by cagliostro Fri Oct 29, 2010 12:11 pm
Okay, so I saw them live in Denver on Wednesday, and I must say I'm underwhelmed. I heard so much about how good their shows are, and it was fairly good, but I guess I expected more, which is my own fault. Things that may have gone against my experience that I cannot blame the law firm of Mumford & Sons for:
1. I didn't get much sleep the night before, and had to be at work at 5am.
2. There were idiot drunk girls who insisted on talking about how much they loved the band rather than actually listen to them. They spent most of the show taking pictures with their cell phone, texting their friends and yelling stupidities. And they were right next to us, and frequently bumping into us.
3. Opening act number 1 was pretty oddball, but especially entertaining (King Charles). Opening act number 2 (Cadillac Sky) annoyed me, and made me want to take a nap. They seemed a little too rehearsed. They had too many "hit your mark" moments (for example - okay, this guy is playing a solo - everybody crowd in close and watch while he plays). And the times for setup between bands was excruciating, which was probably due to me being up past my bedtime with little sleep and the idiots we shared the space with.
4. Moving now into the realm of more their fault, they had an elaborate lighting system set up, which I believe they said they were using for the first time. It was way too over the top and frequently distracted from the music, and seemed to distract them a bit, as I suspect at least some of the time they were paying a bit more attention to their new toys and less to the music, although it was still pretty solid.
5. There was not enough diversity from the album tracks to make the music as much fun to listen to. Seeing a live show should be a new experience, and I love bands/artists that put their heart and soul into their live shows and make them feel that much more meaningful by changing it up a bit. Of the shos I have seen, those especially guilty of this duty to their lives shows, and I thank them for it, is Tom Waits, the Eels, Bob Walkenhorst, and Robyn Hitchcock. Any of those artists are almost better live than recorded, especially Robyn Hitchcock.
Overall, the show was pretty good, and the songs I expected to be excited about hearing were delivered especially average, and the songs from the album I have had the least interest in were the ones that they actually changed up enough to make them interesting for the first time to me. Probably the most enjoyable were the new songs that, at least live, did not suffer from sounding like their other songs, which was my biggest complaint with their first album. I do find that sophomore efforts from bands whose debut I like tend to suck, so we'll see which direction they fall in. What I could hear from the Mumford stage banter impressed me, and I liked his attitude, while the keyboardist guy essentially just talked.
Also, I wore my Pogues shirt to their show, and while the bar staff commented on it, nobody else did, which shows that most M&S fans are not very sophisticated.
Okay, so I saw them live in Denver on Wednesday, and I must say I'm underwhelmed. I heard so much about how good their shows are, and it was fairly good, but I guess I expected more, which is my own fault. Things that may have gone against my experience that I cannot blame the law firm of Mumford & Sons for:
1. I didn't get much sleep the night before, and had to be at work at 5am.
2. There were idiot drunk girls who insisted on talking about how much they loved the band rather than actually listen to them. They spent most of the show taking pictures with their cell phone, texting their friends and yelling stupidities. And they were right next to us, and frequently bumping into us.
3. Opening act number 1 was pretty oddball, but especially entertaining (King Charles). Opening act number 2 (Cadillac Sky) annoyed me, and made me want to take a nap. They seemed a little too rehearsed. They had too many "hit your mark" moments (for example - okay, this guy is playing a solo - everybody crowd in close and watch while he plays). And the times for setup between bands was excruciating, which was probably due to me being up past my bedtime with little sleep and the idiots we shared the space with.
4. Moving now into the realm of more their fault, they had an elaborate lighting system set up, which I believe they said they were using for the first time. It was way too over the top and frequently distracted from the music, and seemed to distract them a bit, as I suspect at least some of the time they were paying a bit more attention to their new toys and less to the music, although it was still pretty solid.
5. There was not enough diversity from the album tracks to make the music as much fun to listen to. Seeing a live show should be a new experience, and I love bands/artists that put their heart and soul into their live shows and make them feel that much more meaningful by changing it up a bit. Of the shos I have seen, those especially guilty of this duty to their lives shows, and I thank them for it, is Tom Waits, the Eels, Bob Walkenhorst, and Robyn Hitchcock. Any of those artists are almost better live than recorded, especially Robyn Hitchcock.
Overall, the show was pretty good, and the songs I expected to be excited about hearing were delivered especially average, and the songs from the album I have had the least interest in were the ones that they actually changed up enough to make them interesting for the first time to me. Probably the most enjoyable were the new songs that, at least live, did not suffer from sounding like their other songs, which was my biggest complaint with their first album. I do find that sophomore efforts from bands whose debut I like tend to suck, so we'll see which direction they fall in. What I could hear from the Mumford stage banter impressed me, and I liked his attitude, while the keyboardist guy essentially just talked.
Also, I wore my Pogues shirt to their show, and while the bar staff commented on it, nobody else did, which shows that most M&S fans are not very sophisticated. :D
