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10 reasons why Iceland Airwaves is the best festival

FM Belfast at Airwaves '13 - Courtesy of Iceland Airwaves

Vanyaland just returned from an extended trip in Iceland, with the main focus on Iceland Airwaves ’13, the music festival that began in an airplane hangar circa 1999 and has now spread itself throughout the city of Reykjavík where thousands of locals and foreigners flock annually. To overstate the awesomeness of the five day event would be impossible, so here are 10 reasons why it’s the greatest music festival in the world.

1. It’s Still off the Radar

How do you know when a music festival has jumped the shark? When Danny DeVito, Carmen Electra, two of the Jonas brothers and Giovanni Ribisi are all spotted wandering the grounds or disinterestedly hanging out in the VIP section. That was one of the big stories out of Coachella earlier this year, and it’s been just as bad for a few years now. Look, A-List, B-List and no reason for being one except for existing celebrities are entitled to enjoy music and festivals “just like us,” but was Paris Hilton really digging The Stone Roses? Dear God let’s hope not.

Thankfully, Airwaves has yet to be infiltrated by Hollywood. The most famous people you see are fixtures of the Icelandic music scene like Björk or Jonsí from Sigur Rós. And since the city is so small, with a population just over 100,000, you’ll regularly spot festival artists attending other gigs or hanging out at the local clubs and bars with pretty much zero pretension. You’re almost certain to make a personal connection with at least one musician at some point just by happenstance.

2. The Weather

What the fuck are organizers of Coachella, Bonnaroo and the New Orleans Jazz Festival thinking when they pick their dates – is it with a roulette wheel? Because that’s the only thing that makes sense as to why when dry heat that goes north of the hundred degree mark, or so hot and uncomfortably sticky you hate every single person pushing up against you is a good time to put a fest on. It feels like a cruel joke.

Fascinatingly, even in the era of Google, people still think Iceland is covered in ice and Greenland is a vast expanse of rolling emerald hills. For the last time: the Viking Erik the Red was messing with people when he was exiled from Iceland for a few years after killing a bunch of people. He ended up on the double for Hoth, dubbed it Greenland, returned to Iceland and told people about it in hopes to have them settle there. It worked. Name a place “Free Martini Bar” and droves will show up. The Icelandic word for Iceland is Ísland, and it‘s an island – get it?

Yeah, the mountains are covered in snow, and there are a bunch of fjords and shit, but for the most part the climate at this time of year is about the sames as the Northeast in the United States. The city of Reykjavík is compact; you can get from venue to venue on just a short walk about the streets at most taking 10 minutes, no slogging it over from stage to stage that are a mile apart. And like their slogan says, “Don’t like the weather? Wait five minutes.” It’s like a cooler (literally and figuratively) Miami.

Harpa opened in 2011 - Courtesy of Iceland Airwaves
Harpa opened in 2011 – Courtesy of Iceland Airwaves

3. The Douchebag Quotient is Low

Not to keep picking on Coachella, but I’ll never forget when Rage Against the Machine headlined the third day in 2007 and the atmosphere just changed – completely. There was a bunch of shirtless meatheads looking to fight with anyone who didn’t look like a RATM fan. Wearing a Happy Mondays or Grizzly Bear t-shirt? Sucker punched. Neil Finn of the similarly reunited Crowded House got hit in the face with a water bottle because he happened to be performing on the same stage that Rage would – three hours away. I asked Tom Morello a few years later if it bummed him out that some kids were inexplicably trying to start a fire in the field in the middle of the Rage set. He basically said not at all and that it was in the spirit of rock and roll or something. No, it’s not “rock and roll” to try to set your festival on fire Tom.

Coachella isn’t alone. And obviously every festival is going to have its idiots. But in three successive Airwaves ventures, I’ve only once seen an outright clown – and it was a member of the foreign broadcast media this year who had a problem with his pass during pickup and started loudly berating the staff of volunteers and demanding to “talk to someone in charge.” It was embarrassing and he was holding up the line forever. I hope someone snapped his boom microphone in half that night.

4. The Venues

The main venues at Airwaves are unlike any other festival in the world. Of course there are standard clubs and music halls, but there is also Fríkirkjan, a breathtaking church where Sigur Rós performed in 2000, Sinéad O’Connor in 2011 and Daughter last year. There is also Harpa, a state of the art, multi-venue concert hall which opened two and a half years ago and has hosted Björk, Of Monsters and Men and, most recently Kraftwerk during Airwaves. Add in the basement of the National Theatre and the Reykjavík Art Museum and you’ve got a selection of venues that run the gamut between fascinating and astonishing.

