This year….pffffft.   No excited prose on the website about which bands were playing and why you will think they were cool.  (And more often then not, they were right.)   There’s a note saying more bands have been added, then the link goes to one Norwegian act only.  This generates about as much excitement as a sale on Skyr at Bonus.

Now’s the to address Vampire Weekend.  I’ll admit right off the bat, I am not a big fan.  I don’t dislike them, but I thought the critical raves were way over the top, which often happens with New York’s next big thing.  (See Strokes, The)   But again, they were one of the “it” acts this year, and Airwaves has them.  Wouldn’t you just want to SCREAM IT OFF THE ROOFTOP THAT YOU BOOKED VAMPIRE WEEKEND?   My non-professional opinion is yes, you would.   Unless…the shine is off, and they aren’t quite as hip as they were at this time a year ago.  Which is entirely possible, but if you make them one of your headline acts, my goodness make of a point of promoting that fact.

Did London Airwaves suck the air out of the organization?  Expansion always puts stresses on a business in ways that cause a loss of focus on the founding enterprise.   And other than promotion in Europe’s biggest media and music market, why do it anyway?  I always believed the charm of Airwaves was the fact that it is in Iceland! There are dozens if not hundreds of HUGE music festivals around the world.   Bonnaroo, Coachella, Roskilde, Glastonbury, etc, etc, etc.   Why franchise your festival to what is probably your biggest audience, and potentially not give them a reason to go?

I’m sure the event will sell out though, and I hope a good time will be had by all.   But it just feels like the wheels have fallen off the bus a bit.   The next event for dorky music bloggers like me is the actual festival schedule, when the strategizing begins for which acts you’ll see, and which ones will be sacrificed at the musical altar.   But please, gods of Airwaves, don’t take that away from us too.

Attempting optimism…really trying, but uh, just not feeling it.  I want to be dazzled, challenged, and excited about the bands and the scene.   Perhaps I’m just on the other side of the fine line between anticipation and delay.  The former builds excitement, the latter gives the impression that things are unorganized.

Waiting, waiting, waiting…

This hilarious, empathy inspiring post from the Iceland Weather Report on Alda’s last concert experience inspired a “yeah, been there,” feeling from moi.

As clockwork as the festival is itself, as in bands start on the hour, every hour, everywhere, and NEVER go past their alloted 45 (or so) minutes, the beverage buying experience leaves a lot of to be desired.

1. Inconsistency is the new consistency. At least there.
2. Prices though, are consistent. You should know that already. And prepare properly, hello Duty Free!
3. Warm is the new cold. I know I know, no ice in Iceland? Very little actually, at least in your drinks. Whiny American? No. Just gimme some ice dammit.

Best: NASA and Lido. Selection, service and ice. Sounds like….an actual bar.

What you’d expect: Grand Rokk, Gaukurinn. Also bars. They can get wall to wall crowded fast. Don’t expect much.

Worst: The Art Gallery. Great venue, but nothing but warm beer. Enjoy.

Don’t recall: Lido. But Lido wins the “best venue to get away from it all” award. Separate chatting/drinking rooms and an actual outdoor patio where you can get some fresh air. Cozy and good acoustics. Hooray..

It’s not like the cocktail and beer buying experience is PARAMOUNT to having a good time out, or at Airwaves. So the alternative is “drinking like an Icelander,” which means at home, or in this case, your hotel. Fine, but you’ll miss the 8p, 9p and 10p bands.  Maybe even the 11p.  So what does a budget conscious music fan do?  (Not go to Iceland Airwaves because it is so damn expensive this year?  That is an option.  Not a good one but an option.)

Go back to your teen years-sneak it in.   Be resourceful, and by all means after you smuggle your stash into the bar, be cool.  Don’t give the bouncers a reason to do their job.

But there is another festival, that I would desperately like to attend this weekend-All Points West, in New Jersey. (Not New York, New Jersey.

Check out Friday’s lineup-a veritable Airwaves Alumni Association:

• Grizzly Bear
• Mates of State
• The Duke Spirit (love them)
• The Go! Team (much love again)
• And soon to be alums, CSS

And on Saturday, Metric and Chromeo will be playing the same stage. Feel free to annoy your friends and anyone else for that matter by saying, as often as possible, “yeah, I saw them years ago, in Iceland.”

Everyone there has an extended case of spring fever. And who can blame them?

No, I was not high.

They need to make an appearance this year.  Please?

/_\!

CSS has definitely become a must see since the initial bands announcement, which seems forever ago.  C’mon Mr. Destiny, help a brother out!

I don’t know Kele Okereke, other than the fact that I loved Silent Alarm, despite the inevitable slagging the album and band got after it became a huge hit. (Why slag success? That’s another post.) I did get close at Airwaves 07, at the totally awesome Amiina show at Fríkirkjan, the 1800′s era church Reykjavik. He came in with his girlfriend (I assume) and stood upstairs with the rest of us rabble, and basically was one of the crowd, in a crowded standing room only show. He pulled no star act, no rock star ego bs, but was just there for the music, just like us. It was refreshing.

Johnny Rotten, on the other hand, is still a child craving attention. Devoid of any marketable talent, he’s always resorted to making a scene, calling names, acting the fool in order to get noticed. Hence, the latest incident. We can all go back to ignoring him, or even feeling a bit of sadness that someone who was part of some terrific music can’t stand not being the center of attention forever.

For now, enjoy a Bloc Party video:

Where I want to go Reykjavik.  In mid-October specifically.  There’s this little music festival that I have become quite enamored with, and I sing (no pun intended, because I can’t sing) its praises often.  But darn that cold, hard, emotionless economic reality.   Airwaves has never been a bargain trip, at least for those of us paying in dollars.  (Hard cold economic fact #2-dollar doesn’t go as far as it used to.  Not Icelandair or Airwaves fault.)   But there was still a sense of value in what you were buying.  Lots of great, under the radar bands, in a compact, manageable location.  An interesting, hospitable urban environment with plenty to do outside of the music, and for the more adventurous and less hung over festival goers, the opportunity to hit the truly unique Icelandic countryside, and be back in town in time for dinner, pre-game drinks and another night of band hopping.   Cool, cool, cool.

But when the costs nears 3 bills, the trip is seen through another prism.  “3k?  What kind of (other) trips can we take for that? “  The list is long.   This is not a happy conversation by the way.  We WANT to do this again.  It’s not become hum-drum, nor are we jaded by the prospect of Airwaves trip #3.   Perhaps we will just bite the bullet and pay, or somehow, miraculously,  it will become more affordable.  I know, very unlikely, but one can hope…