Reykjavík Grapevine - 25.07.2003, Blaðsíða 22

- the reykjavík grapevine -22 july 25th - august 7th, 2003 - the reykjavík grapevine - 23july 25th - august 7th, 2003
LISTINGS
Love, it´s in your neighbourhood", some works of
Hrafnhildur Halldórsdóttir
Safn, -14 to 18 -Collection includes both
international and Icelandic contemporary art.
Admission 200 krónur
ASÍ. Art Museum, -14 to 18 -Icelandic art from
1950-1970
Light Nights Summer Theatre, -starts at 20:30
-Real authentic Icelandic show performed in English,
including the most thrilling ghost story ever told;
The Deacon of Myrká
Night
Ari í Ögri, Acoustic duet (Jói and Kjartan)
Celtic Cross, Band Hound Dog Trio and Elvis
downstairs and troubadour upstairs.
Dubliners, BT and family: Various musicians play
together as a band in a random apperance
Thorvaldsen bar, Daddi Disco
Kráin 73, DJ Andrea Jónsdóttir
Prikið, DJ Daði
Mojito Club, DJ Hlynur
Sirkus, DJ Iceland
Kofi Tómasar frænda, DJ LeChef
Café 22, DJ Rally Cross
Café Sólon, DJ Þröstur
Kaffibarinn, DJ´s of the house
Nelly´s, House DJ
Coffee shop 11, Special event
Gaukur á Stöng, The band Kung Fu
De Boomkikker, Troubadour Óskar Einarsson
Café Victor, Various DJ's, 80's 'n 90's music
Grand Rokk, -Starts 23:00 -Clever and Smart, a
new hip hop band featuring Steini from Quarashi
and others, admission 500 krónur.
Saturday, August 2
Both Day and Night
Austurvöllur out door exhibition, Earth from
Above. Aerial Photographs by Yann Arthus-
Bertrand.
Day
Reðursafnið, Phallological Museum, A fine
penis and penis related selection from various
mammals.
Árbæjarsafn, Folk Museum, An exhibition shows
life and work in the years 1950-60.
National Gallery of Iceland, Exhibition of
selected works by Icelandic artists from the
National Gallery's collection.
National and University Library, Exhibition of the
founder of the city´s documentation, also, childrens
literature, texts and drawings.
Culture House, Images of Iceland - milestones in
cartography
Norræna húsið, Nordic House, The Big Nordic
Elephant Show
Reykjavik Museum of Photography, The Five
Elements. Photographs and etchings from French-
Vietnamese artist Claire Xuan.
Ásmundarsafn, Sculpture museum, The
Modern Man, works of popular sculptor Ásmundar
Sveinsson.
Einar Jónsson Sculpture Museum, The works of
Iceland´s first modern sculptor.
Hafnarhúsið, Reykjavík Art Museum, -10 to
17 -Lobster or Fame Two Decades of Bad Taste
Ltd. Also Erró´s War paintings and Insight into
international contemporary art in Iceland. Admission
500 ISK. Free on Mondays.
Kjarvalsstaðir Art Museum, -10 to 17 -New times
in Icelandic Photography. Admission 500 krónur
Saga Museum, -10 to 18 -History face to face,
historical figures and major events in Icelandic
history presented in a unique way. Admission 800
krónur.
Handverk og Hönnun, -13 to 17 -Exhibition of
contemporary and traditional Icelandic art and
crafts.
Sigurjón Ólafsson Sculpture Museum, -14 to 17
-Portraits and Abstractions
Gallery Hlemmur.is, -14 to 18 -"Look out for my
Love, it´s in your neighbourhood", some works of
Hrafnhildur Halldórsdóttir
Safn, -14 to 18 -Collection includes both
international and Icelandic contemporary art.
Admission 200 krónur
ASÍ. Art Museum, -14 to 18 -Icelandic art from
1950-1970
Night
Ari í Ögri, Acoustic duet (Jói and Kjartan)
Celtic Cross, Band Hound Dog Trio and Elvis
downstairs and troubadour upstairs.
Dubliners, BT and family: Various musicians play
together as a band in a random apperance
Thorvaldsen bar, Daddi Disco
Café 22, DJ Diabolicals
Mojito Club, DJ Hlynur
Kofi Tómasar frænda, DJ LeChef
Sirkus, DJ Yamaho
Café Sólon, DJ Þröstur
Kaffibarinn, DJ´s of the house
Prikið, DJ´s Snike and Tiger
Nelly´s, House DJ
Coffee shop 11, Special event
Gaukur á Stöng, The band Kung Fu
Kráin 73, Troubadour Danni tjokkó
De Boomkikker, Troubadour Óskar Einarsson
Café Victor, Various DJ's, 80's 'n 90's music
Sunday, August 3
Both Day and Night
Austurvöllur out door exhibition, Earth from
Above. Aerial Photographs by Yann Arthus-
Bertrand.
Day
Reðursafnið, Phallological Museum, A fine
penis and penis related selection from various
mammals.
Árbæjarsafn, Folk Museum, An exhibition shows
life and work in the years 1950-60.
National Gallery of Iceland, Exhibition of
selected works by Icelandic artists from the
National Gallery's collection.
National and University Library, Exhibition of the
founder of the city´s documentation, also, childrens
literature, texts and drawings.
Culture House, Images of Iceland - milestones in
cartography
Árbæjarsafn, Folk Museum, New Iceland Youth
Choir from Canada performes.
Norræna húsið, Nordic House, The Big Nordic
Elephant Show
Reykjavik Museum of Photography, The Five
Elements. Photographs and etchings from French-
M U S I C
Prestigious Reykjavik-based foreign
organisation has two vacancies for office
staff fluent in both English and Icelandic:

-Media relations, web-site and educational projects Manager
one year only from 1 September 2003.
-Trade and Investment Promotion Assistant – permanent position
Applications in English only to PO Box 460, 121 Reykjavik
THEY CAME, THEY
SAW, THEY FROZE
THEIR ASSES OFF
A brief look at the bands that have
been here
THE FIRST
The Kinks were here in ´65 and played
at Hótel Borg, today’s oldest surviving
hotel in downtown Reykjavík. This
was the first notable pop band to visit
Iceland. Because they were playing at a
small venue they had to do two gigs a
night, half the normal length, and wound
up giving eight performances all in all.
Ray Davies is rumoured to have written
the song “I’m on an Island” during his
stay, a phrase that must have burst
into the minds of the Icelandic kids as
a desperate revelation when The Kinks
left and they had to wait five bleeding
years for the next half-decent act to
come along, years spent in a cultural
purgatory void of TV, Playstations and
banned narcotics such as beer.
The hippy movement caught on late
in Iceland and didn’t have the same
cultural grounding as in the US and
rest of Europe. We lacked the means
of infection, our media could not fuel
the fever as needed and our government
was unreasonably fair in every respect
and gave young people little to rebel
about (editorial note: ho-hum). But
Led Zeppelin still came here in June in
1970. They played at Laugardagshöll
which has since then been the most
popular venue for imported bands.
They did some tunes, shagged some
birds (some women in very respectable
position today are said to have been in
questionable positions with the band
members at the time), and then followed
The Kinks´ example and got an idea for
a song here. It was of course “Immigrant
Song” where they point out that here we
have cold weather and hot springs (they
didn’t have time to look around much).
The year after Deep Purple played at the
same venue, blew the sound system and
stormed away in a bad mood.
PUNK
The rest of the decade was mostly
uneventful and it wasn’t until the
wonderful 80´s that things started to pick
up. Not only was there an unprecedented
shipping of foreign talent to our shores
but the local bands really started to
shape up and new progressive musicians
were born, laying the foundations for
the Björks and Sigurrós´s of today. So
maybe here we have an answer for those
who want to know why we have such a
flourishing and inventive music scene, it
might be because it was effectively born
in an era of punk. Punk was never about
sitting still or being quiet. And we had
bands such as The Clash performing
here in 1980 and
showing us how things
should be done. When
The Stranglers came in
1978 we hadn’t been
ready for them but they
didn’t leave without
planting seeds in the
hearts of a generation.
So The Clash, at their
peak with the London
Calling tour, got a very
warm welcome – we
even had a punk band
of our very own to thaw
out the crowd, the now
legendary Outsiders.
80´S KICK OFF
Everything opened up. The tempest of
mullets and new wavers the following
years brought us The Fall, Gary Numan,
Echo & The Bunnymen, Madness, Human
League, Grace Jones, Classix Nouveaux
and Crass to name but a few. Nick Cave
& the Bad Seeds stumbled over but it
was during their drugged-out-of-this-
or-any-other-world-phase and they still
can’t remember their stay so Cave had
to come back in 2002 to make up for
it. In 1987 Meatloaf graced us with his
presence, and the glitzy one hit wonders
Europe, which at first was a lame but fun
band, then became lame, then fun again
a few years ago for sarcastic indie shoe
gazers, got played to death and are now
lamer than ever.
Boy George, Uriah Heep, Leonard
Cohen, Status Quo and Kiss came in
1988, Meatloaf again in ´89. In 1990
the Happy Mondays seem to have some
recollection of coming here and puking
their way about the place. A mediocre
performance but at least they beat
Boney M and Tom Jones who were here
the same year.
WHERE BANDS COME TO DIE
1991-´92 was the era of washed up rock
bands, for whatever reason. Since not
enough time had gone by since they lost
their cool, even in our instant nostalgia
times, Iron Maiden, Jethro Tull and Black
Sabbath (minus Ozzy), were nothing to
call home about. Ozzy was originally
supposed to come here in place of Black
Sabbath, but a Christian organisation
prayed that this would not happen,
Ozzy duly caught a cold and cancelled
the show and his old bandmates were
hired as a replacement. Skid Row came
here the same year at the peak of their
powers, but these were, admittedly,
slight.
