Reminiscing ~~~ Björk at The Eden Project 🌻

On 7th July 2018 I took a solo trip to see Björk at The Eden Project and it's one of my top 10 best memories. For some reason I never got round to sharing much about it so here I am, almost 2 years later revisiting it in my slightly hazy memory.

This was my first time going to a concert by myself, normally I wouldn't feel cool doing that but this was The Eden Project, surely the safest, most wholesome venue there could be? I didn't (still don't) know anyone else who is a big Björk fan so didn't really feel comfortable asking a friend to pay money to see someone they didn't like lol. PLUS the venue was only an hour's drive from where I lived so that was easy (of course I listened to Mama Björk all the way). The great thing about going to a gig at Eden is that with the price of the ticket you also get entry into the sight for the whole day and the day after too! Nice. 

The concert was at about 7pm probably? I can't actually remember - so I arrived at about 3pm to give me a few hours to wander round and see the sights. It was one of the hottest days of the year, I can remember being very sweaty.

Weirdly the merch stand was right at the entrance of the sight, there was a bit of an underwhelming selection but I had to pick up something (more on that later!), then I got my wristband and headed to the biomes! It was fun spotting other people with wristbands around and about and knowing they had an odd music taste like me.

I based my outfit loosely on Björk's Vulnicura album 

with its purple and yellow colour scheme (I'm a nerd).

After a glorious stroll amongst the plants I went to go and queue up, maybe around 6? I found a gathering of people all sitting around in the shade under some trees and went and joined them, I found out that these were the super keen early birds and everyone in this area was going to be let in first so we'd be able to get to the front of the stage. This was exciting. I ended up chatting to a lady and her daughter who sat next to me, it was the little girl's first ever concert (cool kid), if I remember correctly they were eating burritos. 

The stage

I ended up getting a spot right at the barrier which I thought was great, until I realised I was very close the speakers on the right hand side of the stage. Spoiler: speakers are bad. But I wasn't giving up my chance to come face to face with Björk so I endured. And endurance it was, I won't mince my words, the support acts were...questionable at best and horrific at worst 😂 The first was just a man DJing I think? It was just BEATS and NOISE and he didn't interact with the audience once, so it felt kind of awkward. The second was a...group...of women, there were three I think, maybe more...and they performed ? In a very surreal way, it wasn't quite music...more like spoken word poetry with dance moves and laughter? I preferred it to the first act though so I politely smiled through it and maybe even enjoyed some moments. I think the Fine Art student in me was used to sitting through completely strange performances where you're not sure what's happening and whether you're supposed to be getting something deep and meaningful from it, so I tried to interpret it through that lens, can't remember what conclusion I came to though. I didn't even get any footage of these acts so you'll just have to take my word for it and use your imagination (and then times that by 100 weirdness).

Björk FINALLY came on at about 9.15pm (yes there was 2+ hours of standing around in the sun with a bunch of weary strangers listening to those supports, not complaining just setting the scene) and it was wonderful. It made all the discomfort worth it ✨✨✨✨✨ The opening song was Arisen My Senses and now whenever I hear that song it brings back the anticipation and excitement of the moment she appeared on stage! 

My photos are bad but just trust me, it was an aesthetic feast for the eyes. Lots of colourful lighting and amazing footage of flowers and wildlife on the screen behind, incredible costumes and the staging was a whole theatrical production with foliage and pink. 

It had a very different vibe to any concert I've been to before, firstly because it was outside, but also the audience was different. No one danced or moved really which I found weird, I would have had a boogie but it felt awkward when no one else was. I think some people weren't massive Björk stans but they just knew a few of her old, more famous songs and then were disappointed because she mainly played new songs? Probably people who liked her when she was big in the 90s and were there for a throwback but were confused when she didn't do any of her big bangers. I don't know, I was having a great time on my own though!

Eden at night is a cool experience! It takes ages to leave once the show is over so everyone is in a big queue winding up the path to the exit and you get nice views like this:

It was all over by about 11pm and then I was home around midnight. I remember sitting in bed feeling too hyped up to sleep! All in all it's a really fun memory, the bad bits are just funny to look back on and the good bits are all nostalgic and special. The fact I went by myself and was slightly nervous made it more of a thing, and getting to explore the biomes beforehand was nice. Basically The Eden Project was the dream location for a concert!

This is the bag I got from the merch stand, it has lyrics from this song  (click for the link). 

I made this chaotic and colourful video way back in 2018 but for some reason never felt satisfied enough to post it. Because I was s o  c l o s e  to the speakers all my videos turned out like ALKSDFB;AKSDBFAD;BFAFS;B;KF (really boomy and bassy to the point of being unrecognisable), so I decided to use the few bits of sound which turned out ok and then make more of a visual collage of a video. Revisiting it now I actually like the outcome so I just posted it today without editing anything. Enjoy (which btw is actually the name of a Björk song)

P.S. - I only found out that this magical AND local Björk concert was happening because I was in HMV buying her latest album on CD and the guy on the till told me about it! Shout out to that guy! I was in disbelief because I never actually thought I'd ever get to see Björk, let alone just down the road. That's why I jumped at the chance, it felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity.

This was fun to look back on...remember what it was like to actually go out? and interact ? with other humans? Wow what a concept