Show: Of Monsters and Men
Date: March 21, 2012
Venue: Troubadour
City: West Hollywood, CA
Of Monsters and Men
Photos by Nicolas Bates
Written by Dan Sinclair
Though the sign in the Troubadour’s box office window said “SOLD OUT,” the heavy amount of open real estate on the floor surrounding the stage at 9:30 P.M. seemed to suggest otherwise. That all changed about thirty minutes later when the stage lights went on. In the blink of an eye, the place was mobbed from wall-to-wall, everyone anxiously awaiting the six-piece indie folk-rock band from Iceland. Even the forty-year-old, seven-foot-tall, borderline-albino guy in the business suit clapped his hands. We were all ready for Of Monsters and Men.
Co-singer and guitar player Nanna Bryndis Hilmarsdottir, donning a cool, gray brimmed hat and an adorable smile, was the first to catch my eye. I now had a face to match that amazing voice of hers and wasn’t disappointed in the least. And she came out drinking a New Castle—now that’s my kind of girl! Ragnar “Raggi” Bórhallsson also co-leads the band alongside Nanna. The charming singer looks how I imagine a slightly more handsome, blond and Icelandic Jack Black would.
The show starts with “Dirty Paws,” the opening track from their debut album My Head Is an Animal. Nanna, almost shocked at the warm LA reception, mentions how thrilled she is to “so many of you singing along to our songs!” “From Finner,” featured even more “la la la’s” than the first song, and after that, Of Monsters and Men threw a brand new “Mountain Song” at us, which was one of the best of the night.
Raggi took center stage next, beginning to belt out “Your Bones” alone, armed only with a guitar. Unfortunately, said guitar was out of tune. He apologized and while he tuned it, Nanna told us the band’s first LA experience: a giggly story about fist-fighting taxi drivers in Santa Monica. She was so cute. I’d listen to any story she wanted to tell me in that darling accent. After waiting patiently for the end of the story, Raggi flawlessly continued “Your Bones” to the sounds of heavy applause.
The rest of the band was on-point all night with not only bass, horns, accordion and piano, but drummer Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson seemed to have more energy than a meth head. Other songs played that night included “Lakehouse” and “Slow and Steady.” But if you asked the ladies, the highlight was when Nanna carried the show in solitary on “Love, Love, Love” (this assumption based solely on the screams of every female present at the show).
When the time came for their single “Little Talks,” the Troubadour erupted (even the annoying asshole at the bar took a break from hitting on girls long enough to pretend to sing along). There wasn’t a single still body in the house. Half expecting a mosh pit, I had to remind myself this was an indie-folk show. Whew. They closed out the set with “Six Weeks,” much to the crowd’s delight.
When they returned to the stage after a brief intermission, Raggi said, “Thank you for your incredibly loud screams,” which, of course, brought even more incredible and louder screams. During the two-song encore, they played a version of The Cure’s (one of the band’s biggest influences according to Nanna) “Close to Me.” It was slow but powerful (sounding very distant from the original, poppy 1987 single), and quite the memorable way to end the show.
Throughout the night, though there were so many musicians up there, the stage never looked crowded. Each member stood comfortably alone as they played together in harmony. And though I’m not sure where the monsters were, the one thing I am sure of is, Of Monsters and Men plays great live.