Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.10.2011, Side 70

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“I think Iðnó is a really good place for us to play because now it’s
not so intense, like “Waaaaahhhh!!!” Now it’s better for people to
just listen and not say anything.”
sudden Weather Change
iðnó - sat - 01:10
“Did they turn down Slayer this year?”
Úlfur
iðnó - Fri - 20:00
“The sight of 40 or even 50-something year old punks playing
their thirty year old stuff should normally rival any freak show.
However, we have recently been headlining gigs in Reykjavík
and getting serious rave reviews, so we would think it’s definitely
worth the while to check us out.”
Q4u
amsterdam - sun - 23:00
“You need to check out the sea and the
mountains. If you pay close attention, they
have some pretty amazing shit to say about
the relevance of culture.”
K-X-p
Gaukur á stöng - sat - 01:20
“When you came in there were guys in neon-yellow vests and
there was smoke and they were guiding you in, and then there
were two actors dressed up as security patting people down and
putting alcohol into your bags instead of taking it out!””
mammút
nasa - Wed - 21:40
Gaukur á stöng - sun - 00:00
“I actually just cleared out four Dollaramas in
Montreal of this amazing confetti they carry, so
there’s gonna be lots of confetti.”
Rich aucoin
nasa - sun - 00:00
“I would have to say sex and pussy. I watched the guitar player
from the band Love/Hate with his shirt off in a music video and I
thought to myself this guy probably gets laid.””
helgi Valur and the shemales
tjarnarbíó - sat - 19:30
“Hopefully working hard and focusing on the musi-
cal aspect will keep on being sufficient to make
sure more people check us out and start liking us.
Stadiums and heroin scandals are imminent.”
Gang Related
amsterdam - Fri - 19:10
With Airwaves just around the corner, it’s
almost impossible not to notice the mas-
sive influx of tourists that have, in one way
or another, heard what Iceland is all about,
and come to widen their cultural aware-
ness. Whether it’s their first or tenth time
visiting the island of oil drum-symphonies,
kokteilsósa, and Honda CRV’s, they’re
about to discover one thing—Reykjavík
does, indeed, rock.
Author Hallgrímur Helgason (‘101
Reykjavík’) provides a lot of the writing for
the latest English-language publication
that assumes to portray his home city,
‘Reykjavík Rocks.’ The coffee- table style
tome is an enjoyable speed read for the
Ice-interested and local alike, featuring
snippets of useful and humorous facts,
set against 96 pages of vibrant full-colour
photos. And it’s not difficult to understand
what all the fuss is about, for at a glance
you can catch up ont especially important
subjects like: Iceland is beautiful, Icelandic
women are beautiful, Icelandic men are
alright, Iceland is not Greenland, and that
you’re more likely to have a blurry religious
experience from too much Hlöllabátar
than being attacked by a sheep. But, you
know, anything could happen—and that’s
the point.
Reykjavík’s colourful man in charge,
Jón Gnarr, is represented in the form of
his ‘Welcome To Reykjavík’ column which
we ran last year: “The odds of you being in
Reykjavík are not great. The greatest part
of mankind is elsewhere. It is scientifically
proven.” Indeed, as the book suggests,
you can take a person out of Breiðholt
(but you cannot take Breiðholt out of a
person)—and in reference to Reykjavík’s
latest architectural addition that graces
the old harbour, Hallgrímur jokes: “While
our economy was burning, we were busy
building a concert hall.” Never mind the
money, Reykjavík’s got the music.
‘Reykjavík Rocks’ is an entertaining
read, and lively pictorial passage into
contemporary Icelandic culture. If you
find yourself interested in learning more
about how many Icelanders speak English
better than their native tongue (nothing to
talk about, really), “ash-farting” (the latest
competitive sport to emerge from Iceland’s
glaciers and volcanoes), Airwaves week-
end as a necessary means of reproduction
(it is suggested that more than half of the
Icelandic population was conceived on
Sunday mornings between 3 and 6), and
how it’s important for each Icelander to
consult www.islendingabok.is before com-
mitting to a serious relationship—be sure
to give ‘Reykjavík Rocks’ a glance.
books | A look at ‘Reykjavík Rocks’ by Bowen Staines
If NYC Is The City That Never Sleeps, Reykjavík Is The City That Just Woke Up
by Hallgrimur Helgason, the author of 101 Reykjavik and some other dudes