While most of Iceland (Government and Individuals) try to recoup and figure out where it all went wrong during “Black October ’08” two things seem to be thriving on the black rock in the north. Music and venues! This past winter has seen a big boom in bands coming out of their garages and rehearsal spaces and playing in Reykjavik’s new venues that have popped up over the past year. Good friends from different bands have hooked up and formed new ones; new small labels are taking off all over the place offering newer bands ways to bring their music to the masses.
After having spent the last six months roaming the freelance market of Copenhagen, Denmark it was time for me to go home and finally see these bands and venues. First on my list and the subject of this review was seeing the bands Skakkamanage, Létt á Bárunni and Prins Pólo playing at one of Reykjaviks newest bars Karamba, operated and decorated by members of one of Iceland’s most fun live bands, FM Belfast.
All the bands playing share a few things in common, the biggest one would have to be that they are all brainchild’s of Svavar Pétur Eysteinsson who lives in the town of Seydisfjördur located in the East of Iceland with his wife Berglind. Prins Pólo is his solo project, in Létt á Bárunni he is joined by Berglind on drums and the big band Skakkamanage sees the likes of Örn Ingi (Seabear) on bass and Thormódur (Jeff Who) on the drums with Berglind on synths plus vocals and Svavar Pétur filling up the rest with acoustic guitar and vocals. Since half of the band lives some 15 hours away by car there isn’t much time for rehearsals, so the band gathered in the communal space Sonnet (home to bands like Reykjavik!, FM Belfast, Borko, Retro Stefson and many more) a few days before the show both to rehearse for the Karmaba show and their tour in Germany.
First on the bill was Svavar with his Prins Pólo project which just realesed an EP this summer containing one of the summers radio hits, a song about an 18 year old boy who falls for a 100 year old woman. The song has a conversation part during its end, and when Svavars phone rang during the show and he started to explain his love for her to his friends the crowd at Karamba applauded and many even busted into laughter. Shortly after, Svavar was joined on the stage by Berglind on the drums. The pair blasted through songs of the Létt á Bárunni newly released album leaving everyone wanting more as the night’s headliners Skakkamanage took the stage. Their set was packed with songs from the band’s 2nd album All Over the Face that came out this past winter and gems from their acclaimed debut Lab of Love with songs being weaved together into 20 minute sessions as the bar filled with energy from the band and the crowd. Plenty of guests joined the stage that night, Örn´s mom Gudbjörg came on rocking out for a few numbers, Silla from Múm was ready for the mic too and when Svavar broke a string it didn’t take his dad long to get on stage and entertain the packed bar with few carefully selected jokes. One of the highlights of the show came in the middle of Skakkamanage´s last song when bass player Örn Ingi jumped down from the tiny stage and made his way towards the bar at the other end of the room, still playing he jumped up onto the bar and finished out the song much to everyone’s surprise and delight. The Skakkamanage show was intense and fun all at the same time, instantly making it one of my summer’s highlights so far.
