my first time to hear a mumford & sons song was on st. patty’s day 2010 in ireland. my mom, brother, sister-in-law and i decided to visit the homeland, and there was no discussion…we had to be there for st. patrick’s day.
for the big day we wanted to be in galway, which is the second biggest city in the country and not touristy like dublin. we met these young guys at a bar earlier in the day who had their instruments with them, and they invited us to come watch them play down the road. thankfully we went and they had the entire pub up and dancing. there was one song in particular that got everyone out of their seats: “little lion man.” it had not yet hit the states, but this song was already huge among the locals there.
fast forward a couple months in the states, and their debut album sign no more hit the waves. i was instantly in love. and of course, i recognized “little lion man” on the radio right away. their celtic/folk/rock sound, their harmonies, the lyrics…and mostly their ability to make me sing at the top of my lungs and passionately fist pound whilest driving (even at red lights), is why i love them so much. their albums tell a story. with mumford, you don’t just buy a single, you buy the entire album. so if you’re reading this and you’ve never given them a try, do yourself a favor and start with the album sign no more and listen to it start to finish. then repeat until you know the lyrics by heart. then do the same with babel. your future self will thank me.
so basically, i’ve been wanting to see mumford live for 3 years. it was worth the wait! and seeing them in nola, on what is now considered their last tour for a while, was very sweet. sadly, once they finished the tour the next week, they announced that they are taking a break indefinitely. i refuse to take this as a break up. i think they’ve just been though a hurricane the last 3 years and need a serious break, especially with their bass player getting hospitalized this summer.
the show was at mardi gras world, and the venue is basically just a giant slab of concrete in between the mardi gras world warehouse and the mississippi river. it was a particularly warm september summer night. and when i say warm, i mean hellish hot.
so disco tits and i decided to bike it. biking it–especially for concerts–is the way to go in nola. you don’t have to worry about parking or check points. we didn’t time things that well and ended up having to rush to the show, which meant we didn’t have a break to cool off from the ride (read: i didn’t allow a break, we had to get as close as possible asap).
needless to say, i was dripping with sweat the entire show. so were the english-born band members. at one point, marcus even said, “i’ve never been this hot in my life.” you could hear everyone’s thought bubbles pop up across the crowd…”welcome to louisiana!” it was funny to see them start off with their well-thought-out outfits of vests & button down shirts, then after each song they’d have to take off a piece of clothing or unbutton something.
now about the show…they played every song i wanted to hear, including my favorite track from babel called “below my feet.” despite the heat, the crowd was singing along & dancing the entire time.
the absolute highlight of the night started with their encore performance. they came back out & had a little chat with us and told us that they were going to do something they’ve never done before. then they asked us to just put our phones away and “to just be here together for five minutes.” this got everyone psyched.
they began playing “house of the rising sun.” there is a house in new orleans…..oh yeah!
well…then this happened right after that. no words to explain this moment, other than the only thing i could muster out at the time which was, “i can’t handle this!!!”
when the crowd starting singing “when the saints go marching in” followed by the “who dat” chant, i really felt an overwhelming sense of pride to be a part of this city. i love living here so much it hurts (sometimes my wallet & waistline, but mostly my heart…in the best way possible). this was a top nola moment for me. seeing my favorite band of the moment in my favorite city. instant nola classic!
