That Matthew Eisman sure was busy during Iceland Airwaves. In addition to shooting an absurd number of band portraits at our Hafnarstræti office throughout the festival, Matthew was also on staff with Iceland Airwaves, responsible for capturing live shows every night. He sent us an assortment of his favourite shots from the bash, along with some notes on each. Here they are, in the order that he shot them in!
Vök – My first shoot of Airwaves. What’s not to like about a sax player rocking out?
Júníus Meyvant – What I thought would be a standard singer/songwriter-type performance turned out to be ten-piece band kicking out infectious, 60’s soul-inspired tunes.
Kippi Kaninus – Elements of electronic, brass and noise blended together into instrumental jams that were catchy too. Way cool.
Ásgeir – Fresh off a headlining US tour, Ásgeir sounded tighter and more confident than ever.
Lay Low – She busted out footstompin’ old favorites and a tender new tune. Good stuff!
Kaleo – For such a young band, it’s striking how mature they sound and how well they work an audience.
Vío – They won the most recent Músíktilraunir award for up-and-coming bands so I wanted to check em out.
Geislar – How could this group not be awesome given that it consists of members from other great Icelandic bands like Hjaltalín, Moses Hightower and Drangar?
Alice Bowman – Dreamy and tinged with sadness.
Phox – Lead singer Monica Martin has the voice of a Siren. I really liked this gig. One of my favorite discoveries of the festival.
Megas / Grísalappalísa – Best gig of Airwaves by a country mile (in my humble opinion). Explosive energy and absurdly fun…it was everything good about rock ‘n’ roll.
La Femme – Disco, punk and Lucha Libre masks. I’ll take it.
Árstíðir – Some of the hardest-working, nicest guys around. They flew off almost right after this gig for a five-week tour in Sweden and Russia. They’re probably freezing their balls off in Siberia right now.
Ylja – Folky with some beautiful vocal harmonies.
Döpur – Noise/feedback/drone project of Krummi (Legend, Mínus). I’m partial to anything Krummi-related.
Mugison – This was a special moment when Mugison’s wife joined him on stage. She’s a music teacher and currently on strike. Important stuff people!
Anna Calvi – Guitar shredding, powerhouse vocals and huge lighting. Definitely one of my favorite shoots.
Ibibio Sound Machine – Funky and colorful. Crowd had a blast and so did I!
Adult Jazz – All hands on deck.
FM Belfast – Capturing a moment this like is about as good as it gets as a music photographer.
Valdimar – Went to Laundromat to grab a burger and one of my favorite local bands happened to be playing. Score!
Samaris – Dark, mysterious and haunting.
Vorhees – She looped interweaving guitar lines, drum patterns and vocals. Only caught her last song but would’ve liked to hear more.
The Knife – Probably the most hyped performance of the festival. Visually stunning, but not my cup of tea.
Future Islands – All heart and sweat. Frontman Samuel T. Herring paced around the stage like a caged animal and was completely captivating. Didn’t know much about them beforehand but I’m a believer now.
Grísalappalísa – A band so nice I had to shoot them twice.
Byrta – Heard good things from a friend so I dropped in for a couple songs.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Fuzzed-out riffs and badass drummer.
The War On Drugs – ‘Lost in the Dream’ is one of my favorite records of 2014. It was great to hear those songs take off live.
The Flaming Lips – I shot The Lips a couple years ago and wasn’t really blown away. But looking back, it was probably because they played in the middle of afternoon at an outdoor festival and the mood was totally wrong. This gig was completely different. Perfect atmosphere and tons of positive energy. Loved it!
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