Bjork at Chase Center SF: February 5, 2022
Bjork doesn't do concerts - she does art installations that happen to include music. The "Cornucopia" show at Chase Center was overwhelming in the best possible way. Visuals, costumes, a flute ensemble, massive custom-built instruments, and of course, Bjork's otherworldly voice at the center of it all.
From the moment she took the stage, it was clear this would be unlike any other concert. The stage design was alien and organic at once - mushroom-like structures, flowing fabrics, digital projections that responded to the music. It felt like stepping into Bjork's imagination made physical.
The flute ensemble was a stroke of genius. Multiple flutists arranged around the stage, creating these ethereal, flowing lines that complemented the electronic production perfectly. It's the kind of instrumentation choice that only Bjork would make - simultaneously ancient and futuristic.
"Human Behaviour" brought us back to her early solo work - that song that introduced her unique vision to the world. Hearing it decades later, with all the production values of "Cornucopia," showed how her aesthetic has always been consistent. She's been Bjork since the beginning.
The newer material was challenging and beautiful. Bjork doesn't make easy music - she makes music that demands your attention and engagement. Songs that unfold in unexpected ways, that use sounds you didn't know could work together, that feel like they're from some parallel universe where pop music evolved differently.
Her voice is one of the most distinctive instruments in music. That high register, those syllables she shapes in uniquely Bjorkian ways, the emotional intensity she brings to every phrase - it's impossible to mistake her voice for anyone else.
The costume changes were theatrical - mushroom-inspired outfits, flowing fabrics that seemed alive, headpieces that looked like they grew organically rather than being constructed. Every visual element supported the overall artistic vision.
What makes Bjork singular is her complete commitment to her vision. She's not trying to be commercial or accessible or please anyone but herself. She makes the art she needs to make, and if you connect with it, wonderful. If you don't, that's fine too. There's no compromise, no pandering, no calculation.
The Chase Center is a big, modern arena, and some might say it's too conventional a venue for Bjork. But she transformed it completely. By the end, you weren't in a sports arena in San Francisco - you were in Bjork's world, whatever that world is.
This show reminded me why Bjork matters. In an era of algorithmic playlists and market-tested music, here's an artist who's been following her muse for decades, creating music and visual art that's completely her own. She's proven you can be strange and successful, experimental and beloved, uncompromising and relevant.
Walking out of Chase Center, I felt like I'd experienced something genuinely unique. Not just a good concert, but an artistic statement, a complete vision realized with no holding back. That's Bjork - still weird, still wonderful, still herself after all these years.