Mumford and Sons Concert: Bonner Springs, KS

Mumford and Sons - Lion Man

Music has always played a large role in my life, but live concerts have never interested me.  I think it is the large crowds and deafening instruments that leave me anxious and overwhelmed.  And in fact, I have only attended three live shows in my life:  Chicago when I was in college (circa 1980); Bruce Springsteen for my 27th Anniversary, and Mumford and Sons this past Friday night (a belated Mother's Day gift).  However, I must say that this latest concert exceeded all expectations and I am already dreaming of attending another ... except on their home turf in London, England.

I will not pretend to write a detailed account of the concert or the band's  musical talent - my brother is the music review guru in our family... and I will not pretend to discuss the acoustics or the lighting or any of the other technical specifics, as my son is far more qualified.  But I will tell you that I LOVED the concert and their dedication to fans, their passion for music, and their commitment to delivering a quality performance.  I appreciated that they sang the songs as we know them from the album, with limited harmony variation.  The audience, myself included, sang to every song and thoroughly enjoyed this intimate connection with the band despite the thousands of people in attendance.

The light show was engaging without distracting from the music.  The introductions were kept to a minimum because the band acknowledged that they knew we "all came to dance and listen to their music."  Because I knew I wanted to remember this special occasion in great detail, I made note of the night's playlist - and I thought I would share it here, for those who might also find it interesting.

The Playlist:

• Lovers' Eyes
• Babel
• Lion Man
• Below My Feet
• White Blank Page
• For Those Below
• I Will Wait 
• Lover of the Light
• Thistle and Weeds
• Ghosts That We Knew
• Roll Away Your Stone
• Awake My Soul
• Holland Road
• Dust Bowl Dance

Encores:

• Two Songs A Capella with just acoustic guitar accompaniment --- fabulous!!!
• My Love Don't Fade Away
• Timshel
• Both opening bands + Mumford and Sons
• Bruce Springsteen's, Meet me Tonight in Atlantic City
• Final Mumford and Sons Encore
• Winter Winds
• The Cave

Mumford and Sons - A Capella Encore

While I did not time the show exactly, I can tell you that it started around 9:20pm and the band walked off the stage after the final encore at 11:10pm --- nearly two hours of non-stop, high energy music.  And if you bothered to count the selections ... a total of 19!! Even between songs, when the band was reorganizing the stage and adding or replacing instruments, music was always playing in the background.  The pianist was able to showcase his skills and I was truly amazed.

I am not sure if this was a typical show on the concert circuit - perhaps others were shorter, perhaps not.  Bonner Springs, KS  had the dubious honor, however,  of being the final show of this two album tour.  The band told us that they were headed back to England for some much needed R&R --- and they assumed we wanted them to write more songs (insert "thunderous applause")

As my daughter noted on our drive home after the concert, I would love to see them again.. but I really want to see them in a pub.  The way they connect with their fans and their music, made us feel like they would have enjoyed giving the same performance for an audience of ten as for an audience of ten thousand.  Truly an amazing evening.... and I owe it all to my attentive, generous husband.  There is a joke in the family about a certain ruby bracelet that I did not appreciate as much as was anticipated..... This, dear Geoff, is my ruby bracelet; you hit the ball out of the park!

I feel that I must apologize for the quality of these two photos, however, dslr cameras were not allowed in the venue and the iPhone was all I had to work with.  But in this case it was not the photo that made the evening, it was the music that allowed us to escape from our routine lives and the lyrics that reached deep within our souls that is most memorable.