popwreckoning

The third album from English folk songbird Laura Marling is called A Creature I Don’t Know and the approach this time around seems to be a mature one (like Marling’s second, I Speak Because I Can) but more raw and back to basics, more similar to Marling’s 2008 debut and Mercury Prize-nominated album Alas I Cannot Swim. Take, for instance, the opening track “The Muse.” A fast folk guitar, honky tonk piano, and drum brushes were adopted for this song, and the overall vibe is very laid back. Too laid back I think: Marling’s voice is jazzy, and it’s not really the best to showcase Marling’s otherwise beautiful singing voice. Check out “Don’t Ask Me Why” and “All My Friends” for clear evidence of this and Marling’s mastery of songwriting. The only problem I see with this album is that it is uneven in song quality.

The lead single for A Creature I Don’t Know is “Sophia,” which begins with spare guitar chords and a dry vocal from Marling. With beautiful backing singers harmonizing perfectly with her, it’s so gentle, as if you were in a boat going down a gentle river. But this doesn’t last long: confusingly two-thirds into the song, you are jolted back into reality when the song turns Mumford and Sons-ized. It’s a knee-slapper, folks. The first couple times I heard this song this summer on British radio, I was really unhappy with it because Marling is such a talented woman, I felt like she sold out trying to make it more radio-friendly. The song has grown on me since I’ve seen the video for the song (watch it below) because it feels less contrived when you see her and her band playing it in a church. The video is a nice preview of her upcoming tour at home in the UK, as she will be playing churches across the country.

“Salinas” appears to be a nod to John Steinbeck (the Nobel Prize-winning author’s hometown) and possibly his most famous work The Grapes of Wrath. The song speaks of strong women and questions of morality and mortality. Heavy stuff. Then again, no one ever said folk music was for the weak-hearted. Also see “The Beast,” which may be a reference to Satan and viewing sex as a sin. The instrumentation is probably the hardest we’re going to get from Marling – unless she does a complete 180 and completely gives up folk for hard rock, which I highly doubt – and while there have been aggressive tracks like “Devil’s Spoke” from her in the past, this one is a definite ratcheting up on the rockiness.

Unfortunately, if you’re more of a rock than a folk fan like me, the album plods along instead of continuing in a jaunty fashion. Things can get a little…well…boring. Marling is 21 now, has 3 albums under her belt, and has had two high profile relationships with fellow musicians Charlie Fink (Noah and the Whale) and Marcus Mumford. The question now is, how will Marling change as the years go on?

A Creature I Don’t Know will be released in the U.S. on September 12 on Ribbon Records. Catch Marling on tour in North America this month, starting on September 17 in San Francisco. The opener for the tour is Alessi’s Ark, another amazing female English singer/songwriter.

Track Listing
01. The Muse
02. I Was Just a Card
03. Don’t Ask Me Why
04. Salinas
05. The Beast
06. Night After Night
07. My Friends
08. Rest in the Bed
09. Sophia
10. All My Rage

Tour Dates
Sept 17 – Bimbo’s 365 Club / San Francisco
Sept 18 – Masonic Temple / Los Angeles
Sept 20 – Troubadour / Los Angeles
Sept 22 – Lincoln Hall / Chicago
Sept 23 – Great Hall / Toronto
Sept 24 – Corona / Montreal
Sept 25 – Brighton Music Hall / Boston
Sept 27 – Sixth & I Historic Synagogue / Washington, DC
Sept 28 – Webster Hall / New York City

Laura Marling: website | myspace

Kansas City radio station 96.5. the Buzz started the outdoor summer season off with a sold out fest: Buzz Under the Stars. Though newcomers Mumford and Sons have just one album under their belt and have only been known stateside for about a year, Kansas City was eager to hear their banjo-blazing folk tunes. Rounding out the sold out bill was Cake, a band that has only gained in popularity since their first hits in the 90s. Despite the sweltering heat, the audience excitement levels never wavered, participating in big singalongs with both bands.

Photographer Erica Cassella was at the event and shares these photos from the concert:

Sure, you’ve all heard of English folk band Mumford and Sons, especially in light of their Grammy nomination. But have you heard of Stornoway? No? You soon will.

Named after a coastal town in Scotland far away from their hometown of Oxford, England, Stornoway, like Mumford and Sons, has four principal members and play folk pop. But Stornoway also have a violinist, Rahul Satija, as well as a trumpeter, Adam Briggs, brother of main songwriter and lead singer Brian Briggs. Having compared Mumford’s Sigh No More against Stornoway‘s debut album Beachcomber’s Windowsill released on 4AD, I think Stornoway has the upper hand in terms of song preciousness; that is, their album cuts you deeper emotionally, bringing out feelings you never thought you had. So I’m not embarrassed to admit seeing them live practically reduced me to tears.

