A magical feeling swept over Melbourne’s Palace Theatre on Tuesday, as Iceland’s latest success, Of Monsters and Men, played to a sold out venue.
Opening the night was upcoming pop songstress, Phebe Starr, whose voice is similar to Lana Del Rey’s but with a hint of Karen O’s.
Starr’s impressive vocals really shone during radio favourites ‘Jurassica’ and ‘Alone With You’, but the set as a whole was slightly repetitive and this was mainly due to the electronic backing tracks.
Local solo artist, Vance Joy followed on from Starr, armed with only an acoustic guitar and support from the crowd, some of whom yelled ‘I love you’ before he had even sung a note. Joy’s guitar playing was both impressive and a refreshing alternative to the repetitive electronica in the previous set.
Thanking Of Monsters and Men, Joy told his hometown “I’ve supported them for a few shows now, but I’m most nervous about this one!”
Tunes such as “From Afar”, Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” and the final “Rip Tide” (in which he switched to ukulele), were fully embraced by the audience, who had clearly calmed the nerves of the singer.
Smiling at the warm response, Joy proved to be a great warm up for the headliners whom followed half an hour later.
Whilst The Palace lights dimmed and the sound of an airplane landing filled the venue, the Icelandic seven-piece appeared, slowly launching into their album’s opening track ‘Dirty Paws’.
The beautiful harmonies of lead singers Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir and Ragnar Þórhallsson, along with the building percussion from Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson meant that it was an excellent choice for the set’s opener.
Without saying a word, the band launched into the beautiful ‘From Finner’, which with the lines “We are far from home/ but we’re so happy” had a great sentiment and unified both the band and the audience, producing smiles on everyone in the theatre.
“Nice to see you, we’re Of Monsters and Men!” the charismatic Hilmarsdóttir smiled before pointing out one enthusiastic fan who had been first pumping his crutches in the air during the song.
“Mountain Sound” was a huge success, with the lead singers attempting to teach the audience the chorus, before quickly learning that they already knew the words – something that had the entire band laughing.
Whilst ‘Little Talks’ was an obvious hit, ‘Mountain Sound’ was the set’s best number, as the band worked together creating a beautiful vibe.
“Are you in the mood for a quiet love song?” asked Hilmarsdóttir, before ‘Love, Love, Love’, which saw Rósenkranz Hilmarsson leave the drums to play the accordion.
The drummer, dressed in what could have been mistaken for a figure skating costume from the 1980s, was the most interesting band member to watch – not only as a drummer, but also as the most enthusiastic member, encouraging lots of crowd interaction, and often congratulating them on their timely clapping.
Along with bass player Kristján Páll Kristjánsson and guitarist Brynjar Leifsson, Hilmarsson took pride in choreographing during songs such ‘King and Lionheart’ and ‘Lakehouse’.
The final song, ‘6 Weeks’ saw Hilmarsson’s percussion enhanced by touring member Ragnhildur Gunnarsdóttir (the woman behind the awesome trumpet solos) whose beat on the extra tom drum left the fans wanting more.
The break before the encore did not last long, as the band was enthusiastic to continue and the three guitarists were the first members to return to the stage.
“This story is told backwards… so, you have to listen backwards!” Þórhallsson said as he introduced “Sloom”, during which, saw the remaining band members slowly return.
Closing the night with their usual choice, ‘Yellow Lights’, the room chanted along, creating a truly magical vibe as Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir danced on the balcony before returning the bang the hell out of percussion.
‘Yellow Lights”, which also wraps up their debut album My Head Is An Animal, was a perfect way to end the night and as the band exited the stage for the last time, and Þórhallsson blew a kiss into the microphone, reality hit: it’s not often an act like Of Monsters and Men comes to town.
