Iceland Airwaves

Triple blog post today ya'll (this ya'll is Vanessa's influence haha). So Iceland Airwaves music festival was from October 12-17--five music filled days of awesomeness. There were off-venue shows for free during the day and then the on venue shows at night which you needed a bracelet for. Bands from all over the world were here in Iceland, as well as music lovers, and SO many hipsters. I met people from Australia, Germany, Belgium, and Canada who were here visiting Iceland for the week. It is always fun to meet other tourists and be able to say that I live here now and am studying here! I'm going to go through some of my emails so I don't have to retype everything :)


So airwaves started on Wednesday and I started it off going to KEX hostel with Begga and her Icelandic friends so we got picked up in a car. We went to see GusGus and For a Minor Reflection. KEXP seattle was broadcasting live there, they have some free podcasts on itunes and videos on youtube you should check out. The hostel is also really cool. It was super packed for GusGus so we couldn't see but they sounded great.  The bands only play for about a half hour at this hostel. There was a break in between for a minor reflection and GusGus so we went across the street and got burgers. Then came back around 2:45, saw For a Minor Reflection, had amazing french press coffee, and watched Just Another Snake Cult. This last band wasn't so popular so the hostel really cleared out and we could sit down right by the stage. We left KEX around 5:30 and got dropped off at the dorm.  My friend Vanessa loves this band Yacht from the US and they played off venue at 7 so Vanessa, Jake, and I went to see them under a tent outside. They have crazy energy and are pretty good, we were in the front for this concert and Vanessa was in heaven. Then around 9:30 I started my on venue shows, no one wanted to go with me so I went by myself to this venue NASA. The line at NASA was so long (about 20 minutes)  so I actually got into NASA to see the last 30 seconds of this band I really like Mammut. The next band was ok (Sykur), I used it to make my way to the front of the stage for my next two favorite bands. Side note--saw the singer of Sykur the other day working at a second hand shop.  So for Agent Fresco (4th time seeing them, and would see them 2 more times during Airwaves) and Of Monsters and Men (3rd time I think seeing them)  I was literally in the front row leaning over the rail. It was awesome!After I headed home and went to sleep. 

Thursday I went to the Nordic House on campus with Begga, her Icelandic friend Elsa, and her friend from Belgium Hanne and we saw Pétur Ben, Guðrid Hansdóttir (from Faroe Islands), and Agent Fresco doing an acoustic set. The Agent Fresco acoustic set was one of my favorite shows of the whole festival. Guðrið Handóttir was also really good, we were all happily surprised by her. Here is a video of her performing off venue (I didn´t see this show but she performed this song at Nordic House). Side note--saw her at a bar this past weekend and Begga told her we really liked her.

Then after Nordic House we went back to the dorm for a little bit and ate then we headed to KEX hostel again.  We went to see Mugison who was great--I only knew one of his songs but really enjoyed his set. We then hung out in the hostel on these couches in the corner and listened to Lay Low perform. We then went upstairs and hung out in the hostel since Hanne was saying there and came back down for Of Monsters and Men. I spent most of the night at KEX with Begga, Elsa, Hanne, and this German guy we met who was staying there and we hung out in the kitchen. Then I met this Australian girl staying at KEX who wanted to see Yacht and I knew Vanessa and Jake were there so we left together. I found Vanessa and Jake in the front. There is a picture of us on Yachts homepage, http://teamyacht.com/. 


Friday I saw Ólafur Arnalds with Emily at Nordic House, it was packed but I was able to see him. He is the cutest person ever and makes really beautiful music. You can get some of his music for free---living room songs and found songs (should come up on google). 

Then I went to Eymundsson, the super cool bookstore that I spent a lot of time in before I got internet, to see Útidúr and Sóley. Útidúr is one of my other favorite bands, they have 12 people in the band and play really fun music with a lot of different instruments. They played a few new songs which were great, so hopefully they will put out a new album or ep soon. I had heard a few songs by Sóley (she is doing solo work now but it is in my favorite band Seabear) but wasn´t super interested in her. However, she was awesome live and I am now getting more into her music. She was one of the best surprises for me at Airwaves.  Here is a video of her performing at Harpa. When I saw her she was wearing the most Icelandic bun I had ever seen (girls in Iceland love wearing buns).

Friday night was the big night, I went to the Art Museum (really cool venue) and met my friend Karyn and Jake there for For a Minor Reflection and Agent Fresco. They were both great, and again I was in the front row.  Then I left to meet Vanessa at NASA for Tune yards but the line was so long and wrapped around the square downtown. We waited for like 20 minutes but moved 10 feet so then we met Akeem and Biggi at the English Pub, then went back to the art museum to see HAM but it was too intense (they are a heavy metal band) so we went to Glaumbar to see the end of Of Monsters and Men, then went to Bakkus to see Mammút, then I went to NASA at 2:30 to see Bloodgroup. It was a really fun night and I saw a lot of bands. I ended up getting a sub at 4am and walked back home haha. Then I slept through all the off venue shows on Saturday. Saturday night I went to Iðno and met Jake to see We are Promised Jetpacks then we went to see GusGus but the line was too long so we saw some metal band called Swords of Chaos. We didn´t stay for that whole show since I wasn´t really into it, and then we met up other friends and hung out for a bit then I went home with my friend Karyn. Sunday I went to see an Icelandic reggae band, Hjálmar, with Vanessa, Akeem, and Biggi. Mammút was playing afterwards but it was on venue and Biggi and Akeem didn´t have bracelets and they were going home in Biggi´s car so I decided to get hot dogs with them and get a ride home. Overall a very successful airwaves. I had tons of fun, saw awesome concerts, saw my favorite bands, and got to experience new ones.