October 2004, Iceland Airwaves, Reykjavik, Iceland
I’ve always wanted to go to Iceland, with its volcanoes and geysers, Northern lights and hot water springs. It’s exotic and intriguing, a land during part of the year where there is no sun. When my wife and I got married, we wanted to be able to travel overseas each year if we could, and we targeted 2004 year for Iceland, with the slogan “2004 — The Ice is going to break.” It was an homage to the Dead Zone, and it doesn’t make much sense, but it still makes me laugh.
So . . .
Each year Iceland hosts a festival called Iceland Airwaves, and a travel special was put in place for a five-day package including hotel, flight and a full pass to the festival. It was a merging of two things I love — travel and music.
Airwaves mainly showcases the music of Iceland (and there’s plenty of it, most of it great) but invites a varied number of musicians from around the world to play. Joining 40 Icelandic bands including Holt Hora, Bruderbandio and Hjalmar were Keane, The Stills, Four Tet, Hot Chip, The Bravery and The Shins (to name a few). My wife was excited to see Keane, whose debut album was causing a great stir, while I had my eye on The Stills and The Shins. Turns out they played back-to-back at a downtown bar on the festival’s third night.
At this point, The Shins were blowing up. After the scene in Garden State declared the song New Slang “will change your life,” The Shins became the band of the moment. Chutes Too Narrow, the album released the year before, became an instant best-seller and everyone was learning about this band from Albuquerque. Seeing them in a smaller venue while the green Northern lights danced outside was about as great as it gets.
There was a dilemma. Keane was slated to play about the same time as The Stills and The Shins at a different venue, so I had to make the decision (as you usually do during most festivals). My wife stayed with Keane, and I headed to get a spot for The Shins — I was told you wouldn’t be able to get in if you got there late.
I got there as Singapore Sling was playing, a metal band from Iceland which had the crowd captivated. The room had low ceilings and looked like it held no more than 200 people — but there was way more there this night. The stage was slightly elevated in the back corner — the crowd was right up on the band — and with low light and spraying beer, it was a full on bacchanal.
The Stills came on shortly after — Logic Will Break Your Heart is one of my top album of the aughts first decade — and the band from Montreal cranked out songs from the album at a high, high decibel level. I looked over and saw a couple of people singing along with every word, as I was, and we exchanged a knowing look of our good fortune.
The Shins came out to riotous applause — this was a showcase band of the festival, and the people in the room that night knew it. While James Mercer is the voice and composer of the band’s songs, keyboardist Marty Crandall served as the band’s banter man for the night, joking with the crowd and introducing the songs during the hour set.
The aforementioned New Slang had the crowd rocking back and forth, but it was the peppy So Says I that sent the room into a frenzy. The “woo-oh-woo-hoo” portion was a laughing, screaming mass of drunken all-night partiers in their element, raising up $10 pints in joyous unison. It would be the best show in a series of many on this trip.
At the airport waiting to board the plane back to the States, I looked over and there were The Shins, getting on the same plane as we were. After boarding, I noticed James Mercer was sitting just a few rows back and my wife and I thought it would be cool to see if he might sign the mini-magazine we got at the festival. Since I’m terrible about talking to musicians I admire, my wife (who is not afraid to talk to anyone), walked over mid-flight and had nice conversation with him and got the signature.
He wrote “Tak Tak!” which essentially means “thanks,” though it should be me thanking The Shins.