Many Icelanders still remember
the mini music event held in a stadium
in Hafnarfjörður where Poison was
supposed to play, but bailed out at last
minute due to a bass player’s finger
injury. Whitesnake had done better a few
years before when they went on despite
singer Coverdale´s being incapacitated
by a sore throat, and made up with
extended guitar solos and local singers
stepping in. In 1992, however, we had
the Quireboys (Queerboys originally
but they had to change their name),
Thunder, Slaughter and Norwegian-
Icelandic group Artch to keep our rock
glands secreting at said festival despite
(or because of) Poisons absence. A year
later, in 1993, Rage Against the Machine
rushed the same stage and all hell broke
loose. Axes and knifes were confiscated,
and Icelandic kids drunker than Shane
McGowan in a distillery became among
the first to discover the bands genius.
Rage Against the Machine were not
impressed.
CHANGE
This year, 1993, was a turning
point because that was the year
Björk Guðmundsdóttir hit it big. The
Sugarcubes had built it up but after this
Iceland was ensured cool status and
has had little difficulty signing big bands
to these shores since. Marking this
occasion, I have compiled an incomplete
list of the visitors of the last 10 years:
Underworld, St. Etienne, The Prodigy,
Bobby Gillespie (of Primal Scream), Atari
Teenage Riot, Ash (peculiar because they
hadn’t made it at all when they came but
the machine was put into action and all
singles were played around the clock
everywhere until Ash became famous
here and the promoters made money),
The Cardigans, Pulp, Blur (twice – and
Damon Albarn ended up buying a house
here), Coldplay, Propellerheads, David
Bowie, De La Soul, Goldie, Fugees,
Massive Attack, Robbie Williams (made
it onto the Icelandic blacklist along with
Jerry Seinfield after Robbie acted like a
prick and had a hissy fit on stage just
because someone threw a bottle at
him), Garbage, Mercury Rev, Fugazi,
Stereolab, Modest Mouse, Elton John,
Ian Brown, Bloodhound Gang, Shellac,
Wiseguys, Low, Thievery Corporation
(twice – as part of the first two Icelandic
Airwaves – which has since become the
only real music festival here and not
a bad one at that), Flaming Lips, The
Hives, Rammstein, The Strokes, Sasha,
NOFX, Blonde Redhead, Fatboy Slim and
finally the bleached technocriminals of
Scooter!
Foo Fighters will be the next name to
add to the list as they will play on the
26th of August at Laugardalshöllin.
A big sloppy “thank you” to Dr. Gunni
for writing the most extensive guide to
Icelandic rock culture ever with his book
“Eru ekki allir í stuði?”.
Ragnar Egilsson
Indoor music festival
Innipúkinn
Reykjavik
Saturday August 2nd
For those wise (or broke) enough not
to attempt to spend the 1st weekend
of August drunk and wet in a tent
somewhere in Iceland’s wilderness,
there is now a way out…or in.
While the other outdoor festivals of-
fer a cocktail of booze, bad weather
and bad coverbands, “Innipúkinn”
(roughly transl: couch potato?) is the
alternative choice, though it doesn’t
mean leaving the booze behind. Vari-
ous artists and bands try their best to
make people forget their outdoor
festival longings as all hope for more
rain, just to feel better about staying
in town. The music is made by bands
such as Trabant, Botn, Rúnk, Mugison,
Innvortis and Lovers.
This is the 2nd time Innipúkin indoor
music festival is held and as heard
through the Grapevine the first time
was a hit.
Likely to be the only event worth your
money this weekend.
Entrance fee: 2200kr, 1800 if bought
beforehand at 12 Tónar record shop.
Trabant
At Innipúkinn
Saturday August 2nd
The band Trabant is just back from
their Japanese tour and their first
gig after returning is at “Innipúkinn”
tonight. Trabant played at the Icelandic
Airwaves music festival last year and
received a lot of attention.
The members of Trabant have been
working together in one way or other
the last decade in various bands within
the Reykjavik music scene, such as
Quarashi, Unun, Apparat Organ Quar-
tet, Slowblow, The Funerals, Kvartett
O Jonson og Grjoni,Kanada.
Trabant’s latest album Moment of Truth
was produced by Trabant and techno
merchant Thor of the Thule Music em-
pire. Its recording / producing process
took no less than six months on top of
three years of Trabant composing, so
a nomination as best debut album of
the year at the Icelandic Music Awards
2002 was well deserved, múm being
their predecessors in the category,
plus their single “Enter Spacebar”, was
chosen single of the month in MUZIK
Magazine.
Destination Greenland
Tourist Information
Centre Aðalstræti 2
Until August 2nd
The tourist office at Aðalstræti in the
centre of Reykjavik offers information
of how, when and why to visit Iceland’s
north western neighbours. Practical
information is supplemented with an
exhibition of Greenlandic arts and
crafts, books on Greenland, seal skins
and the inevitable polar bear skull.