Reykjavík Grapevine - 15.07.2011, Qupperneq 54

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THE GREEN HAT
AKUREYRI
conce
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nue i
n Ak
ureyr
i
Best
little
CONCERTS:
Fri. 15. jul. Alice in Chains-Tribute
Wed. 20. jul. Maja Eir & S. Stella
Thu. 21. jul. Hjaltalín
Fri. 22. jul. Pétur Ben & Eberg
Sat. 23. jul. Hjaltalin
Thu. 28. jul. Hvanndalsbræ!ur
Fri. 29. jul. Hjálmar
Sat. 30. jul. Hjálmar
Sun. 31. jul. Bravó
We received a really fun phone call at
our office on Monday. Usually when we
get phone calls it’s some angry dude
that’s all upset about something we’ve
published (or not published). Monday’s
caller, pop singer Haffi Haff, was neither
upset nor angry (even though he prob-
ably would be justified in yelling at us,
given our review of his début). Nope,
Haffi Haff was in a cheerful mood, sitting
at a coffeeshop with his friends (who
apparently like spilling drinks around
him) while casually trying to promote his
upcoming show at Barbara.
While Haffi Haff sounded both overtly
upbeat and perky while promoting his
show over the phone, he never came
off as insistent or exuded an air of
self-importance, like so many of his col-
leagues are wont. He politely introduced
himself before asking whether we would
like to write something to help him get a
word out on Saturday’s show. “It’s called
‘Dark Horse’, and it really is a new side
to me as a performer and artist,” said
Haffi. “I want people to know about it.
I’ve been holed up in my bedroom with
a midi controller and a computer for a
while now, writing all this new music.”
Haffi tells us that he is really excited
for this show, as it marks a sort of sea
change for him in terms of performance
and songwriting. “I definitely wanted it
to be in a smaller, more intimate setting.
These are songs I care about a lot, and
I’ve got special things planned for the
performance. It has a theatrical aspect
and I think a lot of my fans will be sur-
prised... and hopefully there will be some
new converts, too.”
When asked about his influences,
Haffi immediately cites Björk (“...not that
I would ever compare myself to her, but
she is very inspiring to me as an artist.
But I do poppier stuff, though”) and
Lady GaGa as his main muses. He then
proceeds to close the interview by lov-
ingly hyping his opening act, the rarely
seen but much talked about Joe and the
Dragon: “I found these guys last week
playing at some event on Austurvöl-
lur—it’s just two guys with a keyboard
and vocals—and they were just so the
shit! I thought: ‘this is either the worst
eighties cover band in the world, or the
best original, eighties-inspired band in
the world!’ And fortunately the latter was
true. The doors at Barbara open at nine,
and Joe and the Dragon go on at 21:45.
I urge everyone to get there in time to
witness this cool new band!”
The below is a note for readers that
have no idea what a ‘Haffi Haff’ is:
Haffi Haff burst onto the local scene
from outta nowhere somewhere around
the bursting point of our once-pros-
perous economic bubble. He quickly
made a name for himself with his casual,
LOUD and confrontational demeanour
(to be fair, making a name for oneself
is a fairly simple process in a nation
of 320.000, especially if one is even
remotely interesting) and started pop-
ping up here and there for no apparent
reason.
At first the bafflingly bi-lingual
star-in-the-making seemed to be all
over every TV show and magazine for
no reason, and most folks assumed
that the Icelandic public had welcomed
yet-another vapid ‘famous-because-
they’re-‘famous’-attention-seeker-type’
to the ranks of the people they like to
read about while waiting for a den-
tist appointment. However, Haffi Haff
quickly proved them wrong as he started
performing music at various gatherings
all over town, culminating in the of his
début album last year. He even amassed
a big load of sincere fans in the process
While the music isn’t everyone’s cup
of tea (what we’ve heard of his début is
a sort of dance-disco-pop that wants to
revel in its love of GaGa and Madonna...
OK we don’t really like what we’ve heard
of his music so far, but that doesn’t
mean you won’t), the man’s spirit, vigour
and enthusiasm is definitely praise-wor-
thy and places him firmly in the category
of ‘ones to watch’.
So why not check him out on Satur-
day?
by Haukur S. Magnússon
16
July
Dark Horse Haffi Haff Wants To Get Intimate With Y’all
Joe and the Dragon are also playing!
Haffi Haff and Joe and the Dragon
July 16, 21:00
Barbara - 1000 ISK
M U SI C
concerts & nightlife in july