Tag Archive Airwaves12

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Asgeir Trausti in a Pub

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My most popular post ever was about watching too many Asgeir Trausti sets at Iceland Airwaves in 2012. One of those shows was in a German pub so packed I couldn’t get close enough to take a good picture. In fact, I could only see the stage by standing on a bench. Even then, for part of the show a man standing directly in front of me blocked my view. Welcome to the Nordic countries, shorty!

Over the weekend I saw Asgeir four more times, and I saw two other shows in the same venue. One of them was a father/son duo playing chillwave; there was lots of room to spread out. The other was the band Reykjavik! That show was even more crowded than Asgeir, but I made it to the front anyway, had a blast, and left with torn clothes soaked through with other peoples’ sweat.

When I search that street on Google maps, I can’t find that German pub anymore. It looks like it has been replaced by a joint called The Dubliner.

ByGD

Bringing Reykjavik! Home

Reykjavik! band Not the city, the band. They were one of the best surprises of my Airwaves, and I later realized they shared the same joyful vibe as the old band Black Happy. I took a break from metal night at Amsterdam to cross the street to Gamli Gaukurinn and check out Reykjavík! on the strength of their video “Hellbound Heart,” which documents the flight from Reykjavík to the band’s home town Ísafjörður. (Unsurprisingly, this is the work of Bowen Staines.) Read More

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Stalking Ásgeir Trausti

Asgeir Trausti Airwaves 2012I saw Ásgeir Trausti four times at Airwaves this year. Add the Reykjavík Calling show in Seattle, and I’ve seen him play five times. With the possible exception of my boyfriend’s band in college, I think that’s the most times I’ve seen any musician. Obviously, I really liked Ásgeir Trausti’s debut album Dýrð Í Dauðaþögn (Glory in Dead Silence). But it’s not like I set out to see as many Ásgeir Trausti sets as possible. It’s not like I was stalking Ásgeir Trausti. Read More

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The Ones That Got Away: Shows I Missed at Airwaves

I can’t believe I’m not seeing Swans. I do that a lot. I just miss bands that I love.

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.

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Iceland Airwaves by the Numbers

Iceland Airwaves 2012 poster

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.

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