Mumford and Sons - Friday 7th December 2012 - LG Arena, Birmingham
Mumford and Sons are considered one of the bands that the increasingly
popular genre that so frequently gets referred to now as “nu-folk” stemmed
from. They are Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford, “Country” Winston and Ted Dwane and long with the likes of Noah and the Whale, Laura Marling and Johnny
Flynn, the four of them met amongst a circle of musicians in a London folk club that became a community and wrote together, played in each other's bands et cetera. Their name is chosen for its similarity to that of an old English family business.
They didn't stay small. Now, they win Grammys and fill arenas and perform in the White House.
I was late to the party with Mumford and Sons, buying "Sigh No More" in late 2010 but I fell in love with their music so easily, and consider them one of my favourite bands. Their first album is rousing folk-rock, revolutionising the banjo and the mandolin, glittering with lyrics that frequently reference Shakespearian literature and the bible. "Babel", their second release from September this year, follows the winning formula.
The LG Arena that night was so profoundly their's, decorated with trademark strings of fairy lights hanging over the crowd and the Gentlemen of the Road logo across the curtain, the four red flags that symbolise their new album hanging gratuitously above the stage.
Support kicked off with the unenthusiastic, witty and completely hilarious Piff the Magic Dragon, who entertained the crowd with magic tricks. He was followed by Post War Years, a band that brought together rock and electronica in a set that had the crowd dancing. The third of their opening bands were Dawes, a band from Los Angeles that carry reminders of both Dire Straits and Ryan Adams in their music, but you can also hear Mumford and Sons in them. After this, Piff the Magic Dragon came on for a second set, bringing with him this time a chihuahua.
At nine pm, the lights went down, to huge amounts of applause, and those first piercing and sharp chords of "Babel" shone out through the arena. And the curtains came down.
The crowd were open-hearted and loud, singing along with every word of "Babel". Seeing Marcus, Winston, Ben and Ted for those first few minutes was completely surreal, it never feels quite real when I see a band play for the first time, especially when their voices and their sound has been along with me every day for years before. They brought so much life and energy to the stage from those first few moments.
"I Will Wait" is all jangling guitar rhythms and rousing choruses; it had the whole crowd dancing, and there is something special about crying out "Raise my hands, paint my spirit gold!" aloud, along with a giant arena full of other humans, doing and feeling the same. For "Winter Winds", a song from the first album, Marcus took on an electric mandolin, and every moment of it reminds me of Christmas. "Below My Feet" is thoughtful and soft, with more of a focus on keyboard than most other songs, during which they sing together in perfect harmony. Those moments in which all of the instruments stop, leaving the room alone with the four guys and their voices, were some of the most beautiful of the night.
This was followed with "White Blank Page", beautifully bursting with passion and anger. Tonight, they said, was the third time only they had played "Hopeless Wanderer" to an audience but like everything else it was flawless, rousing feet to dance and warming hearts' cockles with contagious melodies and beautiful words as hands slammed violently and impossibly quickly across strings.
"So when your hope's on fire
But you know your desire
Don't hold a glass over the flame, don't let your heart grow cold,
I will call you by name, I will share your road."
This intense spell of energy was followed by "Timshel" - the song entitled after an old-English word meaning "thou mayest", a moment of quiet and beauty. It's a song that always reminds me of Christmas. "As brothers we will stand and we'll hold your hand."
"Little Lion Man" was That One everyone knew the words to, the whole crowd chanting the chorus from the bottoms of their lungs. "Thistle and Weeds", strong and stormy and loud, blew over into "Ghosts That We Knew", the most tender of melodies, a comfort blanket of a song, sounding so fragile though it never could break.
"Lover of the Light" was one of the most beautiful moments of the night for me, and there's a particular banjo line in this one - you'll probably know which I mean - that tangles right through my heartstrings every time. During this song Marcus went over to drums.
Support band Dawes came back on to join them for "Awake My Soul", as did Piff the Magic Dragon who helpfully fed Winston Doritos. That song sounds like the walk you take that makes you think differently, or just like breathing in fresh air. "Roll Away Your Stone" is playful and loud and full of life, has your feet stomping. "Whispers in the Dark" is romantic and swings between the loud and the quiet.
I was so pleased that they played "Dust Bowl Dance", a song different to all of their others, it is a ballad in the traditional sense that it tells a story. It is dark, growing in pace, lyrics that talk of betrayal and, most of all, of revenge, complete proof that folk music does indeed rock out a lot.
They left, and then, for encores, emerged on a smaller stage right in the middle of the crowd, just the four of them crowded around one acoustic guitar. They sang "Where Are You Now?" in gorgeous four part harmony, the tale of someone lost without a trace. This moment of peace and quiet continued with "Reminder", before the band headed back to the main stage and played "The Cave", a song that's become an absolute anthem. It was a moment of complete communion, and assured me however big this band gets, however big venues they are playing, it does not mean there will be distance. Where I was that night, squashed up in the front row, the room felt tiny and everyone close by.
They brought Dawes back on for the last song, a cover of the Beatles' "With A Little Help from My Friends" which was both brilliant and hilarious, Ted and Winston leaning towards the mic in unison to sing backing vocals and Marcus and Dawes' vocalist both singing lead.
Mumford and Sons had as much heart and enthusiasm in the huge LG Arena than they would have playing in a tiny venue where everyone was quiet or a pub where nobody would listen, I'm sure, because you can tell so easily that they just love doing this. They breathe life into their music, they stick with their roots and explore at the same time, and I don't think this is going to change, however "mainstream" or not they are considered. The idea of "Mumford and Sons" as an old English family business completely defines and influences their music, carrying all the values of something shared through love, pride and community.
