Iryna’s Friday Night Iceland Airwaves Diary: Welcome To Finland

Punk music is blasting from a tiny tower on Lækjartorg. Passersby stop and ask what’s going on, tourists exchange small talk between each other: “…and they were telling me our venue was small. Let me send them a photo of this.”

“I heard Icelandic musicians often play in small venues, but this is next level.”

People at the nearby bus stop are swaying to the rhythm. Tófa is releasing their new album Mauled in this very moment. This is the best gig of our office-born DIY Grapewaves series so far — and it’s only 16:00.

Reykjavík-Helsinki

I manage to grab a quick, albeit very lazy dinner at home before venturing out for another night of Airwaves shenanigans. First up is Elín Hall, who’s relatively easy to catch performing in Reykjavík at other times of the year, but I’m curious to see her on the big stage. Elín is having nothing short of a good year, at least career-wise. Winner of The Reykjavík Grapevine Award for Heyrist í mér as album of the year, she’s also making waves in her acting career. Between releasing an album and scoring a movie, Elín also played a lead role in Rúnar Rúnarsson’s Ljósbrot, briefly swapping local music halls for Cannes. It’s hard to be equally good in two entire careers, but Elín seems to be doing a good job at it.

“Last year, I was releasing an album during Airwaves. It was so hectic. Every other Airwaves feels like a walk in the park compared to that,” the artist says from the stage. Despite performing at Airwaves’ biggest venue, Elín’s gig feels intimate, her gentle acoustic guitar paired with hauntingly beautiful vocals.

My favourite venue of night two is definitely NASA. Tonight, it’s been invaded by Finland, with posters leading up to the entry saying exactly that — “Welcome to Finland.” I’m loving Music Finland’s Airwaves curation this year (even though it’s not Maustetytöt), with Rosettes, Jaakko Eino Kalevi and Modem on the lineup NASA feels like a venue somewhere in the middle of Helsinki’s Kallio district, and each of these bands could score the next Aki Kaurismäki movie.

First up is Rosettes, described as the six-piece Khruangbin of the North. I spot eight people on stage and count again at least twice. It’s hard to name an instrument that isn’t on stage — there are bongos, sax, trombone and things I don’t even know the names of. It’s hard to categorise them within a single genre and I think that’s just what the band is trying to avoid; they’re all multi-instrumentalists with no formal musical education, but they simply blend whatever each one does best into a vibey, groovy, jazzy mix. Straight into my playlist.

As much as I want to see Rosettes finish, it’s already time to return to the Art Museum. On the stage, a punk duo straight from Brighton is getting wild. Lambrini Girls make the audience scream “Fuck the police,” jump into the crowd, and say things like “The next song is called ‘Mr Lovebomb’ — it’s about those who give us everything and then take it away. Fucking pricks.” Their music is classic raw punk paired with riot spirit and a feminine take. And they haven’t even released an album yet — their debut is coming out in January. If you ever get a chance to travel in time, my advice: go to this Lambrini Girls show.

Back to Finland

“They look like David Lynch could have created them,” says my companion as we walk into Jaakko Eino Kalevi‘s set. “Maybe David Lynch created Finland?” I reply. What we mean is that, paired with trippy visuals, Jaakko and his bass player don’t really show any emotion but deliver an amazing disco/psych/synth/experimental pop set. Jaakko reminds me of a Finnish Alex Cameron and a quick Google search confirms that not only is his music interesting, but his life story too — Jaakko used to be a tram driver in Helsinki.

Of course, the queues at Gaukurinn are only getting longer at this point, and there’s no chance I’m getting in for Spacestation, so I run to Kolaport for Personal Trainer instead. While they’re good, my colleagues had earlier ruined this venue for me completely: “It smells as if someone left an open container of hákarl in there.” As much as I try, I cannot shake this thought.

Atli Freyr Steinsson for The Reykjavík Grapevine

At different points of the night, I briefly end up at Iðnó for the already traditional Friday night Faroe Music Export showcase. From the cute, soul-touching ballads of Dania O. Tausen to the weirdness of Silvurdrongur and Marius Ziska’s intimate folk-indie, it’s all good, but… Finland steals the show again.

I’m back at NASA, wondering if the Finns brought a sauna with them. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was one of the things on Music Finland’s roster. Now on stage is synth-pop duo Modem, even though half of it — Tytti Roto — we’ve seen earlier with Rosettes. The artist swapped leather for latex but didn’t lose the groove. Finally, I hear some songs in Finnish. And there’s soooo much synth. Kiitos kaikille!

Will Asian Björk please stand up?

I need to kill time, so I check out Charlotte Adigéry & Boris Pupul at the Art Museum, and god, they’re good. I wish artists like this played on a casual Friday night in Reykjavík. I make a promise to myself to check out more of their stuff — but first, Alice Longyu Gao at Kolaport (smelly, smelly Kolaport).

“Hi Iceland, I’m Asian Björk,” says Alice, and I think that’s already quite an intro. “Remember me, I’m Asian Björk,” she shouts, jumping on stage. Her energy is contagious. I’m dead tired at this point, but she’s so much fun.

“Do you like cats?” she asks at the start of the next song. “If you like cats, say ‘meow!’” The crowd, including a fair share of middle-aged dudes, obediently “MEEEOW.” “I brought you some cat videos. Look,” she says, putting on a slideshow of cute cat videos, playing a pink harp, and singing, “Meow meow meow meow…”

Her songs have catchy lyrics (e.g. “I like girls, I like Korean girls”), but it’s something about the overall energy. Long story short, Alice Longyu Gao is amazing!

I stop by The Vaccines and Kælan Mikla at the end of the night, or more likely just to cross them off the list of shows I vowed to visit. I know they deliver, but I’m exhausted. What a night!

Check out The Reykjavík Grapevine’s Iceland Airwaves Diaries, publishing daily throughout the festival to bring you all the good times.

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