My first time at Manchester Arena watching my favourite band for the second time. What an incredible and memorable experience. Safe to say it was near enough sold out. When you consider the maximum seating capacity is 21,000 people (the highest capacity for an indoor venue in the UK by the way) that brings with it a certain kind of audience atmosphere composed of highly-charged excitement and dynamism. It's palpable and you have to be there to understand what I mean.
Villagers were an entertaining support act for Mumford And Sons. They are an Irish indie folk band from Dublin, who formed one year after Mumford And Sons did in 2008, and warmed-up the crowd nicely. There were stylistic similarities between both bands. After a change over it was time for Mumford And Sons to take to the stage. The members: Marcus Mumford, Winston Marshall, Ben Lovett, and Ted Dwane.
To date, they have released four albums: Sigh No More (2009), Babel (2012), Wilder Mind (2015), and Delta (2018). The band's sound has matured and evolved over the years. They started out exploring the genre of folk rock with bluegrass and folk instrumentation. Afterwards, a change to electronic instruments like the electric guitar, in 'Wilder Mind' meant discovering new musical territories for these "Gentleman of the Road".
Reflecting on their latest album for a few seconds, Delta is beautiful, euphoric, and transfixing. The authenticity of Mumford And Sons' original style still flows through the album's river, despite separating into a fan of braided streams offering an eclectic mix of styles. Encompassing folk, electronic pop, alt-R&B, psychrock, and even to some degree film music.
Back to the concert and, as you would expect, Mumford And Sons performed a mixed bag of songs from different albums. Their most well-known songs were played at the start and at the end. In their own words, this concert was about bringing everyone together through music. This was evident in the way they performed their songs. Marcus even went into the crowd at one point, not just at stage level but also up the stairs into one of the circles. One other special moment was when most of the crowd switched their phone lights on and waved them in the air. It was visually mesmerising.
The theatre-in-the-round staging was the most effective choice considering their objective. It was a bubble of music fans; a circle of joy, celebration, and avidity. It made the beautifully poignant songs and the immensely uplifting tracks all the more gratifying. The set list included: Guiding Light, Little Lion Man, The Cave, Beloved, Lover Of The Lights, Believe, The Wolf, I Will Wait, and Timshel.
Marcus last played Timshel in Manchester during the One Love Manchester concert. Consequently, there was an evocative silence at that point in time. When Marcus intermittently shouted or added the f-word to certain lyrics, it enhanced the meaning behind the words and made it refreshing to listen to. The autopoietic feedback loop between the audience and them was on a whole other level. The liveliness of the massive crowd fed into the band's performance, the energy of which bounced back to them and vice versa. It was truly special.
To conclude: Mumford And Sons gave it their all (pun intended) as they always do. They compose music and write lyrics for other people and not just themselves. Resulting in songs which are joyful, soul-stirring, and life-affirming. With spectacular lighting and colourful fireworks, this is a concert and band I'd recommend to anyone.
Reviewer - Sam Lowe
on - 7/6/19
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