Category Archive Music

ByGD

Sigur Rós at Airwaves

crowd waiting for Sigur Ros concert

Waiting for Sigur Ros

On the final night of Airwaves 2012, Sigur Rós played their first home town show in years. The only venue in town big enough was the sports stadium in Laugardalur. My English friend and I arrived at the stadium about fifteen minutes before the doors were scheduled to open. The line ran the length of the building, and soon wrapped around out of site. Even so, someone pulled into an empty parking spot right in front of us. Thousands of people were going to this show, but most of them were walking. Read More

ByGD

Sunday Airwaves Sunday

Asgeir TraustiSunday at Airwaves 12

I was the first one up in my dorm room at KEX on Sunday morning, which means I was the only one to (barely) make it downstairs before they quit serving breakfast at 10:30. It was already hard to find a seat for KEX’s first show of the day, Ásgeir Trausti. I hung out after breakfast and tried to write. I hadn’t really written anything since Thursday morning, and some things were already blurry (I had completely forgotten the wedding celebration at the Of Monsters and Men show until I read it somewhere else). Read More

ByGD

A Self-Serving Announcement – Interviews with Icelandic Musicians

Asgeir TraustiFar more interesting than the self-centered tales of Airwaves entertainment that I post here on this blog are the conversations that I had with some of Reykjavík’s local artists. I only asked for interviews with people whose music I already loved. It was just a pleasant surprise to discover that these musicians are also among the most intelligent, interesting, and entertaining people that I have ever met. I have left every interview with a better understanding of the music that I love and a clearer picture of a remarkable music scene that has been hidden in the frozen north until recently.

They are a pretty diverse lot, and I hope that you find some new music that you will love as much as I do in this list of the interviews that have run so far. Stay tuned for more in the next couple weeks. Read More

ByGD

Saturday Rolled Into Sunday at Airwaves

Asgeir Trausti

Him again?

As Saturday rolled into Sunday at Airwaves, I was upstairs at Harpa for a middle-of-the-night Ásgeir Trausti set. It was my third one this festival. I don’t want to say too much about it, because I think I need a separate post to explain why I’m not actually an Ásgeir Trausti stalker. Read More

ByGD

Blue Lagoon Chill at Iceland Airwaves Saturday

Napping at KEXStamina began to be an issue on Saturday, and not just for the old farts like me. The occasional napper could always be found on the couches or in the hammock in the KEX lobby, but today they were dropping like flies. At one point, all of the couches were full.

I began to see the wisdom of hosting the Blue Lagoon Chill Party on Saturday afternoon, and as much of a challenge as it was to get up in time for the bus out there, I was really looking forward to treating my headbanger’s neck with a massage while floating in geothermal waters.

Chilling during Airwaves

Dropping like flies

Read More