Aldrei fór ég suður (Iceland)

Sunday, 05 April 2009 08:26

Off to Iceland tomorrow (6th April) for the sixth edition of Aldrei fór ég suður, a fantabulous music festival in the remote Westfjords organised by Mugison and his affable, karaoke-loving dad Papamugs.

I was there in 2007 and it was just beautiful - a slew of cool bands, mostly Icelandic plus Blonde Redhead from the States, played their hearts out for an allocated timeslot of 20 mins each (though BR took that long just to warm up) in an appropriated fish-storage warehouse at the edge of an arctic town with just 4000 souls.

Being first and foremost a community event, the audience was tri-generational - heavily bearded sailors moshing alongside pre-teenage grandkids to rousing brass bands, twinkly electronica and heavy rock. A bar sold cheap beer drafted in from the local supermarket and the food stall served - what else? - tasty fish soup.

Then of course there were the surroundings. The Westfjords is one of my favourite regions in Iceland, a remote and peaceful part of the planet that offers a taste of Olde Iceland (or even Olde Europe) - sweeping fjords, swooping birdlife, swooning vistas.

One of the many Aldrei '07 highlights - alongside watching Dr. Spock wear balaclavas and dispense colourful marigolds while playing impossibly tight rock & roll, and a fellow journalist perform an impromptu (very camp) a-capella version of "Summertime" in front of 200 bemused locals - was a trip to the abandoned village of Hesteyri (photo here). You just don't find that kind of melancholic solitude many places in the world.

This time around I'll be writing a travel piece (for the Guardian Online) as well as a festival review (for The Economist's More Intelligent Life website) = looking forward to exploring more of this wondrous area. Some photos from the '07 trip below...