Photos: Iceland Airwaves Festival Pt. 2 [Reykjavik; 10/19/06]

Photos by Leó Stefánsson, unless otherwise indiciated. Scope part one here.

Night two of Iceland Airwaves 2006 began at the Reykjavik Art Museum, a beautiful modern space that has been temporarily transformed into a concert venue for the duration of the festival. The sound was immaculate and the set times tight, as has been the case for much of the festival thus far.

First up, the always dependable and eternally cutesy Mates of State. Was that another cover of Gnarls Barkley summerjam "Crazy", heavy on the melodrama, thrown into the end of the set? Indeed, and the attendees ate it up. Up next was Hot Club de Paris. This Liverpool trio-- and recent Moshi Moshi signing-- rocks the a cappella and tight, jerky post-punk in a fashion very similar to the Futureheads. And they had the appropriate jokes, noting that there's a chain of grocery stores in the UK called Iceland. Again, the crowd loved it. And why not? We needed to get primed for the amazing tap-dancing circus that is Tilly and the Wall, whose whirling dervish performance was a true celebration on stage and plastered dreamy smiles upon every face.

Elsewhere, Nico Muhly, an American Julliard graduate, performed his neo-classical experiments with Icelandic super-producer Valgeir Sigurdsson (Björk, Bonnie "Prince" Billy's The Letting Go). But this festival is all about kinetic energy, so a trip over to Nasa to see hardcore kingpins and hometown heroes Reykjavik! next didn't feel out of place at all. The screechy Blood Brothers/At the Drive-In-style rawk got a bit tiresome, but Emily Haines-fronted Metric were there to pick up the slack with their dreamy and occasionally aggressive Canuck pop. Unabashedly soaking up the adoring crowd's sweat and cheers, the band didn't skimp on the prolonged jams.

Finally, rounding out the night was Sweden's amazing Love Is All (pictured above), who skronked out their no-wave roots with incredible tightness, muted scratch guitar, and dying-goose saxophone ablaze. Rumor has it that the weekends in Reykjavik find the kids smashing their beer glasses in the streets, so tonight I'll be wearing my galoshes.

Stay tuned for installments from Iceland Airwaves through the weekend. More photos ahead.

MATES OF STATE (Photo by Jonah Flicker)