quality of our suffering."
This is something he always took very seriously, giving the world the essential soundtrack for suffering. This is also why I wanted to put on this particular concert for his 49th birthday. (Impossible without the love and support of L’Ancienne Belgique, a longtime supporter of JJ’s concerts over the years in Belgium.)
"Virthulegu Forestar" was one of his first recordings released. Beautiful minimalism—primitive yet effective. It had only been performed in Reykjavik and Oslo, but the last time was over 15 years ago. Mainly because of the expense of the production; JJ never cut corners when it came to his art, luckily for the rest of us….
