We hit the streets running, had coffee and pastry, followed by some great Asian noodles, then hit the town.  Pretty much a constant drizzle today, and lots of rain.  That didn’t keep the people away, though – Airwaves seems way more packed this time than on the first day of either of the last two years.  Electronic band Gusgus (well worth checking out on iTunes, my friends) kicked things off with an early show, and it was wall-to-wall people.

After some record shopping, we caught two more acts off-venue at the Ring, then sat down for dinner.  Berto and I sampled traditional Icelandic dishes – puffin, monkfish, whale… Holly stayed more safe, and after having tasted some of the Icelandic dishes, she may have made a good call.

NASA was packed last night, and 33+ hours of no sleep finally got the better of us somewhat early in the evening.  There were a few later bands we wanted to see, but we’d seen them all in 2010, and all of them have other appearances this week, so it was time to catch some zzz’s so we can be ready for a big day of ATV riding on Thursday.

A few fashion notes:  red pants continue to be huge in Europe.  We also saw a lot of people who looked like they walked out of a Michael Jackson video circa 1984.

Iceland Airwaves 2011 begins ….

A stop at Noodle Station for some hot soup for lunch. Ahhh … smells sooooo good. Pleepleus approves!

The performance area in KEX Hostel.  KEXP’s broadcast table was off to the right.

The first off-venue performance of 2011 – GusGus! You have no idea how packed this little bar area was. PACKED!

Berndsen at The Ring – technically a tent in the courtyard of a bar/restaurant. It gets interesting when the wind blows! Techno-pop love songs … in pink knitwear!

Retro Stefson at the Ring. Always a good time!

Dinner at Tapas Barinn. Holly had a grilled chicken skewer and grilled eggplant.