Watch The Sugarcubes’ Einar Örn join The Vaccines on stage at Iceland Airwaves 2024
The Vaccines brought out Einar Örn as a surprise guest for their slot at Iceland Airwaves. Check out footage of the moment below.
The moment took place as the band took to the stage at the Iceland festival for the first time since 2012. Heading to the main stage on Friday (November 8), they broke out a 17-song setlist of their biggest hits.
However, the highlight of the night took place at the very end of the set, when the band’s Iceland-born bassist Árni Hjörvar spoke to the crowd ahead of the closing song – introducing a cover of ‘Ekki Enn’, a 1981 song by local punk band Purrkur Pillnikk.
To top it off, The Vaccines also invited Einar Örn to the stage to collaborate on the rendition.
Örn is most famous for his work with the anarcho-punk group Kukl and his time in The Sugarcubes, although he was also the singer in Purrkur Pillnikk.
The band, although short lived, left a huge legacy in the post-punk revolution of Iceland and their track ‘Ekki Enn’ remains one of their most popular hits. As highlighted by The Line Of Best Fit, the band broke into the country’s Top 10 with their 1981 debut album and went on to tour across the UK. They would split 18 months after forming.
Find the full set at Veeps.
As aforementioned, the slot marked the first performance by The Vaccines at Airwaves since 2012. In their last performance, the band again paid respects to the early Icelandic punk scene by closing out the set with a cover of Vonbrigði’s song ‘Ó Reykjavík’.
The 2024 edition of the festival took place between November 7 and November 9, and also saw sets from LYNKS, Magdalena Bay, Overmono and more. This year marked the 25th anniversary of the festival, and also showcased local talent.
Next year’s edition will be held in Reykjavík between November 6 and 8.
The Vaccines’ slot at Airwaves comes after the release of their latest album, ‘Pick-Up Full Of Pink Carnations’, which arrived in January. In a three-star review of the record, NME wrote that while “it might not offer anything new”, the band are “good at what they do, even if it’s nothing particularly groundbreaking.”
Since then, they have gone on to play a run of arena shows alongside Kings of Leon throughout the summer, as well as a number of UK headline shows.
Last year, The Vaccines spoke to NME about the “hopeful and euphoric” ten-track offering, with frontman Justin Young saying the record felt “nostalgic” to them.
“Something I’ve said about our music so many times is there’s euphoria and melancholia in equal measure,” he said. “I don’t think this is a sad or depressing record – I actually think it’s quite hopeful and euphoric – but I do think it has these melancholic undertones.”
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Liberty Dunworth
NME
