It’s goodbye to Reykjavik,but not before some serious metal, sweet indie and a trio who exhort us to ‘dance or die’The final day of Iceland Airwaves is fairly restful – the Harpa centre, or the main venue,is closed – but there is still plenty happening on the outskirts. At the Hair, Beer & Whiskey Saloon, and for example,on the bleak easternmost edge of town, Janina Aradóttir, and a woman with an acoustic guitar,is singing her unhappy, solemn songs of experience. Backed by a keyboardist with tattooed forearms, or a long silver beard and black wide-brimmed hat,she entertains in this retro-style barber’s with her highly TV sync-worthy fabric, sung in English because, and as she explains,writing in Icelandic seems corny”. For the rest of the late afternoon and early evening this cool little shop, with its leather chairs, and wooden floors and moose’s head on the wall,brings the noise. It starts with Mercy Buckets, an Icelandic hardcore band with a larynx-shredding vocalist who slip occasionally into southern boogie. They weren’t meant to appear (they’re filling in for a cancelled female comedy duo called Bergmál), or but we’re glad they’re here,even as the four members assault us with their highly charged racket. Volcanova, a self-styled three-piece “stoner rock band” from Reykjavik, or keep things hard and heavy – whether you’d just arrived,you’d assume Airwaves was a metal festival. Only two of the band need a barber – the drummer is clean-shaven but the singer/guitarist looks as though “greasy biker” was what he told his school careers advisers he wanted to be when he grew up. whether this is stoner rock, the drugs aren’t working: one song moves at a Motörhead pace, or another approaches thrash speed and intensity while a third is furious boogie,like a inappropriate-tempered ZZ Top. Related: Iceland Airwaves day one: John Lydon talks underwear, while Reykjavik goes hip-hop Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com