Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.08.2008, Síða 28

28 | REYKJAVÍK GRAPEVINE | ISSUE 10—2008
ARTICLE By natHaniel flagg — pHotoS By leó StefÁnSSon
.
People have been physically threatened by rough
characters, the target of unwanted sexual ad-
vances and beholden to all kinds of debaucher-
ies at sveitaball. The events have a reputation for
attracting extremely drunk people. Plus, the hip-
hop group Rottweiler was scheduled to perform,
which didn’t quite add up either. In the car on the
way to Selfoss, I had absolutely no idea what a
sveitaball was going to be. It was going to be fresh,
dangerous experience.
Sveitaball that night was held in 800 Bar in
Selfoss, and once I walked in, I knew it was defi-
nitely not going to be a “country dance”. The room
was bathed in an acid purple light, a disco ball
hung from the ceiling and the bathrooms smelled
freshly of paint. Even the bar’s logo was modern,
looking more like “ill” or “colon slash slash” than
“800”. Rottweiler members drank heavily in the
back room, with no fiddle or cowboy hat in sight.
The bartenders were all young and attractive,
wearing black. A strange combination in a place
which I’d been told would be filled with hicks!
It wasn’t until people started coming into
the bar when I started to understand what they
meant. Each person looked drunker than the last,
great herds of sloshed teenagers swaggering in
waves. The bar became crowded, and the air was
filled with squealing girls, and guffawing guys,
gathering each other up into great man-hugs. It
looked quite a bit like high school, plus six beers
per person, the whole space exploding in pent-up
drunken reverie.
As the night pressed on, Sprengjuhöllin
came onstage, greeted by the fast-collecting
crowd of excited teens assembling in front of the
stage. Wasting no time, they launched right into
their set. The kids furthest in front started sing-
ing along. Others spread out and started swing
dancing. It was at this point when a tally of public
makeouts on the dance floor began, with a sight-
ing of three in rapid succession. The first glass
of beer fell to the floor, its owner shrugging and
grinning as the broken shards skittered across the
floor. The evening was picking up. More beer was
consumed, the space became more crowded, and
the mood became more dynamic as Sprengjuhöl-
lin started to take on the mood of the audience.
“Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
uuuuuuucck!” they shouted in between songs, giv-
ing way to standing and slowly gyrating on amps.
The crowd went wild.
Soon, the set was over, the audience sad to
see them leave, but drunk enough so that they for-
got. The crowd shifted back to the bar for another
round of drinks, a few lingering behind, continu-
ing to dance tirelessly.
About a half-hour later, Rottweiler came
onstage, loosening a second, drunker crowd of
teens from their tables. The music was wilder
and fiercer to suit the audience, who danced,
dropped their glasses and made out harder than
before (the tally jumped to twelve). Casting off the
courteous slip through the crowd, sveitaballers
resorted to elbows and shoulders to smash their
ways through bodies. Dancing feet ground shards
of glass into pellets, then flakes, then dust to mix
with the sticky grime of alcohol and dirt covering
the floor. In the heat of the moment, a boy jumped
on stage to dance with the musicians. After a tiff
with a bouncer, he was deftly removed, dragged
through the crowd to be deposited in a heap out-
side. In their giddy passions, barely a single per-
son noticed.
This is what sveitaballs are good at. For teen-
agers (and a few adults) with raging hormones,
and little opportunity to release their urges oth-
erwise, this dance is just the catharsis they need.
Fun groups like Sprengjuhöllin and tough, physi-
cal groups like Rottweiler work just the right pres-
sure points to release a veritable fireball of drunk
emotions. That may sound gross, but then again,
what if it were anywhere else? We should be thank-
ful for sveitaball, drunken violence and public sex
and everything.
To a foreigner, the concept of a
‘Sveitaball’ can be confusing. The
word “sveit” can be defined as
“country” or “countryside”, and
the word can literally be translat-
ed “country dance”. Which sounds
innocuous enough (square danc-
ing with neighbours and relatives
to the tune of fiddles, perhaps?),
were it not for the dense lore that
surrounds it
tHe firSt glaSS of Beer fell to
tHe floor, itS owner SHrug-
ging and grinning aS tHe Broken
SHardS Skittered acroSS tHe
floor. tHe evening waS picking up.
A Necessary Evil
Sveitaball is haven for some of the craziest, drunkest teens alive
MUSIC NEWS
Icelandic electro party masters FM Belfast, other
than just travelling the globe and spreading joy,
have also recently put the finishing touches on
their first album, which is due for release in the
end of August. The album is called ‘How to Make
Friends’ and is about exactly that. Making friends
and having fun. They will also release a 12” vinyl
record featuring their single ‘Lotus’ along with
Antipop and Kasperbjörke remixes of the song.
For more information see www.myspace.com/
fmbelfast.
Esja are also on their way to release their first
album, the self-titled Esja. Fronted by two veter-
ans in the local music scene, Krummi and Daníel
Ágúst, the band makes a dark mix of 70's era rock
and blues. Released on Tónaljós, the label that
Krummi (who is also the singer in rock-group Mí-
nus) owns with his father, the album is due for re-
lease around mid-August. The first single from the
album can be heard on the Esja’s myspace www.
myspace.com/esja. A release concert is scheduled
for the August 7.
The notorious party-punk-rockers in Dr. Spock
also have a record in the pipeline which member
Finni has stated will come out “sometime between
next month and Christmas 2010.”
The album is called ‘Falcon Christ’ and is
described as being reminiscent of an 80's roman-
tic sitcom. The band will release the album on
Smekkleysa, a local independent record label and
store. For more information see www.smekkleysa.
is.
A number of exciting albums have been predicted
for release this fall, such as the eagerly anticipated
first Steed Lord album, a Retro Stefsson album as
well as releases by Motion Boys, Hairdoctor and
more.
FM Belfast Plan
Release
Esja’s Debut
Finally Ready
Dr. Spock’s
‘Falcon Christ’
A Flavourful
Fall
what haPPens at sveitaball doesn't stay at sveitaball
By oddur SturluSon