Reykjavík Grapevine - 25.08.2006, Blaðsíða 12

This spring, about 60 middle-aged Nordic
phenomenologists convened in Reykjavík to
discuss their (very) particular branch of phi-
losophy and its various conundrums. One of
the fun-filled events sandwiched between the
featured lectures and seminars was a reception
at the city’s town hall, where Councilman Ste-
fán Jón Hafstein gave a short speech welcom-
ing them to “[…] enjoy Reykjavík’s lively
atmosphere, excellent nightlife and vibrant
music scene!”
Yeah, nerdy phenomenologists, go see
a smelly bar gig in downtown Reykjavík. A
drunken Singapore Sling performance will
surely enhance your visit.
Funny thing is, they did. And it did.
In promoting Reykjavík as the metropolitan
cultural melting pot we like to brag about it
being, music is a commodity. There isn’t a
question in anyone’s mind that Björk’s career
has brought more tourists to the city than the
Icelandic pony ever did. Or the state sym-
phony orchestra, for that matter. Hafstein cer-
tainly didn’t lie; Reykjavík does have a vibrant
music scene, one that is at its best extremely
exciting to witness and participate in.
Many bands now popular in Iceland took
their first steps on the tiny stage of the afore-
mentioned bar Grand Rokk. Hjálmar played
their first show there. Singapore Sling, Mínus
and Brain Police all expanded their follow-
ing by playing it regularly. In fact, it’s safe to
say that for the past five years Grand Rokk
has been a resource for bands looking to hone
their craft in a semi-professional environment
free of downtown’s now happily forgotten
‘pay-to-play’ atmosphere (in the past, musi-
cians would have to pay bars a small sum for
hosting a concert. The practise has now been
mostly abandoned).
Grand Rokk is, then, the heart of Rey-
kjavík’s music scene. Imagine how it felt, then,
to talk to the manager of Grand Rokk this
week and hear the following: “We are through
with hosting concerts, at least in the form
we’ve been doing up until now. The reason
is that it simply doesn’t pay well enough
– doesn’t pay shit, in fact. Thus, we decided
to embark upon several policy changes, one of
them being to focus on music favoured by our
older patrons.”
This was Grand Rokk’s manager since
February, Þorsteinn Þórsteinsson, adding that
“an older clientele was more likely to have
some money to its name and hence, to spend
some.”
I ask him if he is turning Grand Rokk into
a sports bar.
“Yes, and no. We are currently installing
several f lat-screen televisions upstairs for that
very purpose. We see an opportunity here, as
there aren’t a lot of sports bars in downtown
Reykjavík. That will only be for the second
f loor, however, Grand Rokk is primarily
the bar of our steady customers and we will
continue to accommodate them to their liking
in our downstairs drinking area. The sound
system and stage will still remain on the
second f loor, so there’s always the possibility
of hosting concerts. If we indeed decide to do
that, they will be few and far between, at most
every two weeks and then only by established
bands.”
Grand Rokk does not have a particularly long
history as the city’s primary music venue.
At its old location (in the building that now
houses the famous Sirkus), it was mostly
known as being easy for underage drinkers to
get into, occasionally playing host to rowdy
shows by cover bands. It wasn’t until the bar
moved to its current Smiðjustígur location
that it started making a name for itself as a
viable alternative to older venues.
Explains promoter, musician and national
state radio personality Freyr Eyjólfsson:
“Sometime in 2002 I had grown extremely
weary of the whole downtown live music scene
and its available venues. Back then, most
concerts took place on Wednesday nights and
were rather tame affairs – there weren’t even
that many, to tell the truth. So I presented
some ideas to [Grand Rokk’s former owner]
Kalli and he in turn gave me freedom and
support to try and realise them.
“We started off by fixing up the stage,
buying a decent sound system and booking a
couple of weekends. The ball started rolling
almost immediately after that. People really
caught on to the idea of catching a concert at
midnight and pretty soon, we were hosting
three concerts per week at the very least, a tra-
dition we kept right until the bar was sold. No
matter what week of what month, you could
always count on seeing something interesting
at Grand Rokk. It was one of the few rules we
set ourselves. Another one was to always treat
the artists with a minimum of respect; no
matter who they were or how big they never
had to pay to play and always got access to our
sound-guy, drink vouchers and the opportu-
nity to charge admittance.”
I ask if he tried to develop the metal scene,
as with Mínus, or if his focus was more pop,
like Mugison.
“Diversity was a point of pride in our
booking policy; we tried not to limit our-
selves to the standard indie-rock fare and
thus had experimental electronic musicians,
country balladeers and metalheads playing
consecutively. And we went against common
conceptions as to what you could and couldn’t
do as a club – some of our most successful
nights featured acts that other venues wouldn’t
allow within ten feet of their premises. We
were really into the idea of providing up-and-
coming artists with the opportunity to play in
a professional environment of sorts and I can
honestly say that we’d give anyone a chance,
no matter how inexperienced.”
Just as amusing as the local bands, though,
were the foreign acts that played the tiny club.
From Alabama Thunderpussy to Wedding
Present to Bob Log III, the club constantly
brought in bizarre and respected bands, from
wide-ranging genres, constantly. Eyjólfsson
credits liquor for the foreign bands. “We’d try
our best to act on every drunken idea we got,
and some of them were even rather good. We
booked [cult favourite] Stereolab after a night
on the binge; somehow, the idea seemed really
plausible at 4 a.m. And sure enough, they
came and played an extremely sold-out show
to an ecstatic audience. This compelled us to
occasionally call our favourite bands and see
if they were willing to pay us a visit. Some-
times it would even work. We were this close
to having the White Stripes perform here a
The Heart of Rock in Reykjavík Waves Goodbye
Why Grand Rokk is closing, and what it means for us
by haukur magnússon photos by gúndi and skari
feature
“They’re always bragging about ‘Reykjavík, the cul-
ture city’, music this and music that – when it finally
starts paying off and we get tourists that are inter-
ested in checking out the scene, there’s nowhere for
them to go.”
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