Reykjavík Grapevine - 20.10.2017, Qupperneq 23

New Wave Airwaves
Venue changes bring exciting developments
to Iceland Airwaves
Iceland Airwaves
October 20-15, in various spaces
The Iceland Airwaves Music Festival is
here once again. From November 1-5,
this classic downtown event has much
to offer, with a dynamic lineup and big
changes in venues for 2017.
Iceland Airwaves is known for
showcasing new music from Iceland
and around the globe, booking dif-
ferent artists of all sorts. But the fes-
tival doesn’t overlook what the public
is after. “We have a lot of cutting edge
artists this year,” says program man-
ager Egill Tómasson. “Like Shame and
Kelly Lee Owens, both from the UK.
We have Flamingods as well—they’ve
been around for a while and are going
to be interesting to see. There’s a lot
of stuff that’s way under the radar. If
a band today has like 50,000 views on
YouTube—yes, that’s a lot, but not even
close to being considered mainstream.
The lineup reflects many up-and-com-
ing artists in that range.”
Noise and rap
When it comes to the Icelandic music
scene, this year’s lineup remains cur-
rent. “The local scene is healthy as
well, there’s a lot of interesting stuff
coming up,” explains Egill. “I would
say rock and hardcore rock is having a
bit of a hard time now, but still we have
amazing rock and punk bands like Une
Misère, Godchilla and Tófa playing
this year. Our main headliners in the
Icelandic department are the young
up-and-comers in the hip-hop scene.
There’s a lot of energy and a lot of fun;
we’re super happy with the lineup.”
With shows being held at 13 differ-
ent venues across downtown Reyk-
javík, Iceland Airwaves decided to
switch things up a bit this year by re-
moving Harpa as one of its main stag-
es. The only shows that will be held
at Harpa this year will be Ásgeir and
Fleet Foxes, who will perform in the
Eldborg hall, since these are expect-
ed to be large concerts. As for other
shows, Egill says they are adding ven-
ues that want to be more amenable to
Reykjavík’s live scene.
Sweaty and punk
“The Hard Rock Café was an off-ven-
ue last year, and worked very well,”
he says. “We have no doubts about
bringing them on board. We also have
Hressó; it’s a smaller venue, but great
for up-and-coming hip-hop and elec-
tronic artists.”
Also new this year is Hverfisbar-
inn on Hverfisgata. “They have put
great effort into becoming a live ven-
ue, so we have a great line-up there,”
says Egill. He goes on to explain that
moving out of Harpa is a huge change
for the festival. “It’s more street,” he
smiles. “More standing out on a wet
pavement in Reykjavík, trying to get
your way into a sweaty club. In a way,
we’ve always been about that, but with
Harpa coming into the picture you
got more of an establishment feeling.
We love Harpa, for sure, but for us to
go back to our roots, making it more
sweaty and more punk, is challeng-
ing, but fun.”
Words:
Charley Ward
Photos:
Art Bicnick,
Nancy Lupo
23
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BeforeArt Pop On The Ocean Floor
Sacha Bernardson & The Mermaids
Oct. 21, 20:30, Listastofan, Free!
Flamboyant Reykjavík-based
solo artist Sacha Bernardson will
celebrate the release of his new
album, ‘Rockall,’ with a free re-
lease concert at Listastofan on
Saturday October 21. His music
mashes together electronica and
arch, experimental pop melodies,
backed by the choral vocals of his
Mermaids. Live shows also include
a heavy dose of glitter, glamour,
camp, and fun. Warning: the Face-
book event says to bring your own
booze. JR
Uppers, Downers, And
Candy Corn
Drag-Súgur Halloween
Oct. 20, 21:00, Gaukurinn, 2.500 ISK
Did you just get back from an ooky-
kooky-spooky seance? Ohohohoho!
Well stop by Gaukurinn’s haunted
house (ohohohoho!) for Drag-
Súgur’s Halloween blow-out. Your
favourite creatures will be lured
from their graves, caves, and Grin-
dr dates to entertain you just like
Max as Sharon Needles...except
hopefully better, henny. Looking
for a costume? Never forget: When
in doubt, freak ‘em out. And don’t
be afraid if you hear a loud “Boo!”
coming from the shadows—it’s
simply applause from ghosts. HJC
Make Voting Cool Again
VAKAN
Oct. 28,, 20:00, Valsheimili, Vote!
It’s election night. Things could
be good. Things could be good.
Remember what happened to the
US? Hillary was supposed to win!
Well get that negative energy out
of your head with a concert featur-
ing Reykjavíkurdætur, Emmsjé
Gauti, Hildur, Páll Óskar, Sturla
Atlas, Sylvía Erla, Aron Can, Góði
Úlfurinn, Flóni, GDRN, Úlfur Úlfr,
FM Belfast, Cell7, Birnir, Yamaho,
Joey Christ, Unnsteinn, Gus Gus,
and Snorri Ástráðs. HJC
To celebrate Airwaves this year, we
at Grapevine are throwing a couple
of special events. First, we’ll be host-
ing a fancy exhibition of our favou-
rite Iceland Airwaves covers, from
over the years. It’ll be held at Gal-
lery Port, an independent art space
at Laugavegur 23. From Samaris
to Sin Fang, Sprengjuhöllin, Óla-
fur Arnalds, Skúli Sverisson, Retro
Stefson and Æla, it’s going to be a
visual feast showing off many of the
country’s top bands from over the
years. There’ll be off-venue concerts
in the gallery with beer provided for
all-comers—or at least early-arriv-
ers—by Einstök, the number one
craft beer brand in Iceland.
We’re also partnering with Ein-
stök to dish out some #GrapeWaves
goodie bags, stuffed with splendid
stuff. Simply hashtag your funni-
est festival Tweets and Instagrams
with #GrapeWaves to enter, and fol-
low us at @rvkgrapevine to see who
wins. We’ll pick out our favourites
each day to dish out the prizes. It
could be you! JR
Thanks to Einstök Beer for sponsor-
ing the event, and to Smekkleysa,
Farmer’s Market and 66° North for the
goodie bag prizes.
Grapevine’s
#GrapeWaves
Off-venue
Spectacular
Where?
Gallery Port,
Laugavegur 23
When?
Wed Nov 1
& Thu Nov 2
17:00
Who?
Wed: TBC,
Thu: Mighty
bear & sóley
Why?
Because: FUN
Come Airwaves
With Us
After