Frankie Says Relax – Pixeled Passport

| 15-Oct-2011| Today’s plan: relax. We left the apartment around 11am (before you get snarky, we got to bed around 3am!) and headed to the indie music store to pick up Backyard, the documentary we saw at SIFF earlier this year. Dude didn’t have it in yet (expected later in the day) so we moved on to the flea market. It was, well, a flea market. Nothing particularly noteworthy. We went across to the Old Harbor for lobster bisque only to find SeaBaron closed for a private event. Luckily the nearby sushi place which had been on our foodie list from last year was open. The guys enjoyed a sushi sampler outside under clear blue sky (freezing cold, mind you, but lovely).

We decided to check out Harpa, the new concert hall that had been under construction since Jeff and I first came to Reykjavik in 2005. Incredible building, as you can see below. On the way back to the apartment we stopped at Café Babalú for coffee and cake. Because, well, cake.

The afternoon was spent shoe (Holly) and record (Jeff & Berto) shopping. From there we stopped off at the book store to see an in-store concert by Lay Low, then headed out for a great Thai dinner. After that we rolled over to Faktory to catch some techno – first by Tonek, then some hard-core industrial techno from Ghostigital. Then it was back to the Art Museum for the second time in two nights where we saw a couple of OK bands, then the finale set by electronic powerhouse GusGus, who did not disappoint. On the way home we made a quick stop off for pizza-by-the-slice before making it back to the apartment just before 2AM.

Lunch at Sushi Smiđjan. The guys had a sushi sampler, Holly had a ham & cheese sandwich picked up at a nearby grocery.

Harpa, the concert hall in Reykjavik is finally done and is an official Airwaves venue this year. The architecture is amazing. Caught the best part of the passing rainstorm … a beautiful rainbow.

Chillin’ in one of the seating areas in Harpa that parallel the stairs (shown to the right). Very cool vibe. There’s a DJ setup at the top of the stairs and a bar with a fantastic view of the harbor.

More of the inside of Harpa. It’s captivating.

Pleep enjoying coffee and cake at Café Babalú. It’s about a block down the street from the apartment, we’ve walked by it a million times. Great little café – the seating area is basically the living space of what was once a studio apartment.

Finally saw Lay Low – off-venue at Eymudsson, a local bookseller.

Pad Thai at Ban Thai. We walked by this place every time to and from the hotel when we came to Airwaves on ’09. Should have stopped in much sooner!

We got to Faktory early to ensure a good spot for Ghostigital. Jeff’s intentionally artsy picture of Tonek.

Ghostigital – our second time to see them. It’s not exactly approachable music, but if you can get past that it’s very interesting.

Austra at Reykjavik Art Museum.

GusGus at Reykjavik Art Museum. Fantastic, as expected – mostly songs from Arabian Horse (brilliant record, btw), but they did throw in “Add This Song” from 24/7.