Monsters, Men, and Vampires...Oh My!!

Isn't Red Rocks beautiful?

Ok, since I just started this blog about four days ago, I obviously do not have anything new concerts to report on since my Postal Service posting; therefore, I am going to back track a little bit and bring you some insight on the other concerts I've seen in the past three weeks (and may be even before that...we'll see).

Working those smolders...clearly

Two weeks ago, on May 20th, 2013, Vampire Weekend and Of Monsters and Men played a one time only joint show together at the illustrious Red Rocks Amphitheater. This show was particularly special as Of Monsters and Men and Vampire Weekend are not actually on tour with each other at this time. This was a one night only, special treat for indie rock fans of the Denver area. But before we get into that, here's some background on the groups:

Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend

I am going to start with Vampire Weekend for no other reason other than the first track that played when I flipped on my "Of Monsters and Vampires" playlist on my iPod was "Bryn" by Vampire Weekend....so, sorry Of Monsters and Men, you'll have to wait your turn. Anyways, Vampire Weekend was formed in 2006 and is originally from New York. The band consists of four musicians: front man, Ezra Koenig (let's all just take a moment to appreciate this man's good looks, ok?) - vocals, guitar; keyboardist/guitarist/secondary vocalist, Rostam Batmanglij; rhythm-master (a.k.a drummer)  Chris Tomson ; and bassist and secondary vocalist Chris Baio. The band's discography includes the following albums (click the links in captions to listen): 
     

Self Named Album Vampire Weekend (2008)

                       

Contra  (2010)

Modern Vampires of the City  (2013)

Vampire Weekend

The band came together while attending Columbia University when Koenig and Thomson began experimenting with rap in punk rock and African influences. This later led to Koenig's interests in "world sounds" and their incorporation with music as is evidenced in Vampire Weekend's eclectic sound. The band's name comes from a short film project Koenig worked on briefly in his early years at Columbia. For those veteran fans of Vampire Weekend, you may find it interesting to know that their classic songs "Walcott" and "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" are allusions to Koenig's work in producing his own version of a 1980s vampire film in which the plot involves "a man named Walcott travels to Cape Cod to warn the mayor that vampires are attacking the United States." Though this project was abandoned after only two days of work, obviously he produced some pretty fantastic stuff out of it.

To read more about the band's history and rise to fame, check out their Wikipedia page here. Fun fact for you, though, Vampire Weekend has permitted their tracks to be used with popular video games such as Just Dance 2, Guitar Hero 5, and Lego Rock Band. Their music has also been used in a few movies and TV shows and over the years, their tracks have ranked exceptionally high in the U.S. and U.K. charts such as Rolling Stones and Billboard.

Now on to Of Monsters and Men! A relatively new group (formed in 2010) in the alternative folk scene, but quite the hit already! The band hails from the country of Iceland and is made of 6 members: lead singer/guitarist Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, co-singer/guitarist Ragnar "Raggi" Þórhallsson, guitarist Brynjar Leifsson, drummer Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson, keyboard player Árni Guðjónsson and bassist Kristján Páll Kristjánsson. Don't ask me how to say those names.... their names may be foreign, but their music is in English, so don't worry! 

Aside from smaller local accomplishments in Ireland and 4 track EP titled Into the Woods released in 2011, the band's debut album was an instant hit! (Again, click caption to listen)

My Head is an Animal  (2011)

Now, if you have not yet heard OMAM's hit single, "Little Talks" off of this album, you must be living under a rock. Seriously. This track is definitely the band's claim to fame, reaching the top 10 in most European charts, No. 1 in Ireland and Iceland, and No. 1 in the US Alternative charts. The album on the whole reached top numbers as well in many other notable music charts around the globe in countries such as Australia  Iceland, Ireland, US, UK, other European countries, and Canada. In 2013, OMAM even had the honor of receiving the European Border Breakers Awards.

As you can tell by both band's credentials, this co-headlined show was quite the experience and very exciting for them both to come Red Rocks on the same evening! And of course, when you have two awesome bands come together, you must have a fantastic opener! Now, I won't ramble on about the opener too much as long as you promise to go check them out! The opening band was an awesome soft-sounding indie group from Australia called The High Highs (Facebook page here).

Of Monsters and Men at Red Rocks

Following the High Highs was Of Monsters and Men. Now, this was actually my second time seeing OMAM live and it was a close call to determine which show was better. But hey, the band brings it every time, so it was probably too close to call! The band had an awesome set, playing hits from their album My Head is an Animal as well as a remixed version of "Little Talks" that was... let's just say....richly dark and beautiful, yet slightly terrifying. Hilmarsdóttir has a voice that can just transform and bring so much emotion out of her audience. Well done. And because I am a total band geek at heart, I must give a shout out to Árni Guðjónsson because she is not only their critically important keyboardist, but also the musician behind that gorgeous trumpet sound in many of their songs. Her tone is impeccable and just makes me melt every time I hear it live. Unfortunately, the group came on stage with a wacky sound check which created a very fuzzy droning noise underneath their sound, but luckily they fixed it about half way through. OMAM is definitely a band I recommend spending the money to go see live, they are well worth it.

By this time in the evening, the sky was dark and when it is dark....it is time for the Vampires to come out! I am oh so impressed by Ezra Koenig's ability to sing in such a high register without sounding thin or falsetto-y; totally makes their music unique and engaging and stand out from other indie alternative bands with male lead singers. My only disappointment with Vampire Weekend was to discover that the group does not use actual string instruments such as violins that you hear in many of their recordings. It was not as if those parts were missing, but they were instead covered by a synthesizer or something. Like I said, I'm a band geek and really appreciate incorporation of symphonic instruments into electronically based music. But oh well! The band has a fantastic stage presence and I must hand it to Vampire Weekend's bassist, Chris Baio because he is just so fun to watch! He struts around his area of the stage with flair and pop (almost like a dance) in his Vans shoes and totally looks like he's just having a blast up there! Shout out to him. 

Vampire Weekend played a good medley of songs from all three of their albums and it was cool to get to hear a few tracks off of Modern Vampires of the City since that album was released just 6 days earlier on May 14th! I have to say though, that my favorite part of the night was probably their closing song, "Walcott." It is tradition for the band to end a show with "Walcott" as it is about leaving Cape Cod (just like we were leaving them...or them us...). It was literally the most fun I have ever had at a Red Rocks show. If you thought that every concert is almost like a dance party, well this one (and this song in particular) was the dance party of all dance parties! Everyone in that amphitheater was literally jumping up and down and singing along. I never wanted that moment to end. 

This show was so great, I do not hesitate to declare it my favorite Red Rocks show to date. Next time Vampire Weekend comes to town, I am so there. 

Until next time!