Iceland Airwaves Day 2
October 17, 2009
I’m sitting here listening to ‘Waving Flag’ by K’Naan, nursing a long and impressive night here at Iceland Airwaves. The city was just beginning to rumble at 5AM when I turned in, as Reykjavik becomes the premier party city on Fridays and Saturdays. It’s insane how alive this city becomes. It’s somewhat scary.
So Friday began the Canadian contingent work at Iceland Airwaves. Brasstronaut started playing a high school near Kringlaan, the biggest shopping centre in Iceland, while Culture Reject played a down-tempo set at the International Youth Hostel, on Vesturgata. In addition, Brasstronaut played their official off-venue gig, at 6PM at Skifan. Skifan is the HMV of Iceland, and over 150 people were there to celebrate the occasion, including Gasoline Magazine, White Whale Records and the Ontario Government. Plus, Montreal experimentalist Tim Hecker played at Idno, as part of the Bedroom Community Records showcase.
For the main events, the Canadians have to wait till later today, where all three play their headlining shows. This meant we all got to enjoy other countries work hard. Bands taken in included Dikta again, Aela (meaning puke in local slang), US’ Golden Filter, Denmark’s When Saints Go Machine, Vinnie Who and Sweden’s The Tiny. Lots of pictures were taken, so expect a picture only post later today or tomorrow. Here’s some videos of what we saw. Today is the big day for Canada. Cancer Bats headline at Sodoma, Brasstronaut at the Art Museum and Culture Reject at Grand Rokk. It’ll be a very, very late night.
Video Time.