Sunday night’s show at the smaller of the two Black Cat stages, Backstage, was also the last date on the tour with Franz Nicolay and Major General as support. This year, the famously cool and mustachioed Nicolay left the Hold Steady in favor of a solo career and also released a new album, Luck and Courage. Nicolay’s material runs the gamut from emotional folk to more up-tempo numbers. “Dead Sailors,” introduced by an enthused Nicolay as “this is a tango!” did not disappoint, nor did the dramatic “Have Mercy” or the set closer “Jeff Penalty,” a song he explained was about “a friend who got his dream job in the end.” The song could be about Nicolay himself, as he and his three-piece backing band were having a ball onstage. They even said we were the best crowd they played to on this tour. Excellent.

Beyond the music, Nicolay is hilarious and has great rapport with an audience, making us chuckle, warning us “no texting in the front row!” and how their set would feature accordion solos, advising those of weak heart and constitution to leave the premises if they could not handle his squeeze-box shenanigans. But I have to say, after only hearing a couple songs on his MySpace like “This is Not a Pipe” and a humorous collaboration he did with Dresden Dolls, “New England,” I was not prepared for as a spirited set as he delivered. This might be heresy to some, but I think I like Nicolay’s solo stuff better than the Hold Steady.

Franz Nicolay and Major General Set List:
The Ballad of Hollis Wadsworth Mason Jr.
Dead Sailors
Have Mercy
This is Not a Pipe
Rock Rinse (what it looks like on the handwritten set list)
Z is for Zachariah
Luck and Courage
Felix and Adelita
Frankie
Jeff Penalty

But the breathless crowd assembled was waiting for Stornoway to appear. The Black Cat gig, like most gigs at the venue, was an all-ages show, which meant quite a few youngsters had come far away for it: a mother, daughter and friends from Wilmington, Delaware, drove nearly 3 hours for this – talk about dedication. The show began with a plaintive violin solo by Satija before the band came out to thunderous applause and launched into “The Coldharbour Road,” a song in which Briggs draws metaphors for himself and the woman he loved, like the relationship between a seabird and the cold, unfeeling ocean, and the mind of a man that a memory of a woman once lived in. This is deep, deep stuff and definitely stuff that touches my heart. The recording features what can only be described industrial clanking, which in the live setting is achieved by extra band members hitting on, amazingly, an antique TV set and a beer keg. Briggs’s voice and his band members’ harmonies were spot on and gorgeous. It set the stage for a monumental evening.

Before the show, Briggs described “Fuel Up” (my favorite song on Beachcomber’s Windowsill) to me as a song about the pains of growing up. The words of the chorus are so simple yet powerful: “so fuel up your mind and fire up your heart and drive on / drive on, drive on / and when your days are darker / put your foot down harder / drive on, drive on.” It seems to say, life goes on and so do we, so soldier on for there are brighter days ahead. Just as I do every time I hear the song on my headphones, I could feel tears pricking my eyes hearing this live. I don’t cry at gigs; I just don’t. But the beauty of Stornoway‘s music was so moving, I couldn’t help myself.

I don’t want you to think that all this band does are slow ballads. Songs like “Watching Birds” (a song which makes total sense now that I know Briggs got his degree in zoology and studied birds at university) and a particularly joyous version of “We Are the Battery Human,” featuring keyboardist Jonathan Ouin playing a banjo emblazoned with a rainbow-colored nautilus and done completely unmiked and acoustically, were so energetic. They got the audience stamping their feet and clapping their hands to the beat. This was an unforgettable evening that tugged at the heartstrings as well as made the heart sing. I was so glad I was there to experience it.

Stornoway Set List:
The Coldharbour Road
Boats and Trains
Beachcomber’s Windowsill
Fuel Up
I Saw You Blink
On the Rocks
November Song (acoustic)
Watching Birds
Long Distance Lullaby
Zorbing
//
End of the Movie (acoustic)
We Are the Battery Human (acoustic)

Tour Dates
Dec 08 – Biltmore Cabaret / Vancouver^
Dec 09 – Crocodile / Seattle^
Dec 10 – Doug Fir / Portland^
Dec 12 – Independent / San Francisco^
Dec 13 – Troubadour / Los Angeles^
^with the Head and the Heart

Stornoway: website | myspace
Franz Nicolay and Major General: website | myspace

In this golden age of supergroups (think Broken Bells and Them Crooked Vultures), Mt. Desolation is a supergroup with a difference. The band plays alternative country – not exactly mainstream in the U.S. – and features Keane‘s principal songwriter Tim Rice-Oxley and touring musician Jesse Quin. Also along to assist are Ronnie Vannucci Jr. of the Killers, Country Winston of Mumford and Sons, and members of Noah and the Whale, the Long Winters, and the Staves. Got all that? Good.

