You Cannibal, You Meat Eater...

It can be a drag when two events you want to attend happen at the same time. I bought two tickets to the Mumford & Sons show before I found out about my friend's barbecue. I would have eaten the $12 tickets but I really wanted to see this band.

You never know what to expect when you see a sold out show by a very hyped group. Will the crowd be a bunch of people there just to talk through the show and be seen? Will the band be road weary and cynical of their own newly found fame? Luckily neither of these were the case and Mumford & Sons met all expectations.

The opening band was an Australian septet called The Middle East. I was thrilled that they were opening because I've heard a couple of their songs and liked what I heard. Onstage they presented themselves rather seriously with their quiet, folksy songs that were more akin to a sit down show rather than the setting of standing on the Mershon stage. I was more impressed by their louder songs, and they could make a glorious noise when they wanted, than the softer tunes.

While waiting for the headliner I was approached by the reviewer for the local paper, whi I used to work with at the bookstore. We swapped opinions and waited for the show to start.

The band came out, opened with Sigh No More and it was off to the races. These guys can play, they can sing. I have not heard such great four part harmonies live since Moxy Fruvous. Yes, it's an odd comparison.



I hope the band does not paint themselves into a corner, but a formula for quite a few of their songs is to start out slow, then go full throttle. While it is exciting to hear, you want a band to show some versatility. They are combating this, during one new song Marcus (the lead singer) went behind the drum kit and showed some chops. This caused the local critic to tell me he did not expect that and had not seen that since he saw Jack White play drums for Goober & the Peas about fifteen years ago. This kind of freaked me out since I was at the show he told me about. So I can now say I've seen Jack White play before he became the White Stripes.

The sold out crowd was really well behaved and respectful to both bands, each of whom made mention of the pleasure of hearing themselves play without loud talking going on. It was my second time seeing a show on the Mershon stage and the sound is excellent. We're getting old though, it's hard to stand for three hours. My wife is not a fan of the group, but she appreciates when a band could play well. She kind of squealed when Marcus played a thin body electric. She likes good gear.

While it was sad to miss the party, seeing this band for $12 is never going to happen again, and I'm very pleased to have made that decision. I even bought a t-shirt, something I have not done since seeing Robyn Hitchcock about eighteen years ago. That's how good Mumford & Sons are. They're selling out their shows, hitting the festivals, and will be playing much bigger venues the next time around.