Did you know that aside from making some pretty nice vodka, those folks over at Reyka also sponsor an annual contest where US bands can win the chance to perform at Iceland Airwaves. This is pretty cool of them—if you’re a band, getting to travel to showcase festivals for free is a sweet deal, furthermore all of the bands they’ve brought over thus far have been pretty nice (note: they are totally not shipping over a crate of vodka to our house as we write this).
Iceland Airwaves 2K12 was no exception. They brought over two bands who, according to our reviews were pretty damn good. And those guys apparently had a great time, at least judging by the captioned photos they emailed us. So, without further ado, scroll down to see and read about constest winner Vacationer and Blouse’s Airwaves experiences! When you’re done scrolling and looking and reading, vote for who had the better time in our commenting system. Whoever gives the best guess, according to our arbitrary standards, gets a free Grapevine t-shirt! And again: they are totally not sending us a crate of vodka. This is the Reykjavík Grapevine. We have standards, goddamnit.
BLOUSE
From Charlie Hilton lead singer of Blouse:
When we landed in Iceland, it was too early to see. Everything was black and we hadn’t slept all night. We pulled up to the Kex Hostel and carried our gear up 4 flights of stairs. Then all of a sudden we were in the coziest lobby ever eating fresh bread and listening to Hank Williams–and then the sun rose. This is Paul and Patrick realizing the landscape outside.
To welcome us to the city the first night, team Reyka Vodka took us to a restaurant called Tapas. We all tried whale (even me, the pescatarian). It was a beautiful repast. These are the men of Blouse feeling very satiated.
It didn’t take long to find something American.
Jake feeling extremely cold during a tour of the Golden Circle.
The Blue Lagoon Chill Party. My favourite part was watching people dance from the cafe inside.
We loved playing our show at Deutsche bar, especially because it was our drummer Paul’s birthday. We stayed up all night celebrating, finishing the night at a zombie party at Mánabar . Everyone was bloody.
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VACATIONER
Kenny Vasoli, lead Singer of Vacationer
Our first day enjoying the country. Taking in some wind to cut through our vodka haze.
We stopped over at the Geysir for a close look. Greg (who had lost luggage of clothes in transit) took a spray to body for the experience. Warmed him up for a few seconds.
Before our festival performance we were granted the relaxation of the Blue Lagoon’s natural hot springs. The smiles say it all. We were optimally chilled!
Our set at Harpa was the fastest running 40 minutes I can remember experiencing. Truly a magical night for us.
Whenever I was not singing, I would step to the front of the stage to take in the moment and absorb the crowd. I didn’t want it to end and wanted to remember as much of that night as possible.
Closed out the night with a delightful post-show rager at Moon Bar. This was legitimate, I had no idea pictures were being snapped. Time of my life.
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Vacationer photos by the lovely Nicky Digital.
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