… or, “I’m Not There.”
I wish I was.
The good news is that there are now over
twenty off-venues. More good news is that Harpa is
not a venue. The not-so-good news is that
Þjóðleikhúsið (The National Theater) is not a venue this year—they are staging a musical version of
Shakespeare in Love Wednesday the 6th and Sunday the 10th
and Halldór Laxness’
Atómstöðin the 7th and 8th (both highly recommended!)
That won’t help you get your Airwaves fix, however. This post might.
Wednesday is usually a good day to find undiscovered acts. With the exceptions of
Gróa at the KEX hostel (16:30),
Between Mountains (below) and
JFDR at Slippbarinn (17:30, 18:30) and
Svavar Knútur (everywhere!) I’m not familiar with them but
here is a good guide for the new Icelandic acts (with videos.)
Between Mountains, The Current
Thursday’s off-venue schedule is good again at Slippbarinn with Sóley (above) at 16:30.
A revamped
Between Mountains is at Fríkirkjan (19:50) and
Hjaltalín commands the stage at the Reykjavík Art Museum (21:50). If
Páll Óskar shows up for a cameo in their set there will be
complete pandemonium.
The ever-evolving
JFDR will perform in Gamla Bio (22:20):
Friday’s best bets are the line-up at Fríkirkjan in the early evening and Iðno later.
On Saturday afternoon you can catch
Ateria (above) at Lóa Bar-Bistro (16:00), not the best venue for three moody teenagers, but they are well worth it (you can also see them at Hard Rock Café at 20:10 followed by
Between Mountains at 22:00). Fríkirkjan’s Saturday night has another solid line-up. The big show is at Vashöllin, a stadium about a kilometer from the city center, where you catch Agent Fresco (20;25) and Of Monsters and Men (23:45), both of whom do great shows. Sólstafir at Iðno (00:00) may be the best metal show of the festival (bring earplugs!):
Notes:
One off-venue that is listed but not yet scheduled is the senior home Grund. They have had a 10 a.m. show on Wednesday the last couple of years; last year
Sóley gave a heroic performance with her dad (and had an introduction by the President of Iceland!) It was the emotional highlight of the festival:
The Minnesota radio station The Current will
have live video from Hresso on Friday and Saturday starting at 12:30 GMT (06:30 CST).
Dillon has
music for seven days, starting tonight (Monday) and going through Sunday.
Most shows are open but some (Wednesday—Saturday evenings) need a wristband/or admission.
If you have a hankering for Icelandic rockabilly, you can’t do any better than
Langi og Skuggarnír, Lucky Records, Thursday, 17:00
KEX Hostel has radio broadcasts by Seattle station KEXP—they are consistently great (and crowded) and start in the afternoon on Tuesday. This year you will need a wristband to attend (come early!)
The Nordic House (south of the pond, across Ringbraut) also has consistently exceptional performances in what is arguably the most intimate venue (Notables:
Bláskjár, Thursday, 18:15,
Nising, Friday, 15:00.)
Ólöf Arnalds is at Iðno Saturday, 21:00, I saw her there in 2004(!) and in Seattle in 2011. She is a knockout—a triple threat of singing, playing and songwriting. Perhaps she’ll be one of the “special guests” at KEXP, Friday, 21:30?
Full Airwaves schedule is
HERE.
(all images from 2018 Iceland Airwaves)
