Mumford & Sons (and The Middle East) Live
I still have to take deep breaths every now and then. When I think about the last two days and the possible third day on Monday, I get a little overwhelmed with excitement, tiredness & a hint of Jameson. Here's the thing: Great bands turn me into a squirming 13 year old girl (though, my lungs aren't as awesome as hers). Honestly, I think it would have been hard for me to NOT enjoy this show-I'd been looking forward to it for far too long and I sincerely love Mumford & Sons music. Still, I think I saw an amazing show and I met some awesome, AWESOME guys. Here's a little about my adventure.
First stop, Cleveland. I drove four hours to get to the show and after a quick detour to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I drove through a faintly sketchy neighborhood to get to a little place called, "Beachland Ballroom." Ballroom is both truthful and yet it's still an overstatement. You do, actually, stand in something very similar to a Ballroom. But with the metal trashcans near the speakers and the bar back behind the stage (sort of), the typical "Ballroom"-esque qualities are definitely lacking. Still, it was cool and the drinks were cheap. Getting a drink was the best thing I could ever do. I'm a very solitary person, but I love the crowds at a concert. I don't, however, enjoy talking to them. One drink was enough to loosen me up enough to talk to the insanely tall girl in front of me. That worked out to my advantage because she let me in front of her and then I was only behind one person. The semi-low stage afforded for people pop their butts up and sit down before the show started. Once things began all the girls in the front threw their purses on the edge of the stage and they stayed their for most of the show. One thing I knew, right away, was this was going to be far different from my days at arena shows. I was also pretty sure that it was going to be better.
The line-up was supposed to be The Middle East & Mumford & Sons. As an added bonus, they decided to throw Adam (from a band called Albatross, that I WILL do research on later) up on stage first and make him sing for us. No one knew any of his songs, but most of the crowd was already too drunk to not have a good time. He did a pretty decent job and if he was nervous, it didn't show. What he lacked in equipment (he was borrowing the boys' guitar and pedals), he made up for in stage presence. He had a sweet personality and was entirely gracious that so many drunk people wouldn't boo him off the stage. And, how could we? He was great! I wish he had an album. Someone make it happen.
Next came The Middle East. I had very little idea what to expect. In the weeks leading up to the show, I kept telling myself to check them out on youtube and get familiar with their songs. Time got away from me and it wasn't until the night before that I listened to a single song. I thought I liked it, though, so I was hopeful. They didn't let me down-They were great. The Middle East seems so different (both musically and personally) than any of the bands I've seen lately. They're all at once calm and yet amped to be onstage for us. The only bad part of their set was the crowd. At this point, preparing (read: drinking) had reached peak levels and most people stood around and chatted through The Middle East's set. The only time anyone shut up was when they leaned over to toss a glass beer bottle into the metal trash cans. Still, the seven members soldiered on and played a fun show. There was a guest appearance by some of the M&S boys and that simmered everyone down for a song. It was a short set, but I knew I liked them. (Sadly, I'd already used my cash for a t-shirt)
The long awaited and most-sought after Mumford & Sons took the stage next. With a tired/drunk silliness, Marcus tried to get the crowd excited a bit by mentioning LeBron James. The best comment came from a drunk guy on the left who bellowed for a change of subject. That earned a smirk from the lead man and a grin from Winston. The music was, of course, amazing. But I'm pretty sure that even more than that, the crowd was won over by the silliness of the boys in front of us, who shifted between twenty-somethings throwing back beers to twelve-year-olds with mischievous grins. It was hard to watch them and not end up with a major crush on each of them. The set was awesome and the crowd was rowdy, just like the band. It made for a fun night. I can vaguely remember walking out the back door and texting my best friend to tell him it was the best night I'd ever had.
But that show seems more like a frat party in comparison to the Columbus Show...
The Wexner center is a little intimidating. Upon walking around and then up to the main entrance (I may have accidentally parked on the wrong side of the OSU campus), I became overwhelmed with the sudden sense that this crowd was going to be much, much larger than the night before. I was stressed and excited. It was great to see my most favorite band earning such a huge following. It was a bummer to think I might have missed out on more of the smaller, intimate gigs. Like always, I worried for nothing. A jog over to their trailer and a nosing about as Tom (who is some sort of tour manager/merch sales guy) chatted with a security guard informed me the gig had sold out to about 550 people. That was only 50 more than the night before. I let out a huge sigh. ...And then flirted mercilessly with their pink-cheeked friend as he tried to get the t-shirts organized. I'm pretty sure he thought I was stalking him, but I think he deserved the ego boost.
