Of Monsters and Men is basically the gentle love child of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and the Arcade Fire. They combine the humble, folk sound of the former with the frenetic well layered and explosive sound of the latter. It’s a perfect marriage, much like Arnold and Maria Shriver before all that random crap happened.
Here’s a one word review of their live show: Awesome.
It’s just so great to be able to go to a concert venue and just hear the pleasant music that Of Monsters and Men create. I’ve been a fan of their debut album for a long time (you can win it! we have a contest here) and to be able to hear it live was just a wonderful treat. The horns, the drums, the vocal interplay, the cute Icelandic accent banter, it’s all great. Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir’s voice is so precious it makes me want to go to a Catholic church and tell the priest of all the (petty) crimes I’ve committed in my life and beg for forgiveness.
If there was a hippy commune where everyone was treated like equals and lived in perfect harmony, I feel like Of Monsters and Men can soundtrack it. Their live show just leaves a fuzzy feeling in your stomach. I really regret missing their inaugural show at the El Mocambo (was in Peru) and after witnessing their superb show at the Phoenix, I regret missing them at SXSW (under the guise that I already had tickets for them here). Some bands you can see many times, Of Monsters and Men is one of them.
I believe this was the last show of their current tour. I’m pretty sure Of Monsters and Men will be back stateside at some point this year, make sure you catch them.