Photos and a review Of Monsters and Men in Toronto (finally!)
[Ross MacDonald was there. Again. – AC]
Finally. After six long years, and then a false start on 28 October, Icelandic indie rockers Of Monsters And Men finally gave their adoring Toronto fans a full concert. Originally, Of Monsters and Men were supposed to kick off the band’s North American tour at Toronto’s History. However, lead singer and guitarist Nanna was ill and had lost her voice, so unfortunately the band were forced to postpone their tour-opening performance; and thus they wound up closing their North American tour in Canada.
At the concert on 28 October Icelandic artist Árný Margrét opened the night, and the rest of OMAM performed a four-song mini set as a thank you to the fans who made their way to the venue .
This time OMAM brought in Josie Edwards https://josieedwards.com/ to open the night. Josie is a folk-rock artist from Indiana, with a couple of songs that have become very popular. It was just Josie, her guitar (and later her ukulele), and a stomp box. But that’s all she needed to get the crowd on her side, swaying to the music.
After performing her first song, ‘The Great Escape’, Josie addressed the sell-out crowd “It’s my first time in Canada, and it’s great!” which got a great round of cheers from the welcoming Toronto fans.
Josie then announced her next song ‘I’m OK, I’m OK’, she added “it’s a song about saying you’re ok, when you aren’t ok on the inside.” Someone yelled out “that sounds very Canadian!“, which drew some laughs.
Throughout her set Josie had a big smile on her face; it wasn’t a platitude when she announced: “I’m thrilled to be here, I’ve always looked up to OMAM”, you could sense her happiness, and it was infectious.
Josie closed her half hour set with her hit single ‘good girls’, the title track from her debut EP that came out in September, but has already taken off online. It is a very catchy song highlighting the struggles of trying to be a ‘good girl’. It was a solid start to the night!
Of Monsters And Men made a gradual entrance with one of their singles off the new album, ‘Television Love’. It started with some soft drum beats and light guitar notes. Then a quiet guitar riff with some keyboards backing. After a minute Arnar started his pronounced beat and Raggi began the vocals. It was an emotional musical buildup with the band being mostly backlit. Then in the post-chorus bridge Nanna took over vocals with Arnar beating his snare like a march. Finally, both Nanna and Raggi gave a powerful duet on the outro; OMAM had the capacity crowd gripped to their every note and lyric.
This tour is in support of Of Monsters And Men’s newest album ‘All Is Love And Pain In The Mouse Parade’, which was released on Friday 17 October. OMAM performed nine of the 13 songs on the album, and every one of them were exceptionally well received. The new music is an evolution of the band’s sound, but definitely not a departure from the first three albums. OMAM had five years to perfect ‘All Is Love And Pain In The Mouse Parade’, and they delivered a sonic masterpiece. The band is renowned for their beautiful melodies and catchy music, but the new album has even more reflective lyrics and instrumentation; it is greater than the sum of its parts.
With two lead vocalists, it is like Nanna and Raggi are having a conversation on stage, and the audience are in the room listening to their discourse, and taking in the entire musical recital. Add to that Nanna’s fast strumming, and Raggi’s quick picking, the entire concert was a showcase in high energy artistry.
One new song, ‘Tuna In A Can’, sounds upbeat and quirky; however, it deals with the heavy subject of death. Is Of Monsters And Men pushing a resurgence in grunge?
That thought was reinforced by their next song, ‘Alligator’ off their 2019 album ‘Fever Dream’. It certainly brought another level of energy into the fans with “HEY!”, a heavy drum beat, and three electric guitars… “Wake me up!!”
Nanna introduced the next song ‘From Finner’. She noted that the song is about being far from home, but feeling happy with what they were doing. Nanna gave thanks to the road crew, dedicating the song to them.
Bjarni’s electric guitar adds not only depth to the music, it also introduces haunting tones that build upon the band’s mystique. He uses intricate picking, bends, effects, and some wah pedal that creates a fantasy worldriness.
Then it was time for the band to put down their instruments and gather in a circle in the middle of the stage. The lights were turned down low and a quiet piano played as the band quietly sang the title track off their latest album, ‘Mouse Parade’. You could hear a pin drop in History.
The band went back to their instruments and quietly began their smash hit ‘Dirty Paws’ with Raggi picking his acoustic guitar. Of course the song soon picked up to full volume with a couple of “Hey!”, the lights came up, and everyone joining in. The song continued with more melodic harmonies. And there was lots of piano on the outro, with more “Hey!”
Passion. You can see it in the facial expressions and body language, but even more so you can feel it in their instrumentation and vocals. Nanna is swaying and Raggi is swinging, everyone is smiling and fully engaged with their fans.
After the song ‘Crystals’, Raggi introduced the next song: “This song is from our new album. It is my favourite song, so this song is dedicated… to me.” Nanna added: “Yeah, this song is dedicated to Raggi. It is Styrofoam Cathedral.” The song started quietly, but had a big build up into all out rock song.
Many of their songs, especially on the last two albums, have a deep strong beat on the tom and kick drums. It feels like Arnar is driving a train on drums. On one hand he lays down a smooth consistent beat, but he also adds lots of intricate inflections that provide even more depth to the band. And for a delicate touch, Arnar will use rute drumsticks (a bundle of small sticks, like a whisk).
Of course, one of the most anticipated songs for many was ‘Little Talks’. It is a hugely popular song with good reason as it encompasses so many parts that OMAM are renowned for: the harmonies, beautiful lyrics, intricate guitar work, and that back and forth conversation (talks) between Nanna and Raggi. There were a plethora of cell phones held high to capture the beauty.
After a very brief visit backstage, the band came back for an encore. Raggi said “this next song is the first song I had the pleasure of playing with you [Nanna]; the song that made us become a band. This one is called ‘Love Love Love’.” This was all Nanna doing solo vocals front and centre.
Nanna’s brother and his trumpet were missed especially on the last two songs as they both had trumpet solos written in. Nanna said that although he lives in Canada, he couldn’t make it to the show.
Raggi and Nanna thanked Josie Edwards for opening and said that they had one final song. Raggi: “I’m going to hop on the piano.” And went up to the riser at the back of the stage. Nanna added: “We want to come more to Canada, so we hope to see you all very very soon. This is really going to be the last song tonight [some disappointing ohhs], but it’s really really fucking long!” Which brought a lot of cheers.
‘Fruit Bat’ is mesmerising. Starting slowly and quietly on the piano. Then Nanna’s quiet vocals, backlit centre stage. The song builds, showcasing all the individual instruments in harmony. One of OMAN’s secret weapons is that they also know when not to play. They use quiet parts, and measure-long rests. Powerful. The trumpet was missed, but the rest of the band made up for it. Arnar’s beats were fierce as the band increased the intensity to the climax. (Note: It is now one of my favourite songs, and not just because “it’s really really fucking long!”)
And when the song did end, the band came forward to take a bow. They threw guitar (and bass) picks to the fans up front, as well as the set lists that were taped to the stage floor. Nobody wanted to leave, but unfortunately the crowd had to file out into the cold December night, hoping to see Of Monsters And Men again soon.
OMAM:
Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir – lead vocals, guitars, keyboards, melodica
Ragnar “Raggi” Þórhallsson – lead vocals, guitars, piano
Brynjar Leifsson – lead guitars, backing vocals
Kristján Páll Kristjánsson – bass guitars, backing vocals
Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson – drums, percussion, accordion, backing vocals
Touring members:
Steingrimur Karl Teague – piano, keyboards, organ, accordion, backing vocals
Bjarni Þór Jensson – guitar, percussion, keyboards
