Bonkers but beautiful. Kite on Ice was the most spectacular show the electronic scene has ever seen – and it was completely off-the-charts.
Gary Numan’s “farewell” shows set a precedent for staging, but he didn’t have a synchronised skating team circling him. Peter Gabriel is known for some theatrical productions, but he didn’t have Anna von Hausswolff and Henric de la Cour in cages.
When the Kite on Ice show was announced, it sold out immediately. The band’s Swedish fan base is massive, and it was no surprise that they could fill Stockholm’s Avicii Arena. In their home market, they have been accepted as superstars, and even the jocks are prepared to pass on the hockey for a night of “True Colours” and “Jonny Boy.”
At center ice, a platform stands ready for Nicklas Stenemo and Christian “Kitte” Berg. They take their positions, surrounded by a live band drafted for the event. The pulses of a synth escort them, along with some synchronised spotlights. Then things get brighter and louder. From the middle of their towering stage rise beams of red light, revealed by smoke. Stenemo launches into “My Girl and I,” as it becomes clearer what we are in for.
Kite on Ice is a visual feast that could not be contained in a club. Avicii arena has been stuffed full of lighting, which has been programmed to world-class standards. Video panels set up as large boxes play roles as Chinese lanterns, LED clocks, and glitches in the Matrix. Kubrick had only one obelisk in 2001, but this is the real future. Light bars even adorn the Zambonis that smooth the ice while performing a synchronised dance of their own.
For “Remember Me,” Berg secures a rope around the legs of Stenemo and drags him around the rink on his back. You wanted Kite on Ice? You’ve got it. We’d love to see other singers on the scene hold a tune while hogtied and frozen – Stenemo doesn’t miss a note.
Nina Persson appears, like a black swan, to sing her recent collaboration with Kite, “Heartless Places.” The Cardigans vocalist is taken out by a hip check near the blue line, by one of the Helsinki Rockettes, in a reminder of the building’s main purpose. No penalty is called, and she gracefully restores her balance. That’s show business.
Things get wild when de la Cour and von Hausswolff appear. Videos shot from inside their cages are projected on alternate sides of the boxes. Then they rise to the roof, exposing the power of von Hausswolff’s roar and de la Cour’s fin.
The event is a gathering of alternative music royalty, where everyone is queen for a day. On the evidence filling the Avicii, however, it will be a long time before anyone can claim Kite’s crown.
