And then there was pyro – Pixeled Passport

| 08-Nov-2019 | It’s almost 9am and I’m sitting in a dark apartment. It’s still dark outside too, and raining. If we didn’t need milk for coffee, there’s nothing that would extract me from the indoors right now. Fortunately, the mini-mart is about 50 yards up the street. Did I mention it’s raining? And windy?

At some point, it was inevitable that Mother Nature would remind us that we’re vacationing on a rock … in the North Atlantic … in November.

We had lunch at a favorite spot, Slippbarin, with “Calculon Rob”. The lunch set was excellent, as usual.

Caught up with Rob again later in the afternoon, now as Revenge of Calculon for a set a Lucky Records. A one-man-show this time, as bassist JC9000 wasn’t able to make the trip. I didn’t see them play in 2017 when Jeff and Berto saw them at Dillon, but have since become familiar with their catalog. Rob packed all the electro-funk one man can carry from the UK and unlashed on Reykjavik this afternoon! Super-fun set.

The evening at the Art Museum kicked off with two sets by Scandi pop artists: Hildur and Anna of the North. Fun electro-pop.

Veteran Icelandic rockers, Mammút, played a solid 40 minute set. They sound better than ever. The lead singer is very pregnant, so major props to her for keeping the energy up the entire time because the band, though very good, aren’t particularly active.

Up next: Hatari. This is pure performance art for the expressed intent of creating a spectacle. It’s polarizing: people either hate it because it’s over-the-top dramatic and over-produced, or love it for the exact same reasons. I for one, love it. It’s captivating. Coming off an impressive run at Eurovision, their stage show is polished to shiny perfection: lights, lasers, impressive costumes, dancers and two guest performers. Oh, and pyro. There’s a first time for everything at Airwaves.

Musically they play a heavily industrialized electronic set, with a combination of rough, modulated monotone vocals from Matthias and Klemens’s high-pitch melodic voice weaving in and out. Drummer Einer stands behind the drum set looking stoic and menacing, occasionally crushing a drum or clashing cymbals.

The venue was PACKED and Hatari did not disappoint. Did I mention pyrotechnics?

The night wrapped up with German house duo, Booka Shade. We gravitated toward the back of the venue after Hatari knowing that if it got packed again, we’d have no shot at getting out during the final set.

Good plan – it got packed quick, and everyone was there to party.

The obligatory 1am hot dog at Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur. 1am is still early by Friday night Airwaves standards so the line was short, and free of drunks.