Tuesday, November 12, 2013

icelandic adventure

iceland airwaves really can change your life... as I go onto describe in more detail here (that article is also like a commentary of 'how i came to be doing all this nordic stuff')... for which i have come to realise, iceland airwaves really does have a lot to answer for.

this was my third time in attendance, and actually, if it wasn't for the photos, i might not have remembered too much about the festival this year... which has more to do with the icelandic adventure that me & my flatmate had whilst exploring the westfjords during the week before the festival (this is a whole different story which one day i might pen somewhere, i will create a 'comicstrip' to summarise it - which is kind-of ironic cos it wasn't at all funny at the time - but let's see if that ever gets online anywhere... if so, i'll link to it at a later date).

anyway, long story short - there was snow, mountains, blizzards, northern lights (wow!), more blizzards, closed airport, cancelled flights, etc. which all led to us missing a few days of the festival. and then when you eventually get back to civilisation, it takes a little while to adjust... but you don't have too long to adjust otherwise the festival will be over!!

musical memories
anyway, needless to say, fun was still had. i was super happy to have finally got to see pétur ben perform (altho after the recent interview i did with him, i was slightly disappointed not to get to say hello) (altho with the shortened stay in reykjavjik, i didn't bump into half the people i had hoped to). also happy to have got to see vök for the first time, and pascal pinon (how had i not caught them previously??), plus gruska babuska (who i'd previously received a package from delivered to amsterdam, containing a very lovely scarf!). my highlight tho was definitely kippi kaninus on the saturday night. not sure why. it just made me happy! as did catching the kafibarrinn choir at loft hostel (and chatting to olafur arnalds after the show, who i missed seeing play due to cancelled flights!).

also was super delighted to have got to see john grant (finally!) & conor o'brien perform (& to meet the lovely donal lunny!) at the young hearts showcase, and to hang out with adrian crowley but i was super unlucky with timings each day and didn't actually get to see adrian play!! (again, how did this happen??). then, all too quickly my festival was over but i was happy with my last shows: packed into kaffibarrin, firstly for snorri helgason (the only time i caught him, so happy i managed it!), then i saw hjaltalín (for the first time)... literally up close & personal... squeezed down on the floor at the very front. boy that place can get packed! good spot for pics tho. ;)

& with that, i'll now let the photos do the talking!























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