A reader writes:
On July 30, you
to the discovery that Björk was going to be performing the album at the just-opened, state-of-the-art Harpa concert hall in Reykjavik in October. We booked a trip to Iceland that very day and got tickets for her first show, which coincided with the Iceland Airwaves music festival.
Long story short: watching that MHB led us to our escape from Seattle to Reykjavik this past week, leaving the endless bad news slog to join 6,000 other people from all over Europe and elsewhere who were doing the same.
After having our minds blown by Björk’s performance the first night, we wandered the city for the rest of the week, soaking up music that ranged from the Icelandic Symphonic Orchestra playing works of local composers to John Grant falling in love with Iceland while singing his bitter torch songs. We met people from at least six different countries and for once didn’t get into the “What’s wrong with the U.S?” conversations that Americans abroad usually encounter, but instead bonded jovially over our shared love of music and appreciation of Iceland.
My boyfriend and I came home feeling lighter and with a refreshed perspective, ready to tackle our problems with new energy. We don’t want to substitute hippie jams for activism, but sometimes the “tunes” can help us lighten up and shed the bitter thinking that has taken hold.
(Our reader’s photo caption: “Of Monsters and Men, a talented young band in Iceland”)
The Dish 