Concert Review - Mumford & Sons, the Low Anthem, & Matthew and the Atlas - June 9th Merriweather Post Pavilion COLUMBIA MD.
Last night I got to see Matthew and the Atlas, the Low Anthem, and Mumford & Sons at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD.
Last night was great for so many reasons, rather than ramble at length, I will just limit myself to a list.
#1. I had a misconception from seeing a band there 8 years ago that the sound was bad. Sorry previous band, it was YOU! The sound was great. Great job to the sound guys!!
#2. Someone @ Merriweather was smart enough to install super large ceiling fans. So awesome! I hate having to struggle for some cool air at a concert.
#3. Great storm & thunder! I am so thankful I got the hookup with seats and not out in the lawn!
#4. Low Anthem continues to amaze with their depth. This was time #5 for me seeing them live, and I've heard them live about another half dozen times. Each time I learn a little more about song composition and get to watch them a little more on their various instruments. As an 8 song opener, it's hard to get into the breadth of material this band has. They did a great job with singles and favorites. Ben sang loud, sang hi normal folky style, and pulled off his superb falsetto on 'Charlie Darwin'. The real depth came out with their altering of two songs. They played 'Home I'll Never Be' at about 66% intensity. (They did it full tilt on Oh My God Charlie Darwin and about 25% intensity on Serve4: Artists Against Hunger & Poverty). The big shocker was the unleaded 'Horizon is a Beltway'
#5 This was the largest show played by not only the Low Anthem, but Mumford & Sons! Very exciting to be a part of that! Even more exciting was hearing new material by Mumford & Sons. They played 4 new ones amongst their current material
#6 The fans were insane! I had no idea how much of a chick band Mumford & Sons were. Marcus Mumford definitely gets the ladies with his looks. He's got the face of a young Daniel Baldwin, but the bod of Alec. But I never really paid attention to the lyrics (outside of Little Lion Man's f BOMB) to realize how mushy they can be. The ladies were all for it, like it was an NKOTB show! They ate that stuff up!
#7 Real Music LIVES!! All 3 bands play the banjo. 2 play the upright bass! Clarinets!!! Mat Davidson on the saw! Mumford & Sons even borrowed the ol' Harmonium from the Low Anthem for one of their songs.
#8 Low Anthem's nerdiness saw the light of day. Marcus Mumford mumbled about Low Anthem's "Cancel Columbus Day" message on their harmonium. And affixed on the back of the New Korg Organ by Ben is "this machine kills solipsis." It even made the ponderings on the twitter feed scrolling on one of the jumbotron.
#9. As pointed out by a great friend, Mumford & Sons sound is meant for these types of shows. The lyrics that lend to the crowd singing along, the driving, pounding sound. My friend told me before the show and his diagnosis was spot on. The relaxing album, Sigh No More, is made to be played loud!
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| Panoramic view Photo by Jeff Coon |
Last night was great for so many reasons, rather than ramble at length, I will just limit myself to a list.
#1. I had a misconception from seeing a band there 8 years ago that the sound was bad. Sorry previous band, it was YOU! The sound was great. Great job to the sound guys!!
#2. Someone @ Merriweather was smart enough to install super large ceiling fans. So awesome! I hate having to struggle for some cool air at a concert.
#3. Great storm & thunder! I am so thankful I got the hookup with seats and not out in the lawn!
#4. Low Anthem continues to amaze with their depth. This was time #5 for me seeing them live, and I've heard them live about another half dozen times. Each time I learn a little more about song composition and get to watch them a little more on their various instruments. As an 8 song opener, it's hard to get into the breadth of material this band has. They did a great job with singles and favorites. Ben sang loud, sang hi normal folky style, and pulled off his superb falsetto on 'Charlie Darwin'. The real depth came out with their altering of two songs. They played 'Home I'll Never Be' at about 66% intensity. (They did it full tilt on Oh My God Charlie Darwin and about 25% intensity on Serve4: Artists Against Hunger & Poverty). The big shocker was the unleaded 'Horizon is a Beltway'
#5 This was the largest show played by not only the Low Anthem, but Mumford & Sons! Very exciting to be a part of that! Even more exciting was hearing new material by Mumford & Sons. They played 4 new ones amongst their current material
#6 The fans were insane! I had no idea how much of a chick band Mumford & Sons were. Marcus Mumford definitely gets the ladies with his looks. He's got the face of a young Daniel Baldwin, but the bod of Alec. But I never really paid attention to the lyrics (outside of Little Lion Man's f BOMB) to realize how mushy they can be. The ladies were all for it, like it was an NKOTB show! They ate that stuff up!
#7 Real Music LIVES!! All 3 bands play the banjo. 2 play the upright bass! Clarinets!!! Mat Davidson on the saw! Mumford & Sons even borrowed the ol' Harmonium from the Low Anthem for one of their songs.
#8 Low Anthem's nerdiness saw the light of day. Marcus Mumford mumbled about Low Anthem's "Cancel Columbus Day" message on their harmonium. And affixed on the back of the New Korg Organ by Ben is "this machine kills solipsis." It even made the ponderings on the twitter feed scrolling on one of the jumbotron.
#9. As pointed out by a great friend, Mumford & Sons sound is meant for these types of shows. The lyrics that lend to the crowd singing along, the driving, pounding sound. My friend told me before the show and his diagnosis was spot on. The relaxing album, Sigh No More, is made to be played loud!
Dan, Dan, Dan....
ReplyDeleteHow could you leave out Mat playing the saw?
Over all that was an awesome concert. When do you get 3 great bands in a row like that? Seriously who goes to a concert expecting 2 opening bands, and gets 3 headliners?
By the way, all I can come up with on solipsis is "Solipsism is sometimes expressed as the view that “I am the only mind which exists,” or “My mental states are the only mental states.”..."
-http://www.iep.utm.edu/solipsis/
Nerdy, but valid.
You are right Jeff.. I meant to add the saw playing from the beginning!
ReplyDelete