Mumford and Sons are back, and back with a new sound. All a bit last minute they protested, despite the show t-shirt and screen print on sale, as we were told to hand in our mobile phones for fear of being distracted by them. Not that they were not trusting enough of their fans not to hold their phone up throughout the whole show. A brave move.
Their show at Oslo promised to debut new songs from a change of direction record. They didn't disappoint. Opening with a guitar heavy, rock n roll track and then moving on to new single Believe. This is where it started to get a bit tricky. Believe was a song that never really got going which became the theme of the evening. Although it was a nice change to have iPhones hanging above your head, standing in a room that felt like a kettle, sweating like a mad man, only listening to songs no one knew AND not being able to check the football score, wasn't really what I signed up for.
Often bands debuting new material would at least play one or two hits in the encore, but last night they went through the motions demonstrating their slightly heavier new sound to a room of slightly bewildered people desperately waiting to hear something they knew.
The new songs however were classic Mumford & Sons, good singles with a lot of filler in between. It will be interesting to listen to the record when it's out, but until then hopefully they'll go hide in their cave and find some songs we want to listen to live right now.
Joe (@thejoeeley)
----------------------------------------------------
There was a sense of exiting anticipation in the crowded small venue that is Oslo in Hackney London last night as we waited for Mumford & Sons to appear.
The crowd had come from all over the country and we met two brothers who had driven down from Newcastle for the gig. They were amongst the lucky few (375) to have got tickets when the sales opened at 9am that morning and sold out within seconds.
There was no support band and the two hour wait for the band to appear was unusual. It was like a throwback to the 80’s, as there were no mobile phones allowed, no eerie glow from all smartphone screens of people tweeting or checking of messages. Was this a social experiment to see who would crack first? We had all had to leave our phones downstairs in small black purses sporting white lettering with the words Mumford & Sons – Wilder Mind. These were given to us as a free memento of the night. I was hoping for a phone upgrade but it didn’t happen as I got my own phone back!
There were a few false alarms before the band appeared 45mins late. Someone asked what the football score was and Marcus replied 1 – 2 to Arsenal before apologising for the wait and sheepishly saying, not very convincingly, that that wasn’t why they were late.
They started with rocking new number from the new album. It was very good. Driving drums and bass guitar rhythms. Heavier than the Mumford & Sons of old. We don’t know what it was called as none of us had heard any of the numbers they played before and Marcus didn’t introduce them all. They played the new album, the whole new album and nothing but the new album, but not in order.
We thought they had rocked up their sound but the second number was slower. The new single Believe, which may them sound like a boy band picked up pace with some nice guitars towards the end.
You can hear it here with a cool video of driving around London at night HERE
Snake Eyes sounded good with a slow build up to a fast jam. Ditmus was very good with a catchy chorus and the potential to become an anthem. Monster with its syncopated drums was indeed a bit of a monster. For the last number they were singing in four part harmony like the band of old before again finishing with a good jam like session.
It was a great gig and a privilege to be there. The band mixed it up a bit and there wasn’t a banjo in sight. We’re looking forward to this new album Wilder Mind when it is released in May. It’s been a long time coming!
Ken (@kenjameswallace)
