Perfume Genius showed his delicate side in Harpa’s Silfurberg on Friday night during his Iceland Airwaves concert.
With a full venue, it was obvious that the audience’s expectations were high. That came as no surprise. Perfume Genius is a talented performer with three albums on his CV, the latest one, “Too Bright”, receiving almost universal critical acclaim.
Perfume Genius is the stage name of Mike Hadreas, who was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. Hadreas had a difficult childhood and at fifteen he was the only openly gay student in his school, which lead to discrimination on a daily basis (even death threats). Hadreas, of course, had a hard time dealing with that and eventually dropped out of school.
After being attacked by a group of guys in his neighbourhood and hospitalized, he decided to move to New York. There he fell into drug addiction and in 2005 he moved back to Seattle where he entered rehab.
Five years later his first album, “Learning”, was released and was soon likened to the music of bands like Antony and the Johnsons because of its style and intimacy (substance abuse, a dubious relationship with a teacher and the challenge of being accepted as a gay man, are only a few of the subjects that are brought up on the album).
In Silfurberg last Friday Night, with a three-piece band behind him, Hadreas was dressed in a black jump suit with a V-neck. When sitting behind his keyboard, his low tempo songs were delicate, emotional and often short – the music could be described as a piano driven indie pop with tender vocals and intimate lyrics where Hadreas sings among other things about the status of gay people in the modern society.
Standing with the microphone he played the two best songs of the evening, “Fool” and “Queen” (see video below), both very impressing (and both from his latest album, “Too Bright” where Icelandic band Sigur Rós has been mentioned as one of the many detectable influences). “Oueen” was also his last song of the evening, with Hadreas leaving the stage, waving goodbye to the audience full of gratitude, before his band mates played the final notes of the performance, which easily deserves a three out of five stars.
“The bands were great and everything was well-organized…”
Overall, the Iceland Airwaves-festival was a success, as always, with great talents in every corner. It’s a difficult task to pick out the best concerts, but the performances of Árstíðir, Vök and Agent Fresco on Wednesday night were memorable, as were the performances of Bubbi & Dimma, Mercury Rev and Úlfur Úlfur on Thursday night; Perfume Genius and Grísalappalísa on Friday night, Andy Schauf, Beach House and Battles on Saturday night and Sleaford Mods on Sunday night.
Compared to past Iceland Airwaves-festivals, this one was among the best. The bands were great and everything was well-organized, although the waiting line at Harpa on Saturday night before the Beach House-concert, was beyond normal.
Thanks for a great festival, Iceland Airwaves! Hope to see you again next year.
Main photo: Ana Viotti.