Iceland Airwaves: Day 2
Another mindblowing day spent with the Icelandic music scene. I hate to admit it, having spent time on the far fringes of the Los Angeles slash Silverlake slash Echo Park scene, but the Reykjavik local music scene is ridiculously good, and by my account so far even (dare I say it) better. I have seen well over 10 bands in these two days, probably something more like 15, and not a single one has been worse than "pretty good". Most have been "very good" or "extremely good", despite covering a wide variety of genres (folk, punk, death metal, electronic, indie rock, classical). The "closeness" of the people involved is even more striking. Everybody, whether in a band or not (and most people seem to have been in a band at some point in their life careers) knows each other, and the amount of knowledge about local bands possessed by even the most lay citizens is much more than would expected from their counterparts back home. And all the venues are in walking distance from each other. And high levels of technical competence and professionalism appear also to be commonplace. To be honest, I´ve seen a lot of really, really amazing bands in L.A., but I´ve also seen a good number that were technically very poor, that were unable to hold it together on stage, or that were just plain bland. We´ll see if this comparison evens out after I see some more L.A. bands when I get back.
As I said before, I started my day by spending over 2 hours writing up the day before. I did not think it would take so long! Even though I woke up at a reasonably early hour, I was hardly able to make it to the first show of the day at 1:00 p.m.!
Olafur Arnalds (Iceland), Nordic House, 1:00 p.m.
Olafur Arnalds cut his teeth playing punk and death metal as a teenager before branching out into the classical music that has made him even more famous. This performance was located in the Nordic House, one of the buildings on the University of Reykjavik campus, high ceiling, wood walls, packed full of chairs. As Olafur played the piano, accompanied by a string quartet, the lead melody switching between him and one of the violinists, the room quietly observed, photographers snapping away from the edges of the room. Despite feeling that I should enjoy this music more, I sometimes can´t help but feel it sounds like backround music, and not the sort of thing to which I want to pay full attention. Perhaps confirming my sense, at the following Q and A session with one of the writers from Icelandic publication Grapevine, Olafur admitted that what he really wants is for his music to be used in a car commercial. He described (and complained about) Icelandic performers being "krutt" in interviews. I believe the word translates directly as "cute", but I think "twee" might work as well. Seems to involve a sort of false humility, to further the stereotype of Icelanders as otherworldly, glacier dwelling, elvin creatures. Everybody in the room seemed to know each other, whether from the label, or other bands, or from Grapevine.
I arrived somewhat late for the Film performance, and was slightly sorry to have done so as I thought they were pretty good. I mean, the sound wasn´t anything I´d never heard of before (they kind of reminded me of former sax teacher Jay Stolmack´s band "Velvet Chain", who never made it big, but I actually liked). For one of the later tracks in the set, lead singer Etten introduced with "here´s a song you can dance to. I know it´s a little early but you have to prepare for tonight, right?" These were actually wise words spoken, given how the night would turn up. During this song, a fat, nerdy guy with glasses started dancing with her like a crazy guy. I tried to get a picture of it, but failed to get a good one. I gave my email address to a photographer I saw who seemed to have captured it (everyone in the room was amused), and will post it when I receive it. On the final song, the vocals vaguely reminded me of Madonna´s "Bedtime Story".
In this tightly packed coffee shop on Laugavegur, a soft in the heart crowd watched Svavar and Rob trade sets of heartfelt folkish singer songwritey music. Svavar played the ukulele and guitar and sounded like an Icelandic Sufjian Stevens, also demanding much engagement by the audience (singing along, etc.) He wasn´t wearing his shoes either. At one point he asked that we all sing along for the "la la la" part of the song because the syllable "la" can mean just about anything to whoever is singing it. So we did this. He joked about the worst thing about playing in coffee houses is the sound of the steam wand going "chshssshshshshshsh" during latte making, right in the middle of the song. Nic Harcourt would have lost his socks over this guy. I much preferred the Icelandic songs he sang over the English -- it covers up the cheesiness of the lyrics and leaves the actually pretty melodies to be enjoyed. And I think it is the best sounding language for songs that I know. Rob was in a wheelchair, and played the guitar. Given the wheelchair, I´d be tempted to compare him to Vic Chessnut, but you know what, it just wouldn´t be an apt comparison. This guy was much more upbeat, without seeming cheesy, although the lyrics were all clearly very personal. He seemed, fortunately, kind of happy. I noticed during this show that a lot of people at Airwaves have notebooks, not just me. And everyone is snapping pictures (as am I) for the first few minutes of each set.
