Iceland Airwaves 2025

Iceland Airwaves is like an annual party for the Icelandic music industry and the city of Reykjavík beams with life. Lines form in front of packed venues of music hungry people, musicians walking between venues with heavy gig bags. Being a session drummer stationed in Reykjavík I had a full schedule over the weekend, six concerts with three different bands and artists.

Thursday 6. Nóv

started my Airwaves adventure with a performance alongside the band Flesh Machine. We were booked for two on-venue shows and one off-venue. Our first gig was an on-venue slot at Lemmy on Thursday evening. The venue was jam-packed and the crowd was amazing — “they opened their set with a wall of sound so loud the crowd had to hold their hats to not lose them” (Grapevine). It also gave us a great opportunity to debut our new single “Taking My Time,” which would be released at midnight.

Press coverage on Flesh Machine at Lemmy

Reykjavík Grapevine: https://grapevine.is/music/2025/11/07/day-one-iceland-airwaves-2025-reykjavik-grapevine-coverage/

Friday 7. Nóv

Friday made Thursday feel like nothing more than a warm-up. I ended up walking nearly 20 kilometers throughout the day — just moving between soundchecks and concerts while carrying all my gear.

Iðunn Einars is a rising star in the Icelandic music scene. She was nominated at the 2025 Icelandic Music Awards for her album “Í hennar heimi.” I’ve had the privilege of performing with her before, and on Friday we played twice. Earlier in the day, we performed on a live program on RÚV (the national Icelandic broadcasting service). In the evening, we had an on-venue slot at Fríkirkjan.

RÚV Iceland Airwaves – time code 00:39:07
https://www.ruv.is/sjonvarp/spila/ras-2-a-iceland-airwaves/38672/bgpo81/idunn-einarsdottir

I ended the day with an on-venue headlining gig at Bird with Flesh Machine. We’d managed to pique the curiosity of a few people who had seen us the night before, and, to quote the Delco Times: “Word spread after night one that Icelandic groovy, good-time rock and rollers Flesh Machine were a sight to be seen. Each one of the members is a wound-tight ball of energy…”

All in all, it was a great success. I went to bed late — very tired and a bit sauced.

Press coverage on Flesh Machine at Bird
Daily Times: https://www.delcotimes.com/2025/11/13/rock-music-menu-back-to-iceland-airwaves-still-the-coolest-music-festival/

Saturday 8. Nóv

I started the final day later than the others (possibly due to a light hangover). The last Flesh Machine show was a small and intimate off-venue gig at Tónabíó, but the energy was surprisingly high for such a cozy space. As soon as we wrapped up, I had to rush off to my final performance of the festival.

Flesh Machine "F is for Failing" live at Tónabíó (Iceland Airwaves off-venue)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw8xa9f-rLg

My final gig wasn’t as a drummer, but as a choir member in Kvæðakórinn, who stepped on stage with Mlikywhale. Kvæðakórinn is a choir that sings kvæði (traditional Icelandic folk chants) and blends this heritage with modern elements. To quote the Reykjavík Grapevine: “On top of their already pumped, full-of-life energy, they invited Kvæðakórinn, a choir dedicated to traditional Icelandic ‘kvæði’ — poetic chants of old — on stage for half the performance. Rather than just an accompanying element, the choir became an instrument on its own, their chanting blending seamlessly with Melkorka’s pop-infused vocals to create the most interesting mixture.”

It was a perfect way to end the festival — chanting old traditional verses over high-energy pop songs in front of an energetic, dancing crowd.

Press coverage on Kvæðakórinn
Reykjavík Grapevine: https://grapevine.is/music/2025/11/09/day-three-iceland-airwaves-2025-reykjavik-grapevine-coverage/