12.01 @ Tveir vinir, Reykjavik.
Plus Sukkat. We have suddenly become very popular in Iceland. The day
before we mimed a song on Hemmi Gunn's TV
show which everybody sees. The club is totally packed and we belt it
out with ease. Nice.
24.01 @ Tunglid, Reykjavik.
Plus Spoon. For Flensborg and FG. We are popular so the High schools
and Universities want us to play on their balls. There's where the money
lies in the Icelandic music biz, playing for drunk teenagers. We practise
lots of cover songs to play at these
balls: Yummy Yummy Yummy (Ohio Express), Cherry Bomb (The Runaways),
One Way or Another (Blondie), These Boots
are made for Walking (Nancy Sinatra), Our Lips are Sealed (The Go Go's),
Venus (Shocking Blue), Heart of Glass (Blondie),
Contact (Birgit Bardot), Whip it (Devo), Do you wanna Funk? (Sylvester),
New Values (Iggy Pop), Fight for your Right to
Party (Beastie Boys) and probably few more. It's a job.
25.01 @ Amma Lu, Reykjavik.
For MH. Drunk teenagers.
28.01 @ Saga Film Studio, Reykjavik.
We play "Ast i vidlogum" on the "Bingolotto" show. Probably the corniest
Icelandic show ever. The presenter, old grumpy Ingi
Hrafn doesn't even say hi to us. We get paid and I get to see the bum
inside the "Bingolotto bear".
03.02 @ Sjallinn, Akureyri.
We travel north to entertain drunk teenagers. My sister lives up there
so she comes to see me for the first time on stage. Later
the band gets drunk at the hotel. Akureyri is a town for not much else
than a black out. Nice town!
04.02 @ Samkomuhusid, Husavik.
We travel further north in a blizzard to play this tiny theater at
Husavik, which is a town of 3000 or so. The gig is organized by
the legendary Hans Wium, AKA Hansi the Dog Killer, the punkiest punk
of the north. The stage is up two floors so all his punk friends come to
help us with the gear. Two punk bands open, Raesid, and Hansi's band Svid.
The crowd goes raving mad and
I am a bit frightened. Our driver is Kiddi kedja, another legend in
the silly Icelandic muz-biz. His large bus gets scrathed on by
some key-carrying spaced out hicks outside the house so he goes mad,
telling us to scram when we try to chill out after the gig
at Bakkinn, the local pub. We do. On the way back we stop again at
Akureyri. Obo's friend/mascot, Jakob, is the drunkest of
the lot and runs around naked, rolling in the snow. Kiddi kedja doesn't
like it for some deep psychological reasons and kicks
his butt. A trauma arises. "Who are you to kick our friend's butt?",
we ask. We fall asleep soon after this but we don't use
Kiddi again as a driver.
14.02 @ MS High school, Reykjavik.
With some other bands. We play for 45 minutes and have to hassle the
organizers to pay for the gear carrying lorry. Assholes.
15.02 @ MH High school, Reykjavik.
A benefit concert for the disabled students of this school. We do 3
songs.
17.02 @ Ingholl, Selfoss.
Drunken teenagers all over again, but we're not much better, especially
Johann, who falls down over his keyboard in the middle of the set. The
pub owners hate us. Fuck them!
24.02 @ Villti tryllti Villi, Reykjavik.
For FB High school. The gig is early so people aren't drunk. Some other
bands too, and some comedians as well. Bah...
25.02 @ Tveir vinir, Reykjavik.
I don't remember anything from this gig. No, I wasn't drunk.
03.03 @ A sport hall, Hafnarfjordur.
13-16 years old kids. Plus Innersphere or something, two Brits with
a DAT machine. The kids are alright!
04.03 @ Haskolabio, Reykjavik.
We do yet another benefit gig, this time for a future presidental candidate,
Astpor Magnusson. He is going to save the world,
but Thor says we gotta play as he might sometimes pay air tickets for
us or something. We do two accoustic songs for a half
empty cinema. Pathetic.
