Live: MUMFORD AND SONS

I hoped it would be better than Glastonbury. And it was “shitloads better than Glastonbury” Mumford & Sons proclaimed. A bold statement made by the band as they headlined their own one day festival just a week after they put on a party at Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage.

As the horns rang out, the banjos played and the drums pounded the crowd went into a frenzy of jigs it simply was “shitloads better”.

Walking out to the 60,000 strong crowd opening with the title track of their second album ‘Babel’ telling the crowd “we can’t tell you how happy we are to be home” as gave the crowd their all under the backdrop of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

In a line up which also included Vampire Weekend, Ben Howard, Haim, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Bears Den it was a perfect day for all music fans. But it was headliners Mumford and Sons who truly captured what all bands set out to achieve, they love the music; they love their fans and more than anything they love performing live, especially in front of a home crowd on what was such a glorious evening.

Despite such a vast space none of the songs lost their heart and Mumford performed some of their best known hits including ‘I Will Wait’ and ‘Little Lion Man’ and as each climax reached the crowd were on their feet stomping along to the raucous beat. The rest of the set was filled with folk authenticity and moments of four musicians having the time of their lives on stage as they kicked up a racket.

Obviously keen to do something special Mumford also carried out some covers in a moment almost unimaginable. As 60,000 people fell silent all four members of the band gathered around a single microphone to only a spotlight and a four part harmony playing their own spine tingling acoustic version of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘I’m on Fire’.

Marcus Mumford and his quartet of equally passionate band members threw everything they had into performance. The crowd fed off the anger during ‘Dust bowl dance’ the hurt during ‘Reminder’ and the passion during ‘The Cave’.

After stating the crowd was the best they ever played to, their finale was fitting as they invited all acts onto the stage with them for an encore performance of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’. It was hard to find someone who didn’t go home overjoyed that night. After all they are possibly the best live performers in the UK right now. Having sold more in the US than Justin Bieber it is not just the Brits that seem to have caught the Mumford craze. I for one cannot wait for a new album!

SET LIST

‘Babel’
‘Little Lion Man’
‘Whispers in the Dark’
‘Holland Road’
‘Below My Feet’
‘Timshel’
‘I Will Wait’
‘Lover of the Light’
‘Thistle and Weeds’
‘Ghosts That We Knew’
‘Hopeless Wanderer’
‘Roll Away Your Stone’
‘Awake My Soul’
‘Dust Bowl Dance’
‘I’m On Fire’
‘Reminder’
‘Winter Winds’
‘The Cave’
‘The Chain’