Leftwich at the Lexington

Like many people, I love a good freebie. Whether it’s a prize draw on STA Travel for a backpack full of travelling essentials or a Facebook event promoting a movie release with a free DVD, I’m more than likely to take a few minutes to enter. My policy with these things is that you can’t win if you don’t give it a shot - plus someone surely has to win. Right? 

This does, of course, sound laughably obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people moan about not having any exciting opportunities, only to admit they rarely attempt to actively find anything themselves. I figure that it takes no time or effort to fill in a couple of boxes, and the potential reward is often interesting enough to warrant a cosy little daydream for a moment or two (only recently I’d all but written the dates in my diary for a top prize trip to the Antarctic. I didn’t win). Plus, my luck has started to change somewhat recently – I’ve managed to win tickets to the iTunes Festival at Camden’s Roundhouse two years running – so I have a little more faith in the effort of perseverance than I once held. I have a general list of websites I flock to on a regular basis, where I casually type in email address, name, sometimes my age, sometimes a simple a/b/c answer, then hit send and sit back happily, with the knowledge that my noble little entry could quite possibly be selected at random from the virtual pile of other eager entries, and carry me off to a 5 night stay in the Bahamas.

Ok, so I haven’t won a draw as exciting as that yet. But a couple of weeks ago, I did receive an email congratulating me on winning two tickets to an exclusive gig in Islington, courtesy of the Guardian and Spotify Live. The musicians featured were Marques Toliver and Benjamin Francis Leftwich; a pleasant resolution for me, as Ben Leftwich was one of the only musicians I really wanted to see at Iceland Airwaves, but who couldn't perform (I'm not going to lie, I was a bit annoyed). Standing in the tiny upstairs venue of The Lexington amongst a crowd of only fifty or so other people was the perfect location to hear him play. With no band behind him and an obvious desire that evening to play some of his songs without even a microphone for amplification, Ben Leftwich delivered a great set, and also managed to rock a very appealing Christmas jumper. I'm not great at the musical analysis (plus I was too enamoured of his very delicious voice) so I'll let Ben do the rest. Hit play, sit back, and relax... 

Iceland Airwaves Music Festival: A Brief Review

It began in an airplane hangar, with an audience of only a couple of hundred people. Now in its 12th year, Airwaves draws thousands from around the globe every October to a city-come-village by the north Atlantic Sea, in order to present the feverish best in emerging Icelandic and international music.

The ticketed festival spans 5 days and kicks off in the early evenings, but the days are also filled with 'off-venue' gigs, and this is where Airwaves differs from your typical overtly structured, queue-monopolised, wristband-flashing music festival. These artists will play anywhere and everywhere; in coffee shops, libraries, cinemas, hostels, swimming pools, and sometimes even on the street. A casual walk through the city will often be derailed as you hear new music through an open door, and suddenly find yourself hugging a brick wall alongside strangers as you watch a guitarist fingerpicking happily beneath a coat rack.

This intimacy and a total love of music is what makes Airwaves so exciting. Many people, myself included, arrive with no prior knowledge of the artists or their music - but we know we'll leave with a plethora of new obsessions under our belts. The buzz in any given crowd throughout the festival - the nodding heads, closed eyes and tapping feet - certifies the feeling that you're among like-minded people with a thirst for new, unexpected, wonderful music.

Reykjavik is a small city, which makes it easy to move from club to bar as the night goes on, and you'll find yourself spotting the same familiar faces in different crowds. If you're lucky, you'll even end up jumping around next to the very attractive lead singer of the band who just played - a vast majority of the musicians really support each other's music and choose to attend the festival themselves, rather than sitting back in their dressing rooms.

This proves the festival's stalwart defence of homegrown talent, as international bands are only permitted to perform at one Airwaves. Ever. It means the focus stays strongly on Icelandic bands and their emergence into mainstream music channels. And there sure are a lot of them. If you think Icelandic talent only stretches to Bjork and Sigur Ros, you'd better think again. As the festival grows, there are more and more Europeans and Americans in attendance, all of whom are rapidly discovering the joys of Icelandic music. Mark it in your diary for October 2012, and get ready for a musical experience like no other.