So, the Wex set up a "black box theater" which I'm now going to try to explain in the most nontechnical terms EVER. Some stage-tech guy is going to read this some day and cringe. Basically, in the main auditorium there was a huge stage and tons of seats. M&S fans aren't the seat sort of people. So, on the left side of the massive stage, they built a smaller stage. They dropped the front curtains down (on the smaller stage's left side) and created a curtained off room. The crowd then stood on the massive stage, in front of the smaller stage. I had the best of intentions of taking pictures of the set-up, but the place filled up fast. This time, I was a girl with her purse on the stage. The best part about actually being on the stage (aside from the great noise we made when we all started stomping our feet) was the overhead rigging that afforded the hanging of (what have now been dubbed as...) Little Lion Man Lights. (See the video at the bottom to get an idea of the lights I'm talking about) Talk about ambiance! It definitely changed the mood. Then again, so did the lack of bar.
This time the Middle East's show was insanely different. The crowd was a 180 degree turn-around from the night before. With no liquor and an obvious sense of respect, the crowd simmered down and listened to a band that most of them had never heard before. Seven friends, from a small down in Northern Australia sang their hearts out for us on that stage. At one point, one of the two lead-singer thanked the crowd for being so quiet. I'm pretty sure that most of the audience thought he was being sarcastic. The front row, though, filled with five girls who had been with them the night before, knew they meant it. It was a complete turn around. Even with minor technical difficulties, the show was ten times more fun and engaging this time. The only girl in the band, Bree, has an absolutely beautiful voice. As much as I love to hear the guys, I really enjoyed the songs where they let her sing more. They've got an interesting dynamic that is one part awkwardness and two parts laid-back that easily turns the crowd into a staring, nodding cult. They're beautiful. I adore them. And you can tell them I said so. Maybe some day they won't have to clear their own gear off the stage.
Of course, up next was Mumford & Sons. I'm going to try to put the show in words because...that's why I'm here. But I'm fairly certain that nothing I'm about to say can do justice to their Columbus show. Granted, two of the girls I met up with swore one of their east-coast shows was better-I only know what I've seen. What I saw, was a Saturday night concert that kicked my arse. First, I'd like to suggest the following, in case they ever read this: Give Benji a shot before he goes on stage! TheWex was dry, so the boys weren't drinking. That meant Ben, the guy at the keys, was a lot quieter. There definitely needed to be more headbanging on my left. Second, as funny as they were the night before, they topped it tonight. Once they caught on that screaming "O-H" would make everyone scream back, "I-O" they had a lot of fun with that. They make you laugh pretty easily and try pretty hard to win over a crowd that's already mostly huge fans. I'll gladly take the ass-kissing, though, because it's much better than the bands that look out over and past the crowd and never really at anyone.
Here's the set list (written on my arm and completely different than the one I scored from Adam after the show): Sigh No More, Awake My Soul, The Cave, White Blank Page, new song (I can't remember the name right now. BUT-Excellent), I Gave You All, Lover of the Light (this song isn't on the album, but you can find it on youtube. It's one of my favorites. Even people who don't know the song start to enjoy screaming "LOVER OF THE LIGHT!" at just the right time.), Thistle & Weeds, Timshell (so nice not to have drunk people screaming during the song this time), Roll Away Your Stone (The Middle East comes out for this one and dances around and pounds on extra drums. It's loud, wild and insanely awesome!), & Little Lion Man.
Then...they walked off stage. The Obligatory Tease, if you will. The most amazing thing happened, though. The crowded always starts doing the clapping thing, but this time, the crowd started to sing the "Ahhs" from Little Lion Man (It's toward the end of the song and, seriously, click the link already). Over and over, faster & faster, we sang to the guys back stage until they had to come back out, even if they weren't already planning. Apparently, it was the first time a crowd had ever done this and the band was pretty thankful. To thank the crowd, and because the group was a lot quieter and respectful, the guys did something they hadn't done in quite awhile-They did a number unplugged. The four members, Ben, Marcus, Winston & Ted stood in a line on the stage and sang out "Sister" to the crowd with no pick-ups or mics. They just belted it out, and it was..spectacularly heart-wrenchingly perfect. They closed with an old song called "Feel The Tide" which is hard to get your hands on but worth the effort, as it's really flippin' awesome. It was the perfect ending. I bought another t-shirt and said good-bye to the flustered Tom before going out back with my new friends.
The night lasted a wee bit longer. Some wandering the street was involved, in search of a frat party or a bar. A few, "Hey, Man! Awesome Show!"s were bellowed and always charmingly and graciously accepted. There were rounds bought, and talks of the music industry and show comparisons. There may have even been some ceaseless flirting (it's what AudioDaughter does best!). For all of which, I say "thanks." Last night was definitely the best night ever and one I won't soon forget.
...Until Chicago...or Bonnaroo...or Indiana.
Little Lion Man
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