Sunday, May 19, 2013
Aimsel Ponti
With a whole lot of love for their debut "My Head Is An Animal," an album infectiously anchored by the radio sensation "Little Talks," Iceland's indie-folk band Of Monsters and Men performed on Monday Night in front of a sold-out crowd at Portland's State Theatre.
The night had two openers and I showed up about two songs into Elle King's set. She already had won the crowd over with a potent voice and likeable sassiness.
Next up was Doe Paoro and her sirenesque, ethereal sound. I for one thought she was quite interesting and may have to do some further investigation.
What came next was, well, it was a total bummer. It took Of Monsters and Men an entire hour to take the stage after Doe Paoro. I'll give all involved the benefit of the doubt and assume there was a good reason for this but considering it was a Monday night and that it was too darn hot in there, my patience was put to the test.
All was forgiven though when at 9:45 p.m. the band finally got on stage and all seven of them put on a terrific performance. They performed just about every song from "My Head is An Animal" with my favorite being "Lakehouse." I was surprised at how many fans were singing along many of the songs. This band is apparently HUGER than I realized and I heard that they stole the show at last weekend's Newport Folk Festival.
The ultimate sing-along came of course with "Little Talks." Here's a fan-posted clip I found on YouTube. www.youtube.com/watch
Of Monsters and Men played for about 45 minutes or so and then were called back for a three song encore. They hit us with "Sloom," "Beneath My Bed" and the night cap "Yellow Light."
Really Good show? Absolutely. Earth shattering amazing show? Not quite because the wait for them to take the stage was a bit of a buzz-kill for this kid. Of Monsters and Men are however an extremely talented band and I am certainly glad I took a night off from Olympics coverage to see them live.
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Aimsel Ponti has been obsessed with - and inspired by- music since she listened to Monkees records borrowed from the town library when she was six years old. She's a huge fan of the local music scene and interviews an act every week for "Making Noise" which runs in the Press Herald GO section. You'll also find her out and about absorbing live music like a sponge and roaming around local record shops and flea markets.
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