Zach and Foes (Faroe Islands), Sjoppan, 3:30 p.m.
On of the best performances of the off venue side of the festival so far. Sjoppan (which just means "shop" in Icelandic) is a hair salon on the second story of a pizzeria on Laugavegur. Zach and Foes´ rockabilly slash punk set up....I want to use the expression "blew the roof off" of Sjoppan, but it just sounds so cheesy. But I can´t think of another way to say it, so I´ll stick with that, with the noted qualification. Anyway, Black Lips step aside! Ack! Did it again...Well, what to say, these guys rocked (or "Rokk'ed"?) super hard, even the baby in the audience seemed to be enjoying it.
Zach had an awesome mustache and denim shirt. Maybe I need to purchase a denim shirt? And how did they find this guy on the Faroe Islands?
S.H. Draumur (Iceland), Havari, 4:00 p.m.
S.H. Draumur (translated, S.S. Dreamer, like a ship) is a legendary Icelandic punk band, formed in 1982, released one album in 1987 and then broke up in 1988. For the first time in 17 years they were rehearsing, and I think the Airwaves reunion show received quite a bit of buzz here in Reykjavik, at least among the crowd old enough to remember them. I had heard one song of theirs while hanging out with the guides on the Laugavegurinn trek, and Disa had described them as one of her favorite bands from growing up, so I decided to catch them at this small venue before seeing them later in the evening at NASA. Because the place was so small, and there was no raised stage, I was unable to see them (or obtain a picture), but I could tell this was going to be a good night. How to describe well played punk music? Well, I can´t. Supposedly the lyrics are clever (all in Icelandic), but I could tell the melodies were catchy and the guy´s got a really cool sounding voice. Sounds a bit like Televison, I think.
Endless Dark (Iceland=, Ring Lounge at Hresso, 5:00 p.m.
Who knew that I´d enjoy a screamo show this much. These guys all seemed super young, but the screaming singing, thrashing around on and off the stage and headbang-inducing guitar playing was awesome. I don´t know if my ears are still ringing from this or from the late punk shows of the evening. I met two El Salvadoran guys studying in Reykjavik during this show and asked if they know anywhere around here to get a good pupusa. I think my first beer of the evening was at this show.
[Break to socialize.]
Sjöfn and her friend Björg showed up during the Endless Dark performance and we stepped outside of the tent to have a few beers and catch up. Björg had the most British accent I´ve ever heard coming from an Icelander. Around 6:30 we left for the Iceland Bar (one of the many, many good Reykjavik restaurants I´ve never visited) for dinner with some other friends of theirs. I ate a reindeer burger, which was delicious. During dinner I had one of my occasional daydreams about how it would be nice to stay in Reykjavik for much longer, but I let it pass.
Disa had agreed to meet me at the festival bracelet pickup location at 8:00 p.m., so I stepped away from dinner for a minute, and then brought her back to meet them. Of course, she already knew one of them. The social world here is unbelievably small.
We walked to the Reykjavik Art Museum (big venue) where Hundreds were playing, but didn´t really pay attention, and realized that we had probably get to NASA soon before it filled up. It´s around here that my handwritten notes end for the evening.
Reykjavik! (Iceland), NASA, 9:10
Disa told me the lead singer of this band was a really nice guy. He´s also an incredibly intense performer. I can´t remember the last time I went to a hard core punk show (was possibly the Warped Tour 10 years ago) and probably thought that day would never come again. But no...we pushed to the front of the crowd and for the entirety of the set we were thrashing around like maniacs, everyone was pushing and showing, the singer crowd surfed and screamed, his microphone cord snagging people as he wandered around the floor. This was an amazingly intense, sweat soaked show. I think the guy from Grapevine who interviewed Olafur Arnalds was in the band, but now his eyes looked crazed. It was a good thing that we left our jackets in the corner of the club.
S.H. Draumur, NASA, 11:00 p.m.
It´s not a great picture, but he looks a little bit like a thin Frank Black, right? Amazing, amazing performance. Again, crowd was insane (or maybe just we were? it was hard to tell at that point), punk rock songs but more interesting melodically and lyrically (or so I presume) than usual. I plan on purchasing the album before I go home.
Vonbrigði -- O Reykjavik
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