5. Off Venue Shows

Go to Chicago for Lollapalooza and there are chances that some of the acts are going to have a performance off the festival grounds whether as an afterhours event or a day or two before the main part of the weekend. But at Airwaves, there is this thing called “Off Venue” which is as it reads; instead of the main halls and clubs, you can catch artists in coffeehouses, restaurants, record stores – there was a boutique clothing shop this year on the main drag that had acts performing in its storefront window which was popular as revelers stopped to gawk. And these aren’t bands that couldn’t make it into the festival; it’s often headliners who want to do intimate gigs.

Múm performs at Fríkirkjan Church at Airwaves '13 - Courtesy of Iceland Airwaves
Múm performs at Fríkirkjan Church at Airwaves ’13 – Courtesy of Iceland Airwaves

6. Icelandair is your friend

If you’ve ridden the T even once in the last few years, you’ve no doubt seen the ads for Icelandair. They say witty things like, “You can kayak from Boston to Iceland in 1,207 hours. Or fly Icelandair in 5.” The company must be doing something right, it’s consistently expanded service hasn’t dipped, and 2014 is predicted to be their largest scheduled yet. The reason is simple – they put the customer first. Makes sense, sure, but when was the last time you flew United and felt like the crew was genuinely happy to see you? Never. Also, the promotion where they tout themselves as the only airline to allow free stopovers for up to seven days in Iceland when using the airline for any other European destination? That’s madness. No one else is doing anything remotely like that.

7. The Northern Lights

The scenery alone is sick enough; take a day trip into the country and see the many natural hot springs. The snowcapped mountains partially frame Reykjavík and are a sight to behold. But try coming out of Jagwar Ma late at night, looking up into the sky and seeing the Aurora borealis. We’ve all staggered out of clubs and thought we saw something in the sky, but try telling an Allston cab driver to drive you away from the city lights so you can get a better look at it. In Reykjavík, it’s common procedure. NASA predicts that the Northern Lights will be at the peak activity in a decade this season. Looks like they are on point.

8. The Locals

There was a time, exacerbated by the country’s financial collapse in 2008 and it was incredibly cheap to visit, when Iceland was a massively popular destination for bachelor parties – especially for Americans. Dudes would bro down at the strip bars, then hit the town unabashedly looking for loose Icelandic women. Understandably, local males were a bit pissed off at this and took with some affront the tradition.

Three and a half years ago, all the strip clubs were criminalized and shut down, leading the Guardian to dub Iceland, “the most feminist country in the world.” Now, when foreigners arrive, locals are engaging and friendly, eager to know where you are from and what you do. During Airwaves it seems to increase by tenfold, as so many natives are musicians or know a few and will happily tell you who is a must to see, either off venue or on. And sorry bros – Icelandic girls love to party, but they are anything but loose.

9. The Politics

The politics of Iceland are absolutely nuts – in the best possible way. The Mayor of Reykjavík is Jón Gnarr, a musician and stand-up comedian. In 2009, he formed the Best Party with a bunch of people that also had zero background in politics and in addition to his win they took six of the 15 seats in Reykjavík City Council. Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, this year’s outgoing Prime Minister, was the first openly gay person to head a national government. Her replacement, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, at 38 years old is the youngest elected head of government via the democratic process in the world. And the President of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, is a more traditional head of state, but is pretty cool nonetheless. He put up with me calling him “O” during our first encounter, and can regularly be seen at Airwaves events. It just doesn’t seem likely that President Obama will be showing up at any Electric Daisy Carnival events anytime soon.

10. The Blue Lagoon Hangover Party

Even the tourist traps in Iceland are worth checking out, especially in relation to the festival. It’s traditional on the Saturday during Airwaves to go to the Blue Lagoon for the hangover party. Artists typically perform there and it’s a celebration of the near ending of the fest. The geothermal spa is a spectacle, heated by the lava fields that run underneath it, there’s a swim up bar in the middle of it to grab some hair of the dog. One of the best parts is that the water self-renews every two days, so it’s not like you’re sitting in a bacteria farm – quite the opposite in fact. With its renowned healing powers and effects on the skin, it’s nothing but good for you – and your hangover.

Tickets for ICELAND AIRWAVES ’14 go on sale December 1. Visit www.icelandairwaves.is for more information