Support kicked off with the unenthusiastic, witty and completely hilarious Piff the Magic Dragon, who entertained the crowd with magic tricks. He was followed by Post War Years, a band that brought together rock and electronica in a set that had the crowd dancing. The third of their opening bands were Dawes, a band from Los Angeles that carry reminders of both Dire Straits and Ryan Adams in their music, but you can also hear Mumford and Sons in them. After this, Piff the Magic Dragon came on for a second set, bringing with him this time a chihuahua.
At nine pm, the lights went down, to huge amounts of applause, and those first piercing and sharp chords of "Babel" shone out through the arena. And the curtains came down.
The crowd were open-hearted and loud, singing along with every word of "Babel". Seeing Marcus, Winston, Ben and Ted for those first few minutes was completely surreal, it never feels quite real when I see a band play for the first time, especially when their voices and their sound has been along with me every day for years before. They brought so much life and energy to the stage from those first few moments.
"I Will Wait" is all jangling guitar rhythms and rousing choruses; it had the whole crowd dancing, and there is something special about crying out "Raise my hands, paint my spirit gold!" aloud, along with a giant arena full of other humans, doing and feeling the same. For "Winter Winds", a song from the first album, Marcus took on an electric mandolin, and every moment of it reminds me of Christmas. "Below My Feet" is thoughtful and soft, with more of a focus on keyboard than most other songs, during which they sing together in perfect harmony. Those moments in which all of the instruments stop, leaving the room alone with the four guys and their voices, were some of the most beautiful of the night.
This was followed with "White Blank Page", beautifully bursting with passion and anger. Tonight, they said, was the third time only they had played "Hopeless Wanderer" to an audience but like everything else it was flawless, rousing feet to dance and warming hearts' cockles with contagious melodies and beautiful words as hands slammed violently and impossibly quickly across strings.
"So when your hope's on fire
But you know your desire
Don't hold a glass over the flame, don't let your heart grow cold,
I will call you by name, I will share your road."
This intense spell of energy was followed by "Timshel" - the song entitled after an old-English word meaning "thou mayest", a moment of quiet and beauty. It's a song that always reminds me of Christmas. "As brothers we will stand and we'll hold your hand."
"Little Lion Man" was That One everyone knew the words to, the whole crowd chanting the chorus from the bottoms of their lungs. "Thistle and Weeds", strong and stormy and loud, blew over into "Ghosts That We Knew", the most tender of melodies, a comfort blanket of a song, sounding so fragile though it never could break.
"Lover of the Light" was one of the most beautiful moments of the night for me, and there's a particular banjo line in this one - you'll probably know which I mean - that tangles right through my heartstrings every time. During this song Marcus went over to drums.
Support band Dawes came back on to join them for "Awake My Soul", as did Piff the Magic Dragon who helpfully fed Winston Doritos. That song sounds like the walk you take that makes you think differently, or just like breathing in fresh air. "Roll Away Your Stone" is playful and loud and full of life, has your feet stomping. "Whispers in the Dark" is romantic and swings between the loud and the quiet.
I was so pleased that they played "Dust Bowl Dance", a song different to all of their others, it is a ballad in the traditional sense that it tells a story. It is dark, growing in pace, lyrics that talk of betrayal and, most of all, of revenge, complete proof that folk music does indeed rock out a lot.
They left, and then, for encores, emerged on a smaller stage right in the middle of the crowd, just the four of them crowded around one acoustic guitar. They sang "Where Are You Now?" in gorgeous four part harmony, the tale of someone lost without a trace. This moment of peace and quiet continued with "Reminder", before the band headed back to the main stage and played "The Cave", a song that's become an absolute anthem. It was a moment of complete communion, and assured me however big this band gets, however big venues they are playing, it does not mean there will be distance. Where I was that night, squashed up in the front row, the room felt tiny and everyone close by.
They brought Dawes back on for the last song, a cover of the Beatles' "With A Little Help from My Friends" which was both brilliant and hilarious, Ted and Winston leaning towards the mic in unison to sing backing vocals and Marcus and Dawes' vocalist both singing lead.
Mumford and Sons had as much heart and enthusiasm in the huge LG Arena than they would have playing in a tiny venue where everyone was quiet or a pub where nobody would listen, I'm sure, because you can tell so easily that they just love doing this. They breathe life into their music, they stick with their roots and explore at the same time, and I don't think this is going to change, however "mainstream" or not they are considered. The idea of "Mumford and Sons" as an old English family business completely defines and influences their music, carrying all the values of something shared through love, pride and community.
***
A Really Slushy Note:
This took two days to make myself write because I have these childish feelings of not wanting it to be over, wanting to cling on in every way possible and blogging about a concert is always sort of like the last step in the process for me. I've loved Mumford and Sons for two years and during this time I have had a lot of almosts in terms of getting to their shows and then being disappointed. When I was fourteen one of my friends went and my mum didn't let me, because it was on a week day, it was too far away for me to go on my own, various other things that didn't seem sensible at the time and to be honest still don't really. Then earlier this year they were in England when I was in Hamburg, which was really frustrating. So it didn't seem real when we finally got tickets in October. It was in a lot of ways nothing like I thought. I wasn't there with the person I thought I'd be going with, and they played songs I didn't think they would, and vice versa didn't play songs I would sure would be on the set list. It didn't matter, it was really perfect.
I want there to be a neat way to conclude this but there isn't. I suppose what I'm saying is, that band you are waiting to see that you listen to every day, it is so worth it to keep trying. Even if you live on a tiny goat farm somewhere and you need to travel, or it means you have to cut back on spending on other things for a while.
It is worth it. Honest.
I hope you're all well. I'll be back really soon.
Sincerely, with post-gig depression and a heavy heart,
Lizzie xxxxxxxxxx
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