17.03 @ Hotel Island, Reykjavik.
Two fat guys decide to make a big concert and call it "XXL". We play
and some other bands as well. Drunk teenagers.
22.03 @ Haskolabio, Reykjavik.
We play at "Hallbjorninn", a short film festival organized by the high
schools. We play 3 songs, including Magnus Eiriksson's
"Draumaprinsinn", which we never played again. It's a fine song, maybe
we should do that again?
30.03 @ Tonabaer, Reykjavik.
We are the guest band at the "Music experiments", the local "battle
of the bands" thing in Iceland. We do two sets. This is the
last of the semi-finals.
07.04 @ Tveir vinir, Reykjavik.
I import Radiopuhelimet, a great finnish rocccckkk band. We support
them.
02.06 @ Midgardur, Varmahlid.
Plus Pusund millibara laegd. For most of May we were singing english
to "ae" in the studio, which eventually appeared as
"Super Shiny Dreams". During that time Unnsteinn becomes our manager
in Iceland and organized all our gigs and balls during
the summer of 1995. His duties stop by the beginning of September.
This is the first. We play at this tiny place many hours
drive from Reykjavik for drunk teenagers.
16.06 @ Pavarotti, Akranes.
Plus Pusund millibara laegd. Curver has done a song with us, "Ykt dopur",
so he appears with us as Olsen Kryppa (Hunchback Olsen). Another small
town, more drunk teenagers. My brother lives over there but as he teaches
most of those drunk
teenagers he doesn't dare to attend. Me and Heida get drunk with the
support act. I wake up in some garden.
17.06 @ Laekjartorg, Reykjavik.
Iceland's independance day ball. Plus loads of other bands. Thousands
of drunk teenagers.
01.07 @ Tveir vinir, Reykjavik.
Plus Pusund millibara laegd. Sponsored by Fosters beer. We rock and
we roll.
07.07 @ Sindrabaer, Hofn i Hornafirdi.
Plus Gemmer eld. We drive for hours to play for 150 drunk teenagers.
08.07 @ Hotel Valholl, Eskifjordur.
We drive for hours more to play for 80 drunk teenagers. The day after
I take the plane home after hiking a ride with the local
gay bank manager. I send him a classical disc as a token of graditute.
27.07 @ Another sport hall, Hafnarfjordur.
We play a pathetic gig for a handfull of sober teenagers. This is the
last gig Johann Johannsson plays with us.
05.08 @ UXI festival, Klaustur.
A serious try to make an Icelandic Lollapolooza, but a failed one.
Lots of Icelandic and foreign bands. The day before I drink
too much in Reykjavik. Wake up in the suburbs having missed the bus.
Take a taxi the necessary 300 Kms. Costs me 20.000
Kr. We have a hit, "Astin dugir", which Pall Oskar sings with us. He
sings it with us live for the first time here. Margret
Ornolfsdottir plays the keyboards with us. Olsen Kryppa appears and
vomits on stage. This is the last gig that drummer Obo
plays with us. I sleep on the bus back home. I get sick when I think
of this bloody gig!
12.08 @ Rykkrokk, Reykjavik.
An annual outdoor festival. Loads of other bands. The first time Matthias
Hemstock drums with us. The second and last time
Margret Ornolfsdottir plays with us. Olsen Kryppa appears and doesn't
vomit. Pall Oskar is going to sing with us but arrives
too late, because he was singing in the Icelandic version of fucking
"Jesus Christ Superstar".
19.08 @ Ingolfstorg, Reykjavik.
Outdoor concert, part of the Independant festival in Reykjavik. Loads
of other bands. Curver appears as Herr Gunter and
does goosesteps. Pall Oskar sings with us. The crowd goes absolutely
wild for his popstar charm. Valgeir Sigurdsson enters
Unun on keyboards.
26.08 @ Hofsball, Vopnafjordur.
