Music in a cold climate
One of the best festivals I’ve ever been to is Iceland Airwaves, held in the kooky yet stunning town of Reykjavik every October. If festivals for you are all about seeing the top bands, camping in pools of mud and drinking watered-down lager then this place probably won’t be for you. If you like discovering new music, shopping for crafts fabric in cute little Icelandic shops and getting absolutely hammered on a local schnapps called “Black Death” then you’ll have a great time!
A lot of the acts that play at Airwaves are local or from other parts of Scandinavia. There are quite a few US bands too, as Airwaves is popular with US college students, who see Reykjavik as an easy way to visit Europe… I have seen a couple of reasonably famous groups and singers there, such as Biffy Clyro, but I usually try and avoid going to see British acts that I can see at home any time. For me, Airwaves is all about discovering new and unusual acts that I can take back to all my friends at home.
One of my favourite discoveries over the years has been the instrumental group “For a Minor Reflection”. Don’t let the fact that I described them as instrumental put you off. These guys can really rock out! In fact, when they came to the UK last year to support Sigur Ros, the Icelandic genius himself told a reporter that the young lads in FAMR could “out-Mogwai Mogwai”. The tunes may start slow and sweet, but just when you’re being lulled almost to sleep by their gentle guitar strumming, the drums kick in and the volume gets turned all the way up to loud. More than once I’ve actually jumped with shock at a FAMR gig…
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