A music critic has to be nuts to want to review Sigur Ros [ tickets ] in concert. In fact, it might be the one time when this usually cush job actually amounts to something approaching real work.

But all the things that make reviewing a Sigur Ros show so difficult are the exact same elements that make attending a performance by the Icelandic band so worthwhile.

There are very few acts in modern rock that can be accurately described as unique—-especially in these days of Franz Ferdinand clones and Killers wannabes. But Sigur Ros proved that it belongs in that select group during a highly original and entertaining sold-out Saturday (10/1) show at the opulent Paramount Theatre in downtown Oakland.

Following a short opening set by the string quartet Amina, which would later join the headliner on stage, Sigur Ros filled their nearly 100-minute show with soaring space-rock noise that carried heaping doses of both drama and beauty.

Starting with the glorious "Glosoli"—-from the band's fourth and latest release, "Takk ..."—-Sigur Ros produced music that sounded so vastly different than anything else out there that it was like vocalist Jon Thor Birgisson was singing in a different language.

And he was—-a very different language.

Forget for a second that many of the songs are sung in the band's native Icelandic dialect; the really perplexing numbers are the ones performed using a made-up language that the group has deemed "Hopelandic." The fact that they can make moving songs using what amounts to, really, gibberish, truly speaks to the universal power of music.

Combine the use of "Hopelandic" lyrics with the fact that many songs don't have titles and are featured on an album that is known only by symbols--2002's "()"—-and you really have the makings of a music critic's nightmare.

But the evening was anything but a nightmare, as the band (whose name literally translates to "Victory Rose") produced utterly dreamy versions of such new album tracks as "Saeglopur" and "Hoppipolla."

Given the at-times-extreme language barrier and the vast similarity of all the music performed, it was hard to decipher the exact setlist that Sigur Ros delivered at the Paramount. But, nearly everyone in attendance would agree, it really didn't matter.

The greatest shared quality between all of Sigur Ros' material—-whether it comes off the band's debut, 1997's "Von," or from the new album—-is its ability to move people. Almost to a note, the band's songs all seem lushly cinematic and powerfully anthemic, each sweeping up the listener and delivering sweet epiphanies of sound.

It's not unheard of for someone to actually start weeping (in joy) at a Sigur Ros show. In fact, this critic felt a bit misty-eyed at times during the Paramount show.

But, then again, I'm nuts.