My Head is an Animal

I just got back from a concert staring the band of ‘Of Monsters and Men.’ They are a folk-alternative band from Iceland and they are slowly becoming an international hit. I had downloaded their CD a month or two ago and when my friend mentioned they were going to be London, I wanted in.

Here is one of my favorite songs off their new album, 'My Head is an Animal' -->

'Lakehouse' Sung By Of Monsters and Men 

The concert was in a bar/grill in Shoreditch. Shoreditch is an ‘up-and-coming’ part of East London. I had been there a couple times to go out to eat or on the weekends and it is a very relaxed artsy part of town that a lot of ‘young professionals’ go to. If you remember my post about going out to the wings-restaurant for a friend’s birthday, that restaurant was in Shoreditch.

We got to the concert a little early, so the group I was with went out to a quick dinner. We went to a place called ‘The Breakfast Club,’ which Shay had been to and loved. They basically provide good breakfast (AKA pancakes) all day. England doesn’t really do pancakes, but I think the restaurant is American owned, so they provide the real stuff. After having a shake and a pancake, we headed back over to the concert venue.

I was happily surprised when I walked into the place where the concert was going to be held, since it was really small. I would say that no more than 100 people could fit into the room. I love these really personal concerts since the band gets to talk to the audience and have a fun time. Also, since Of Monster and Men are bigger in America, we wouldn’t be able to get them in such a small venue back at home. Here, where they were still making their way, they could perform in a small venue, like the one we were in and have it be fine. We moved up super close to the stage and waited for the band to come on.

The band, as I mentioned, is from Iceland. Throughout the concert, they would talk to each other in Icelandic. They even yelled out to the crowd, “who is from Iceland??!” IN Icelandic and a bunch of people screamed. Yeah, we were surrounded by the country of Iceland. They got to joke that only 300,000 people speak Icelandic, so it is almost like a secret language. On the other hand, everyone speaks English, so we can’t get away with anything…

Anyways, the band was amazing. The best bands are those that are better live than on their CD. The live performance was a hundred times better than the CD (which is still really good!).  Being so close to the band, you can hear the bass hit you and interact with the singers. Well, as it turned out, their CD is not going to be released in the UK for another couple of weeks. I still have my American iTunes account, so I have had their CD for a while. THIS meant that I was one of the few that actually knew the songs and the lyrics. Being so close, the singers saw that we knew the words and totally jammed out with us. With such a small venue, the band can really let loose too. The drummer was all over the place and they kept on making jokes in between songs. Their Icelandic accents were also a lot of fun too.

The best part about the band is that it consists of a trumpet and an accordion. On the CD, you cannot really hear them well, but live those instruments make the song! You never really think a trumpet would do a folk band justice, until you hear it. Ahhh! It just made the song so beautiful!!

Of Monsters and Men!

Of Monsters and Men!

Of Monsters and Men!

Of Monsters and Men!

After the concert ended and we got our encore, we stayed around a little longer. We stole some guitar picks that the band left on the floor and went back to the dorms.

The gang after the concert with the stage in the background.

One of the best parts about being in the city is how easy it is to do these type of things! Living in a suburb of Philly you always think that you can easily go in and out of the city to do things, but really it now seems to be a sort of a hassle! Going into Philly requires gas, driving time, finding a parking spot, paying for a parking spot….Here, you just hop on a tube and you’re there. I mean, it is the same for NYC or any other major city, but this is just really wanted from my study abroad experience. I wanted the city at my fingertips. I wanted to be spontaneous, to go to concerts because I can, see a play because it is close, and more! You can never really be bored in a city since everything is just so easy to get to and it is so damn close! I guess it may be hard to go back to Moorestown in the end where there is almost zero to do. I guess I will have to keep myself busy with studying, field hockey summer running, and getting Laura ready for college….