This night at Hressó was a Trúbatrix night. All female artists, troubadours. I must admit, I’m not walking through the door all over excited about the prospect. Songbird broke the ice that night. This cute folksy-three piece from Keflavík is playing their…

With lines stretching into a soppy horizon, would-be Reykjavík Art Museum patrons balked and stumbled to join the packed crowd at Batteríið. The first half of the night wasn’t that great, the second half exploded into its own. The bands would fall…

The Reykjavík Art Museum is a beautiful large space with a black, arched ceiling and clinical, mental institution-esque design. It‘s no wonder this place is known for hosting some of the most insane shows of the festival. The nine-piece <3 Svanhvít! start…

Iðnó’s concert hall crackled loudly with its first musician. Multitasker Matthew Collings mixed and looped a mélange of vibrant bass chord-drones and percussion, overlaid by his own unadorned vocals. His North Carolinian drummer gave a spirited and hypnotic performance. Most convincing as…

Toggi, Ingi and Monotown were the same classic-rock singer-songwriter fronted band at three different stages of competence, skill, progress and popularity, all of them infinitely more enjoyable live than on record, which may not be saying much, but I found them to…

Pontiak Pilatus literally amble on stage and start their set to about six people (including myself and Grand Rokk’s staff). This must be what bands refer to as the 7th circle of hell, when you play you little hearts out in a…

I’m just going to come right out and say it: All you folks out there that didn’t manage to get a ticket to Kings of Convenience show – boy do I feel sorry for you. To quickly sum it up: the Norwegian…

Grand Rokk has to be one the most press-friendly places these Airwaves. When I arrived, I was greeted by bartender Gunni, who directed me to the only chair in the house. It had been reserved for me. Conveniently enough, it was situated…

Due to some unforeseen problems, I showed up as Rökkurró were almost done with their set. What I caught, I liked, as is to be expected when this band is involved. Even though belonging to the ‘cute’ scene, Rökkurró don’t stop there.…

Another example of the proliferation of new electronic crews in Iceland, we saw local crew I [heart] RVK teaming up with London event crew ATG to promote their DJs and producers upstairs, and Breakbeat.is in charge of the downstairs line-up. Dubstep’s all-encompassing…

Sometimes instinct is everything. When I put my hand up to take the job of reviewing Hressó, I thought I was going to see some crap noise/punk bands. Memories of last year flooded back to seeing the lead singer of Fist Fokkers,…

The Swedes are taking over The Battery! Thursday night boasted three of the festival‘s Swedish hotshots, and the energy in the place was electric. The night opened with Elín Ey, playing her growly sexy blues as the room filled up and got…

Most languages in the world are comprised of both a visual and an aural component, so it was with intrigue that I entered S.L.Á.T.U.R.‘s congregation to see a set-up featuring instruments and a video-projection screen. Noticeably missing from the list of bios…

Jesus Christ. For the first time ever people are actually in time for a show in Iceland. And there are even shitloads of people stacked in NASA although it’s as insanely early as 19:30. The crowd didn’t come for nothing, that’s for…