Hasta La Ideas

Festivals and their hometowns don’t always mesh but when they do, like at the latest Iceland Airwaves recently, it’s a sight to behold. Now a five-day festival, it sets up shop in Reykjavik and imposes a friendly takeover of the capital annually in mid-October. The events and locations seamlessly intertwine, with every venue in town holding performances and support coming from Iceland’s national airline (Icelandair) and broadcasting service (Ríkísútvarpíð RU).

The eleventh installment, of course, came a year after Iceland felt the most crippling collapse in economic history. But while mildly scaled-down and with less international acts, Airwaves still sold out long before the first chords were played. And the smoothly-run performances—all within walking distance—were rounded out by other sponsored events, like Saturday afternoon’s, when buses hauled festival-goers to the hot, curative waters of the Blue Lagoon where Icelandic DJs and copious beer made for an otherworldly party scene.

But this years Airwaves stuck to its great strength, a venue for discovering lesser-known, homegrown talent, whose notoriety might suffer from geographical remoteness. So with notable exceptions (like Crystal Antlers, Micachu & the Shapes, and the Drums) most of the musicians hailed from Reykjavik.

Check out my favorites after the jump