Iceland Airwaves — Day 4

00:20: JFDR at Gamla Bíó.

The final act of Iceland Airwaves 2023. Jófríður Ákadóttir, AKA JFDR, has been a musician of interest for me since first seeing her at Iceland Airwaves 2009 when she was 15 and playing with her sister Ásthildur in the quartet Pascal Pinon. They produced three full-length albums and Jófríður’s follow-up group, Samaris, also released three albums which were very successful. As a solo act she has released multiple albums and EPs and her collaborations with other artists are innumerable. Additional film and television scoring is also in her CV.

One of the knocks against JFDR’s singing style has been her constant use of a breathy soprano. Tonight she was experimenting with her delivery and even going into an open-throated delivery at times.

I found myself engulfed in a reflective mood as I watched her: so many performances, so much music, watching her develop as a musician for half her life. Her musical growth may have plateaued lately, with songs of vague young adult angst rather than the insightful and focused coming-of-age narratives of her earlier work.

You can’t be a teen-ager forever.

Performing with her on various keys and programmers was her husband Joshua Wilkinson. Josh and Jó had been a definite item at this Airwaves as they were seen canoodling in dimly-lit back corners of off-venues. If there had been a cutest Airwaves couple award, they would have won it. A musical marriage creates its own problems, but tonight everything was all smiles, as evidenced with this lovely curtain call:

But the afterglow from the show evaporated in a flash.

As I was heading out through the outer lobby of Gamla Bíó I heard a loud metallic bang coming from the open doors, followed by shouts. Stepping out, I saw a car up on the sidewalk and a pedestrian lying by a snapped-off sign post. The anguished driver got out of her car, saying “It was my fault, it was my fault,” as she looked in horror at the immobile man. If I had been out the door 3 seconds earlier it would have been me on the ground.

Image: RUV

The air temperature had dropped and the wind had picked up, making my walk back to my flat even more disconsolate.

My Iceland Airwaves 2023 was over.