I can’t believe I’m not seeing Swans. I do that a lot. I just miss bands that I love.
- Birgir Thorgeirsson, Kontinuum
I do that a lot, too. In regular life, there are so many obligations that can get in the way of a night out watching bands.
ByGD
Iceland Airwaves by the Numbers
Uber-geek Souvenir
In science there is only physics. All the rest is stamp collecting. – Ernest Rutherford.
Maybe it’s because I used to be a stamp collector (molecular genetics lab tech), but I can’t resist the urge to measure things that don’t really need to be measured. Iceland Airwaves was a five-day MFA program in music that quite literally changed the way I hear music. When I came home, I put on my old CDs and sometimes I could barely recognize the once-familiar music – I just heard different things.
That should be enough. But no, useless data must follow.
ByGD
I Want My Hat Back, Redux
I returned home from Airwaves 12 to a clean house filled with the fragrance of fresh flowers; my children were even sweeter and cuter than I remembered; I had tickets to both Neil Young and Crazy Horse, and Insomnium on the weekend. The honeymoon was brief. Read More
ByGD
Blue Lagoon Chill at Iceland Airwaves Saturday
Stamina 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.
Dropping like flies
ByGD
In Which the Wind Alters My Plans and Solstafir Changes My Life
Planning emergency repairs
On Friday of Airwaves, I spent some time writing in the morning, where I overheard others in the hostel reworking their plans because all of the tourist excursions had been cancelled due to heavy winds. I ventured out to the media center and find out whether the press tour to Sigur Rós’ recording studio and Halldor Laxness’ house had also been cancelled. The walk that took ten minutes when I picked up my wristband earlier in the week took nearly half an hour this morning. This was partly due to struggling against the wind, and partly due to blocks of Laugavegur being closed while emergency crews cleaned up damage from the pieces of metal roofing and siding that had blown off buildings along the high street. Read More