Thursday Connections

Youths converge on the neighborhood store near the pool…

I spent much of my pool-time Thursday morning surrounded by a clan of unruly Scots and Rasia, a pleasant Finn I had met last year, discussing Airwaves (and drinking) strategies. A 90-minute flight makes Airwaves more of wild week-end than planned vacation, and the description of the Scot’s hostel (“Hadn’t been updated since the war…”) made me thankful for my digs in the center of town.

After a very leisurely 2-hour soaking (no laps today, the lanes were full) I got out of the pool, dressed, and made my way to the pool’s lobby area where a carafe of coffee and Unsteinn Manuel Stefánsson were waiting. Unsteinn was a founder of Retro Stefson, the very first band I saw at Iceland Airwaves in 2006! Since then Unsteinn has done numerous things in music and Icelandic theatre, I had seen him last year in Ibuð 10b at Þjóðleikhúsið. We talked a lot about the theatre, his relatives were active in it and he got to see a lot of plays as a child, including Þetta er allt að koma, a play which blew my mind in 2004 when I was 53, I can hardly imagine what it did to his when he was only 14! We also discussed Halldór Laxness, Hallgrímur Helgasson, Ólafur Ólafsson, and Silja Aðalsteinsdóttir, in a flowing conversation.

What a great guy.

In the afternoon I hit an off-venue, specifically Smekkleysa, the Björk and the Sugarcubes-founded record shop. The first group was a guitar/drums duo that was incedibly LOUD! Ear plugs were offered and many accepted. I left after a while, going up the street to Bókin, a quiet refuge where I had often sought refuge in the past. It was no help, the thunder that was Dreymandi hundur penetrated to the bookshop’s deepest recesses.

I walked down Hverfisgata to Hlemmur and Lucky Records, but the act that was scheduled next was one that I had already seen last yeaar. Returning, Shymfaux, two guitars and the same drummer as the first act began to play. Not nearly so loud (or am I already jaded?) they were really sort of a jam band, playing riffs off each other:

I may be live-posting today, updating this post as I have time and inclination.