We drive for eight hours, picking up people on the way like regular
caravan-hippies, to the furthest possible ballhouse in
Iceland. We are supposed to play at Hofsball, an annual ball notorious
for it's massive drinking, fighting and fucking in the lava - i.e. your
normal Icelandic good time. We drive past the place, thinking "no this
can't be it, it's too small". Finally we pour out the classics to the sheepishly
drunk masses' maxiumum enjoyment. In the pause, me, Matti and Curver, who
had come along, form
a surf band, Tangi, and slug out few unrehearsed surf standards. Curver
appears as Olsen Kryppa as well. We drive from the
Sodoma, reaching Reykjavik at 5 p.m., totally finished mentally and
physically. This is probably our last Icelandic rural-ball
ever.
06.09 @ Hotel Island, Reykjavik.
MS-ball. Unun and Pall Oskar have joined forces to do few high school
balls for unheard of amount of money. We do our set,
he sings few songs with a DAT and in the end Pall Oskar enters for
Villi og Lulla (Pu og Eg), Video killed the Radio Star (The
Buggles), Jungle Boogie (Kool and the Gang), Kung Fu Fighting (some
funky negro) and our massive hit Astin Dugir. Drunk
teenagers extravagnaza.
14.09 @ Tunglid, Reykjavik.
FA-ball. With Pall Oskar. Still more drunk teenagers. They have a special
room upstairs for passed out teenagers. After the
ball I peek in for perverted pleasures.
15.09 @ Rosenberg, Reykjavik.
We are rehearsing our program for the upcoming Euro tour so we do our
set in English (the first and hopefully last time we do
that in Iceland). Few people show up for some reason.
19.09 @ Tunglid, Reykjavik.
MR-ball. With Pall Oskar. Yet more drunk and screaming teenagers.
23.09 @ Loppen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Our "Super Shiny Tour '95" has started. We pack this club in notorious
Kristjania. There's mostly drunk Icelandic people
presented. The gig is recorded for Denmark's National Radio.
29.09 @ Beboershuset, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Fewer people than the earlier Denmark date but still ok.
02.10 @ Cafe Julien, Marseille, France.
Tiny club. Some of the people know Heida as she had played in some
bands in Marseille some years earlier.
05.10 @ Le Pied, Toulouse, France.
Plus The Sigh. This is a good club several Kms outside of Toulouse.
The small crowd is hip to our groove. Afterwards the fine
fellows who own the club try to drink us under the table. Vivian, the
bartender, has a custom of pouring vodka shots in the
popstars until they pass out in a red sofa. He had photo proofs. Johnny
Thunder and Dave Stewart of Eurhytmics had passed
out after 41 and 34 shots. We drank all the night until Vivian had
become the drunkest of the lot and refused to leave our van
until our driver had to knock him down. This is what Unun calls hospitality.
06.10 @ El Palacio, Pau, France.
Crap town, crap club, crap food, crap gig.
10.10 @ La Casamance, La Roshelle, France.
The club is the tiniest we have ever played. We sweat like pigs in
fur. We sleep upstairs in mouldy beds and some of Unun
members think of this gig as a nightmare, but I quite liked it.
11.10 @ L'Ubu, Rennes, France.
Plus 22 Pistepirkko. One of France's best clubs and a pretty decent
gig.
12.10 @ FNAC, Paris, France.
We play during the lunch break upstairs a record shop for a handful
of fans and journos. The lights are on while we play. Need
I say more?
14.10 @ Zenith, Montpellier, France.
Plus Bjork and Goldie.
16.10 @ Transbordeur, Lyon, France.
Plus Bjork and Goldie.
24.10 @ American Center, Paris, France.
This is a strange place for Unun. Too office like. Good gig though.
28.10 @ Kab de L'Usine, Geneve, Switzerland.
Plus Core. Geneve's dirtiest spot is this hippie-punk-young-people-hangout.
The people want punk so we give them punk.
31.10 @ L'Entre Pot, Grenoble, France.
Halloween night. The frogs rock out to our boiling pop. Good for them.
01.11 @ Satellite, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Plus Peter's Monkey. A canteen in the University. The students like
it.