Of Monsters and Men, w/ Highasakite at Roy Wilkins Auditorium, St Paul (01 October 2015)
Icelandic band Of Monsters and Men recently played the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St Paul on Thursday.
Of Monsters and Men Setlist
|
Highasakite Setlist
|
Dressed in a “Some Kind of Wonderful” top with tight silver pants, singer Ingrid Helene Håvik shook and boogie throughout their 25 minute set.
Starting off with a deliberate slowed version of “Lover, Where Do You Live?” in a darkened set with only bare minimal lighting from four backlit stands, the band quickly picked up the beat with their new single “Keep That Letter Safe” (the lone exception of songs not from the 2014 album).
This was just a brief taste of what the band is like, we’re hoping for them to play a longer set the next time they come through town as headliner of a small club.
When we first caught Of Monsters and Men in March 2012 at the sold out Fine Line Music Café (capacity 750), we noted that the venue was probably the smallest gig we’ll ever see them play. It’s true, they returned in December at First Avenue (capacity 1500) that same year. Now the band is playing a 5,000 capacity venue like Roy Wilkins in St Paul.
Not only has the band grown in venue, but they also grew as a touring band. Originally they were only a five piece: singer/acoustic guitar Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, lead vocalists/acoustic guitar Ragnar Þórhallsson, lead guitarist Brynjar Leifsson, bassist Kristján Páll Kristjánsson, and drummer Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson… but for this 2015, as you can see from the photograph, they’ve added four additional players: Steingrimur Karl Teague, Ragnhildur Gunnarsdóttir, Bjarni Þór Jensson, and Sigrún Kristbjörg Jónsdóttir. The four additional players handled multiple intrustments, such as accordions, extra percussionists/kick drums, trombone, extra guitars, keyboards, etc., which does add a much bigger, stadium-filled sound to their already existing anthemic songs.
They had a nice massive MMMM custom light setup and spacious arrangements, and with additional improvements, we’re almost certain that they are ready for even larger, stadium-sized shows.
Their last thirty minutes of their set was devoted to older songs, starting with “Lakehouse” with set finale “Six Weeks”. This is followed by a three song encore (or as they wrote on their setlist: ugla), starting with “Organs”, “Dirty Paws” (another “hey” hit song), and ending with “We Sink”.
Of Monsters and Men’s latest Beneath the Skin is out now on Republic.
Remaining tour dates:
|
10/04/15 Austin, TX Austin City Limits
10/05/15 Houston, TX Bayou Music 10/07/15 Nashville, TN Ryman Aud 10/08/15 Charlotte, NC Uptown Amph 10/09/15 Atlanta, GA Chastain Park Amp 10/11/15 Austin, TX Austin City Limits 10/13/15 Broomfield, CO 1st Bank Center 10/14/15 Salt Lake City, UT Great Salt Air 10/16/15 Berkely,CA Greek Theatre 10/17/15 San Diego, CA Cal Coast 10/18/15 Los Angeles, CA El Rey Theater 10/29/15 Oslo, Norway Sentrum Scene 10/30/15 Stockholm Munchenbryggeriet 10/31/15 Copenhagen Vega 11/02/15 Berlin, DE Columbia Halle 11/03/15 Amsterdam, NLParadiso 11/05/15 Paris, France Casino De Paris 11/06/15 Groningen, NL O’Port 11/06/15 – 11/07/15 Rolling Stone Weekender |
11/09/15 Vienna, Austria Gasometer
11/10/15 Florence, Italy Obihall 11/12/15 Munich, DE Zenith 11/13/15 Winterthur – Eishalle Deutweg 11/15/15 Brussels, Belgium Forest National 11/16/15 Cologne, DE Palladium 11/18/15 Manchester, UK Manchester Academy 11/19/15 Birmingham, UK O2 Academy 11/20/15 Bristol, UK O2 Academy 11/22/15 Dublin, Irela/15 Olympia Theatre 11/23/15 Glasgow, UK Barrowlands 11/24/15 London, UK O2 Academy Brixton 11/25/15 London, UK O2 Academy Brixton 11/27/15 Sheffield, UK O2 Academy Sheffield 11/28/15 Lincoln, UK Engine Shed 11/29/15 Newcastle, UK O2 Academy Newcastle 12/03/15 Norfolk, VA Constant Conv 12/05/15 Tampa, FL Mid Florida Credit 12/06/15 Jacksonville, FL Metropolitan Park |
