I knew the first time I heard "Little Lion Man" that I really liked Mumford & Sons. It was a darkly catchy little tune with huge, open harmonies, and I love nothing more than a great harmony to hook my voice around. The entire debut CD, Sigh No More, is really fantastic, with its heavily-accented British folk sound.
When Brits use a banjo, is it bluebloodgrass music?
When tickets went on sale for Mumford & Sons at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, I was in the midst of Spring Break travel. I knew I wouldn't be available to get tickets during the regular sale time, so I opted to buy presale tickets a couple of days before. In theory, they were shitty upper-tier, dress circle seats. In reality, there's really not a bad seat at the Fox. The acoustics are so good, and you really can see everything going on. Yes, I would've preferred to be closer to the stage, but I'm glad I even got a ticket to the sold-out show.
I got to the Fox in time to see the opening acts, Matthew and the Atlas and The Low Anthem. It was more if the same indie folk pseudo-rock. Both acts were very talented, certainly, but it wasn't enough to blow me away. Except for The Low Anthem doing a song called "This God Damn House". Singer Ben Knox Miller asked the audience to use their cell phones to call the person next to them when he gave a signal toward the end of the show. It created a beautiful multi-lights effect, but it also created this strange reverb/static/noise/feedback that was breathtaking over this hauntingly sad song.
Mumford & Sons took to the stage to thunderous applause. I don't have the set list (I never keep up with that, you know.), but I think they played the entire album during their two-hour set. I couldn't think of a track they didn't play. Marcus Mumford (Marcus Yumford) plays guitar and a kick drum at the front of the stage. He took to a full kit for one of the last songs of the evening, and it was amazing. (Beware, Kevin Martin. I may have a new singer-drummer groupie love crush.)
They did several new songs, as well, including one during the encore that I really wish I'd been able to record. It was a still-untitled track that Mumford said they were still in the process of writing. He said they'd been working on it during sound check and that the crowd would become part of the writing process. Spin me 'round/just to pin me down/on the cover of this strange bed/Spin me 'round/just to pin me down.... Everyone leaving agreed it was the best new song of the night.
The most amazing part of the show was when they managed to quiet 8,000+ people to perform two songs, "Timshel" and "Sister", totally and perfectly as acoustic songs. No mic, no PA—just Mumford, his guitar, and four interwoven voices.
The sound was great, the light show was fantastic, and they worked the crowd into an intimate frenzy. It was truly like an 8,000-person drunken pub sing-a-long. The energy reminded me a lot of the first time I saw Dave Matthews Band, in Birmingham in 1995 or so. Under the Table and Dreaming had just come out, and he was playing with Dionne Farris, half of whose band was from Alabama. They collectively did a ten-minute version of Bob Marley's "Exodus" that was mind-blowing. I was on the front row for that show.
I've been to a lot of concerts in my life, and this Mumford & Sons show has jumped high on the list of best shows ever. Nothing will likely ever beat Leonard Cohen at the Fox in October 2009, but what the hell could, honestly? There's also a LIVE show, the week The Distance to Here came out, and we were on the front row. It was the last night they were touring with Jimmie's Chicken Shack, and it was a ton of pure, raw fun in the steamy, pouring October-in-Alabama rain. And then there's that Gracious Few show in Chicago, but it's special to me for so many other reasons that have nothing to do with the show itself, so I don't know if I even include it in my list. (Sometimes my love for The Gracious Few has nothing to do with my fandom, you know.)
If you get the chance to catch Mumford & Sons on this or any tour, do it. I will be there next time they're close, and I will do whatever it takes to be in front. I'm at a point in my life where I can afford to be elitist and spend too much money for better seats, and I fully intend to do so. It was a spectacularly wonderful musical evening that I will remember for a very, very long time.
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