Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.08.2012, Síða 38

Innipúkinn Festival 2012 CONCERT
R E V I E W
FESTIVAL
R E V I E W
The Hawaiian-Shirted Man
Stole The Night
A Powerhouse Climax
With Four Songs!
Welcome to the eleventh annual Innipúkinn fes-
tival, a musical event held at
the Iðnó theatre aimed at all
those Icelanders who wish
to avoid sleeping in stuffy, airless tents
in the countryside where there are no
showers (which is what a lot of people
enjoy doing during this holiday, for some
ridiculous and unfathomable reason).
The Iðnó theatre is beautifully situ-
ated next to the town pond, Tjörnin, and
is quite spectacular in the dusky light of
the early evening. The atmosphere was
incredibly relaxed, almost like a friend's
garden party, with a few small bars to
get a beer and a snack.
The evening started off with Dr. Gun-
ni at around 21:00. The venue was up-
settingly barren for such a punk legend,
but the space began to fill up the more
he played, which was gratifying to wit-
ness.
Dr. Gunni was followed by Kiriyama
Family, the self-proclaimed princes of
indie-electro-pop. Although still early
in the show, these guys were a personal
highlight of the night. The expanding
crowd was warmed up with electric
drums, funky guitar solos and a gener-
ally well put together band.
Somewhere nearing the middle of the
set, a Hawaiian-shirted man in shorts
and glasses began running amok the
crowd, desperately trying to persuade
the audience to dance, clap or begin
any form of enthusiastic movement to
show the band that they were enjoying
themselves. He was promptly ignored,
mostly because the scene kids that were
there don't do moving at a gig, but also
because everyone seemed to think the
man had taken too much of something
or other and needn't be encouraged.
This all changed, however, when the
man mounted the stage and had some-
how stumbled across a saxophone and a
pair of shades. He played incredibly well
and with enormous gusto. After a rendi-
tion of ‘Careless Whisper,’ the audience
were in the palm of his hands.
Borko followed at 23:00 and ordered
everyone to move forward to fill up the
unused space. With the venue's setting
programmed to ‘intimate,’ the intricate
guitar playing and soulful melodies
could begin.
After Borko, Auxpan played a quick
fifteen-minute set, followed by the blue-
sy, soul-inspired tones of Jónas Sigurðs-
son.
The night was concluded with an
hour set from Prinspóló and then Mam-
mút, the sole female-fronted band of
the evening. Overall, a fantastic opening
night for Innipúkinn. - EMILY BABB
Nine o’clock on a sum-mer night is just about
dinner time for many Ice-
landers, which could very
well explain how shockingly
(or maybe not so shockingly) sparsely
populated Iðnó was for the first act: Just
Another Snake Cult. There was a mixed
bag of folks, ranging from grandparents
to tourists. Composed of eight members,
the nearly genre-less band has been
described as ‘freak pop,’ focusing more
on the ambivalent sounds of the keys
and sax rather than a steady drum beat
(freaky!).
Ásgeir Trausti was next to claim the
stage, followed by Lay Low, and by the
end of this third act the audience had
increased by six fold. Both acoustic acts
inspired a group of sentimental-looking
younger folk to sit in a semi-circle in
the foreground and copious amounts
of swaying in the background. Couples
were especially highlighted during these
moments. Both executed rather formu-
laic performances with their agreeably
soothing voices and soft energy as the
main attraction. However, the drummer
for Lay Low delivered some incredible
solo bits that were way too far and few
between.
Moses Hightower’s performance
continued the “hotel lobby chillin” feel-
ing or rather the “shopping at Anthro-
38 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 12 — 2012MUSIC
03
FRIDAY
04
SATURDAY
visit.landsvirkjun.is
Búrfell Hydro Power Station - Interactive exhibition
10 am-6 pm, June-August
Krafla Geothermal Station - Visitor Center
10 am-4 pm, June-August
Fljótsdalur Hydro Power Station - Visitor Center
10 am-5 pm, June-August
Who needs coal
when you have fire?
Landsvirkjun is one of Europe’s leading renewable energy companies.
This summer, three of our power stations are open to the public: