Blue Lagoon Thrill

The ‘Blue Lagoon chill’ has been an Airwaves institution for years. The party takes place every Airwaves Saturday and entails lounging at the legendary spa while taking in sets by some of Iceland’s finest DJs.

I have never been to the ‘Blue Lagoon chill’ before. I had always imagined it entailed listening to relaxed trip hop and mellow ambient tunes while slowly watching you hands being turned into bright white sponges by the hot and mineral-rich liquid. Maybe a cocktail now and then, getting cooked in the hot tubs, getting rid of Friday’s hangover and collecting energy for Saturday’s final spurt.

I was wrong.

The ‘Blue Lagoon chill’ is more akin to a ‘Blue Lagoon RAVE’, I learned. If you want to go there to relax, you should choose another day.

Four buses left the BSÍ bus station headed for the chill, all of them packed, as the driver watched out to get every seat occupied. The total amount of Blue Lagoon chillers was probably over 210 people, which became a little annoying as the line at the counter to get into the lagoon was as long as my face when I saw it.

Luckily the entrance procedure was speedy and smooth, so the party hungry soon found its way into the locker rooms and finally into the water.

DJ Margeir was already playing and instead of hold-back lounge sounds he served a hard hitting dish of electronic and techno beats. While the lagoon filled pretty fast, most people concentrated in the area in front of the stage dancing and floundered about. Oh, and at a second area: That, where you could buy beer and other drinks. A thing I have never seen before, you were literally encouraged to have your drinks in the water.

Margeir soon was joined by Humanwoman, an Icelandic techno duo, who performed live at the side of the spa. The lagoon had had evolved into a dancefloor at that point, and people on that dancefloor weren’t terribly impressed  by the weather suddenly going crazy, pouring rain and hail after half an hour of the most beautiful sunshine. One thing that I love most about Icelandic hotpots and spas, you are sitting there, around you the world is perishing in rain and thunderstorms, while you keep your belly warm.

Next up was Daniel Ágúst of GusGus, accompanied by DJ Margeir. His appearance literally made the the lagoon boil, when people went crazy in moving and spraying water, as the fabled Gullfoss does on its best days. The sun came out again, and gave one of the most rememberable impression of Airwaves ever: The sun shining deep on the horizon with great intensity but only half-getting through the dense, metre-high water fountains made by the crowd, Daníels vocals and Margeir’s hard house beats, and the warmth of the lagoon, as if you had wet yourself from the sheer awesomeness of that moment right then.

When I went back to Reykjavík in the bus I almost instantly fell asleep. Actually that was a pretty relaxing part of the trip, the stay at the lagoon itself rather was hard party work.