Mumford and Sons @ ABC Glasgow 03/03/10
Written by admin on March 6th, 2010
Mumford and Sons have come a long way since we covered them at Edinburgh’s Sneaky Pete’s just over a year ago; playing their self confessed “biggest headline show ever”, the London based indie-folk band successfully, and easily, wowed their audience in a sell-out show at the ABC.
In one of the most hyped gigs of the year so far, the ABC was packed out. The band came on to an anxious crowd with the title track from 2009 album ‘Sigh No More’, which teased itself into a strong opener, before breaking into the abrupt pace and energy of single ‘Winter Winds’. The beginning of the set was shown to be a carefully and well-planned one, with other songs such as ‘Roll Away Your Stone’ and ‘White Blank Page’ getting an outing. The band also played a new, as yet untitled, song which unfortunately sounded like the dregs from the album. Clever lighting however supported the band in highlighting the intended tones of the set, while contrasting the raw baroque-ness of their songs with conventional stage presence.
The concert was put into full swing with lead single from the album and fans’ favourite ‘Little Lion Man’, which along with ‘The Cave’ and ‘Awake My Soul’, was a certain highlight of the night. New song ‘Lend Me Your Eyes’ was also one of the stronger songs, although its anonymity with the public drew back from the intense atmosphere of more well-known songs. The beautifully crafted ‘Thistle and Weeds’, meanwhile completed its job perfectly in strongly contrasting the bluegrass leanings of other such fundamentally stunning songs. ‘Dust Bowl Dance’ was an explosive ending to the main set, where the densely packed pathos of the recorded version shone through just as strongly in a live setting. The encore wasn’t quite as powerful as its predecessor, but the new songs played were certainly effective in prophesising a good future for any upcoming work from Mumford & Sons.
There were moments where it seemed as if the band were relying too much on volume to communicate an emotionally stunning set, rather than their already powerful music. But thanks to a passionate crowd and genuine enjoyment from the band, these moments were easily forgotten as fans and band alike were immersed in a night of finely composed and strongly compelling indie-folk from one of the most promising bands of recent years.
Words: Hamish Gibson
Pic: Euan Anderson
