Of Monsters and Men: A Formula For Dreams

Of Monsters and Men w/ Pure Bathing Culture
Marymoor Park, Redmond, WA
08.09.15

Taking the stage just before sunset at Marymoor Park, Of Monsters And Men made the perfect end to a Sunday night, lulling the audience into their dream world with impeccable harmonies and powerful yet playful arrangements. The five-person band opened their set with the instrumental show-off “Thousand Eyes” off their 2014 sophomore release Beneath The Skin which saw lead vocalist Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir pounding away on her drum, looming guitars full force behind her. Dressed all in black, the band has expanded to include horns and backup singers for the tour, creating an even more densely layered sound.

As they approach the lead single “Crystals” the crowd starts to go a little nuts, and the band’s expansive sound takes over the grass-covered amphitheater as the packed crowd sings along. Mixing up the set with tracks from both of their albums, the songs played together nicely. While the newer tracks may have a slightly darker, more electronic tone than those from their debut My Head Is An Animal – which occupied a more folksy, acoustic sound – there was a nice balance to the set. “Wolves Without Teeth” was a standout, with the back and forth vocals between Hilmarsdóttir and Ragnar “Raggi” Þórhallsson. The track lies somewhere between the two albums in terms of content and style and is fantastic performed live. So if you like their albums, you’ll love their show. Their sound is even better out in the open, soaring across the night sky.

Portland openers Pure Bathing Culture may have been a bit more bare-bones but their pure indie-pop was a poignant segue into OMAM’s headlining set.

If you’re lucky, a show near you isn’t sold out yet!

Of Monsters and Men Set List:
Thousand Eyes
Crystals
King and Lionheart
Empire
Black Water
Winter Sound
I of the Storm
Human
Hunger
Mountain Sound
Wolves Without Teeth
Lakehouse
Little Talks
Six Weeks
Encore:
Dirty Paws
Silhouettes
We Sink