LIVE! Of Monsters and Men – Manchester Albert Hall, 15th February 2026

It’s 13 years almost exactly to the day since Of Monsters and Men (OMAM) first played Manchester, riding high on the success of 2011 single ‘Little Talks’, a global hit and one of the most successful Icelandic songs in history with 1.3 billion streams so far on Spotify alone.

It was a rare visit to the UK, never mind Manchester, from a band that toured the US incessantly during its early years having been discovered by radio station 104.5 in Pennsylvania and subsequently KEXP in Seattle. They went viral before it was fashionable to do so and sold out a huge first visit US tour in a day without anyone there having seen them perform previously.

By the time they reached Manchester their debut album ‘My head is an animal’ was riding high in the UK charts, having peaked at #3 and staying in the Top 100 for 58 weeks. Their performance at a sold out Academy 1 was both entrancing and electric.

Two years later they were back at the same venue but the Norwegian band Highasakite, opening for them with a six-song set, stole the limelight and when I last saw them, in 2019, admittedly at the end of a long tour, OMAM’s mojo wasn’t really working at all. They seemed tired and jaded and even vocalist and joint front person Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir’s little jokes had gone AWOL.

After that they went on a pandemic inspired semi-hiatus until fourth album ‘All is love and pain in the Mouse Parade’ was released last October, Nanna resurrecting her solo career in the intervening period while others pursued their own individual projects.

So a decade on, what had all the hallmarks of becoming a global arena band but which somehow didn’t quite make it returned to the Rainy City and to, for the first time, its most reverential venue, the Albert Hall, for another sold out show.

I wasn’t sure which OMAM would show up, that all-conquering one of 2013 or the weary 2019 version that belonged in the Mouse Parade.

Be in no doubt that the winning one was back on show tonight as they breezed through an 18-song set with the same gusto they showed back in 2013, epitomised by a revitalised Nanna chatting happily with the crowd like she was coming home after spending years wandering the Icelandic tundra seeking out the Huldufólk.

They came (back); they saw and they conquered. Everyone was up for it, including co-vocalist Raggi Þórhallsson who I thought had left early to get a pint before last orders when they reappeared for the first of two encore songs only to spot him at the back on the keys while Nanna tried her hand on a keytar and produced an extended note in one song that belongs in the operatic class. They’re a versatile bunch but just living in Iceland requires adaptability.

I’m fascinated by the way in which the elaborately named drummer Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson goes about his work. He always manages to conjure up alternative rhythms but even more evident is the way he caresses his kit like he’s in love with it. I wish I’d seen the gig they played on Valentine’s Day.

And a quick nod to the two musos stuck at the back of what is a small stage for a seven man touring band, the sole weakness of the venue now they’ve improved the strip lighting so you’ve less chance of breaking your neck up on the mezzanine level. I think they are Steingrimur Karl Teague and Bjarni Þór Jensson.

They went practically unobserved from most vantage points but were integral to everything that happened on the night.

The only disappointment was the absence of the two brass players from previous tours and especially Ragnhildur Gunnarsdóttir, whose trumpet solo in the bridge on ‘Little Talks’ was sorely missed. It didn’t sound quite right without it.

The show was a mix of all four albums, focusing naturally on the most recent one and has been standardised for the tour with few nightly adjustments. Incidentally, I noticed that someone has put up the set songs on Setlist for the second night at The Roundhouse in London on 18^th February today, 16^th February. Perhaps Nostradamus is a fan?

And there was well thought out and arranged interplay between rock and ballads, right down to the two-song encore, the gentleness of ‘Love, Love, Love’ contrasting with the almost overwhelming synth power of the closer, ‘Fruit Bat’, which has become the new ‘Six Weeks’ and ‘Yellow Light’.

You can chart OMAM’s growth since ‘My head is an animal’ like a mathematical chart. With each successive album they have progressed from the early days fairytale storytelling songs (all of which had a serious purpose that was not always immediately evident) into a deeper and more polished, sophisticated and introspective sound and presentation. The melodies are more structured and sonic.

However I have to say that I’ve attended gigs where the crowd wasn’t as appreciative of the newer stuff as good as it was and even tonight the keenest reaction came to first album songs like ‘King and Lionheart’, ‘Dirty Paws’ (which could be Greenland’s National Anthem, they missed a trick there) and, of course ‘Little Talks’, followed by those from second album ‘Beneath the Skin’ like ‘Crystals’.

But I suppose that will always be the case. Recency often doesn’t influence listeners to music as much as the songs that drew them to the band in the first place, back in the day. And let’s be honest, those older songs have more immediacy, especially when played live, than the more introspective later ones.

And perhaps it’s just me but I thought that the song ‘The Actor’ from the latest album has at least some of the flavour of the older stuff in its arrangement.

Another favourable aspect of the show was the use of subdued blue lighting through much of it, aided occasionally by the house’s own lights, and which looked like it was provided by the Martians in War of the Worlds as the lamps hung menacingly just above their heads. If you’re going to do surreal you might as well go the whole hog.

“We’ll definitely be back” said Nanna as her and the band took a long time leaving the stage. And it’s an equally long time since I saw such a happy clappy crowd showing their appreciation and the mass bow finale almost took the roof off. Let’s hope it won’t be another seven years.

Photos: Paul Brown

Find them on:

Website: https://www.ofmonstersandmen.com/