Normally a venue I avoid like the plague but it’s the 1st chance I’ve had to see this Icelandic band in over a decade. Having caught them when they played on The Other Stage at Glastonbury in 2015 they immediately became an instant highlight of the entire weekend.
There was something so effortless about their performance despite what seemed like a stage full of musicians and kit back then and looking out onto the stage from my reserved balcony seat it doesn’t look like there’s a great amount of space on the stage once again. Indeed with the Arctic parked behind the tour bus outside it would attest to, travelling light doesn’t seem to fit this bands ethos.
Looking across the already large crowd (I arrived at 7.15 and the venue was already pretty busy), it appears to be a very eclectic audience, there are some here that clearly weren’t even born when the band released their debut album, My Head Is An Animal, and others who are heading well into the twilight of their years but there was a genuine energy in the room so rarely felt at Leeds Academy.
It tends to be a soulless affair but as it is the only venue of its size in Leeds, which is crazy when you think about it, it gets more acts than a venue like it would normally if there was a choice of venue of similar capacity nearby so to feel a buzz like this in here, whilst not a one off, it’s certainly rare.
Support came from fellow Icelandic Arny Margret, solo singer songwriter. It’s a softly spoken and sung affair, but she managed to keep most of the audience on board and keep the chatterers down upstairs, though there was a constant hum from the back downstairs on the floor.
Of Monsters & Men
As the lights dimmed, the sombre intro music kicked in, the crowd whooped and cheered, reaching a crescendo as the 7 band members entered and squeezed in between all the instruments already on stage. No time for pleasantries as the band kicked off with the 1st 2 songs from their recently released album.
All is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade which the good folk of Leeds enthusiastically appreciated. It was then when Ragnar finally addressed the audience to say hello before introducing the 1st crowd pleaser of the night, the rather wonderful King and Lionheart, a song showcasing OMAM’s early signature folk sound some 15 years ago, the song was greeted by the crowd like meeting an old friend.
From this, the rollercoaster of OMAM’s sound which has developed over their 4 studio albums took the audience on quite some journey, sometimes tribal, sometimes haunting, occasionally upbeat and occasionally heartbreaking in a truly mesmerising manner that came to a head during an incredible performance of Mouse Parade, 5 members of the band standing off centre to a single mic and harmonising together to a completely silent Academy.
Everyone inside hypnotically invested with the performance happening on stage before getting smashed back into reality with another early banger, Dirty Paws and setting the journey off once more.
A sign of the quality of a band being engaging on stage and whisking me away from reality is how long it takes me to look at my watch for the 1st time, that being 57mins on this occasion, usually it’s around 20 mins but on this night I was completely invested, I wasn’t even bothered that they didn’t do my favorite track, Organs from the wonderful Beneath
The Skin album, in fact it was only Crystals from the album that made it onto the set list which brings me on to my only complaint of the night, the set was too short at just under 90 mins. I fully get that the current tour is promoting the latest album but selfishly, I was hoping for more, especially given the rarity of when they tour but that all said, it was an absolute privilege to witness another magical performance from them though.
Sadly, it was the last date in the UK on this current tour but if you’re in Europe, Australia or Japan and if you can grab a ticket then do so, for this band is something special and the performances, simply unforgettable!
FOR MORE OF MONSTERS AND MEN NEWS HEAD HERE – INSTAGRAM // X // FACEBOOK
HEAD HERE FOR MORE RGM MUSIC NEWS