London Airwaves showcases new bands

By Damian Jones
Newsbeat reporter

Thecocknbullkid said London Airwaves is great for checking out new bands

Festival-goers descended on east London over the weekend for the first ever Airwaves event in the UK.

More than 50 established acts including The Young Knives and The Teenagers along with breaking artists such as Florence And The Machine and Thecocknbullkid took over eight venues on Friday.

The event is seen as a warm up for Iceland Airwaves, which this year celebrates its 10th anniversary.

The one day London festival is like a mini Camden Crawl with fans criss-crossing the streets of Shoreditch to see various acts playing at bars and gig venues such as 93 Feet East, the Vibe Bar and the Old Blue Last.

Traditionally the event in Reykjavik, has showcased Icelandic acts over the years. But the London event doesn't feature any.

The Icelandic version started as a one-off event in an airplane hangar in 1999 but has since grown to take in unusual venues including museums and old theatres.

What's great about this is you get to check out loads of varying acts from different ends of the scale Anita Blay

London's mini festival meanwhile uses swanky pubs and sweaty clubs to showcase new talent, one of them being the hotly tipped Florence And The Machine, aka, Florence Welch.

Managed by Queens Of Noize, this wacky face-painted South London singer is being tipped for a big 2009.

The singer said London Airwaves was a great way to discover new bands.

"Sometimes festivals are like a bit of a pilgrimage in the sense that you've got to really go there because you love it and you love all the bands," she told Newsbeat.

"Whereas here it's easy because even if you don't love all the bands you might see an act you really grow to love.

"Inner city festivals like this are also really important because they pull in people who wouldn't put on a pair of wellies and go and sit in the mud for four hours."

Hotly tipped singer Florence Welch performing at London Airwaves

Another London artist on the rise is electro pop act Thecocknbullkid, which is the brainchild of Anita Blay.

The singer is currently unsigned but has already roped in Metronomy's Joseph Mount to produce a couple of her songs.

"What's great about this is you get to check out loads of varying acts from different ends of the scale," she said.

"I've played in London and this area a lot but this event is good because you're going to get people from far and wide coming over who probably would have never heard of you or they might have just seen your name somewhere."

French synth pop trio The Teenagers made their Icelandic debut in 2007 alongside Late Of The Pier, The Magic Numbers and Bloc Party.

Lead singer Quentin Delafon said the band decided to sign up to headline the London leg this year because of their experience in Reykjavik.

He added: "We played Airwaves in Iceland and it was pretty cool, it's a special place. This is a little bit less exotic but its still great and there's a lot of great new bands playing."

The Young Knives were nominated for a Mercury Prize in 2007

Former Nationwide Mercury Prize nominees The Young Knives are to set to make their Icelandic debut this year and their show at the Vibe Bar was their last London show before they head off to tour South America.

"We're really keen to play in Iceland because we've never been there before," said singer Henry Dartnall.

"I think the London version is great too because we get to play in a small sweaty venue and despite all the Hoxton pretence of it, there's always a bunch of really genuine fans.

"There's a lot of people in London too and you can never completely milk the whole of the London audience too quickly."

Iceland Airwaves will be held in Reykjavik between 15-19 October and will feature Vampire Weekend, Biffy Clyro, Crystal Castles and CSS.