Mt. Desolation is set to release its self-titled debut album on October 19 on Cherry Tree Records and is going on tour later this month, playing some dates handily enough with Mumford and Sons. If you like what you hear in the video below for their song, “Departure,” catch them at a venue near you.

Tour Dates
Oct 18 – Palladium / Los Angeles*
Oct 20 – Warfield / San Francisco*
Oct 22 – Crystal Ballroom / Portland*
Oct 23 – Vogue Theatre / Vancouver*
Oct 24 – Moore Theatre / Seattle*
Oct 27 – Mercury Lounge / New York City
Oct 28 – Drake / Toronto
Oct 29 – Pike Room / Detroit
Oct 30 – Schubas / Chicago
*with Mumford and Sons

Photo: Alex Lake

Mt. Desolation: website | myspace

I’ll be honest. I was pretty skeptical when Mt. Desolation was announced as a Keane side project this year, because I love Keane so much. Cast all those reservations aside when you watch this video directed by Joe Kane for “State of Our Affairs” featuring Jesse Quin on lead vocals (and of course Tim Rice-Oxley tickling the ivories). Wow.

Mt. Desolation is touring with their mates Mumford and Sons and playing several headlining shows of their own this month. Their self-titled debut will be released on October 19 on Cherry Tree Records.

Tour Dates
Oct 18 – Palladium / Los Angeles*
Oct 20 – Warfield / San Francisco*
Oct 22 – Crystal Ballroom / Portland*
Oct 23 – Vogue Theatre / Vancouver*
Oct 24 – Moore Theatre / Seattle*
Oct 27 – Mercury Lounge / New York City
Oct 28 – Drake / Toronto
Oct 29 – Pike Room / Detroit
Oct 30 – Schubas / Chicago
*with Mumford and Sons

Mt. Desolation: website | myspace

Equally as important to the Lollapalooza experience as the time spent in Grant Park is the time spent at the Lollapalooza after parties. With the additional official and unofficial shows after it’s lights out at Grant, Lollapalooza becomes a 24 hour experience, three days of the week as festival goers pour the park’s gates into various clubs, venues and hotels throughout Chicago.

PopWreckoning made it to a few of the after shows. Friday, it was off to Belve Nights: a party at the Hard Rock Hotel that’s popular amongst some of the more VIP Lolla attendees. It helps that this Belve Night  featured a DJ set by Matt and Kim and performances from acts such as Neon Trees and Hockey to draw out a big crowd.

Neon Trees were an act that had already blown festival-goers away during their Lollapalooza set earlier that day. The act already seems to be following hot in the footsteps of similar band, The Killers. They continued to own the stage as the singer prowled the stage. The set was a brief five songs, but the band left the audience hungry for more.

Hockey followed Neon Trees with a pop rock set that was just a teaser for the even more energetic set they’d deliver in Grant Park the following day. Beginning with current single, “Song Away,” they band also played some new material and older tunes such as “Too Fake.” Hockey had their set cut short at Lolla 2009, so it was great to see them living up Lolla 2010 with extra performances.

Saturday night, PopWreckoning ventured out on the CTA to a free show at the Bottom Lounge. This show featured a  couple of amazing local acts and a few national acts – free for those who had RSVP. Gotta love free.

Though energy was waning quickly for many at this point (a long day walking the grounds at a festival spanning a park that’s over a mile-long will do that), each of the pop rock bands, The Spinto Band, Skybox and Jukebox the Ghost,  brought a fun quirkiness to their tunes and a contagious enthusiasm. The Spinto Band even divided the audience up into three parts to be a train at one point. Odd, but fun:

Skybox:

Jukebox the Ghost:

Sunday, PopWreckoning returned to the Hard Rock Hotel for another Belve Nights. This evening, Glassnote was bringing the best of its roster.

Among the performances was Mumford and Sons. This UK act is already being praised as one of the best Lolla acts in general and one listen to their harmonies, funky bass lines (upright bass lines, no less!) and heart-wrenching lyrics, it’s easy to see why. “Little Lion Man” is a good place to start for those unfamiliar with their tunes.

After Mumford, it was the crooning, experimental rock band The Temper Trap. Many are familiar with them for “Sweet Disposition,” which was on the “(500) Days of Summer” sound track. And while that song is indicative of some of the other fantastic, rollicking-guitar riffs they produce, it doesn’t really do them justice. Although, perhaps it is better that way because then audience members are extra surprised when the singer pours water on a tom drum and beats a spray of water and heavy beats midway through the set.

Perhaps the highlight of this evening was when Mumford and Sons returned to perform with The Temper Trap. It was like everyone at Belve Nights was a part of a big family: the band, audience members (both VIP and average folk) and even the staff on hand that night. It was extra special when Glassnote’s founder even came out and echoed the sentiment. What a perfect way to end Lollapalooza….well almost. There was a one final treat. Lollapalooza headliners and Glassnote members, Phoenix, though tardy to the party due to another aftershow performance, closed out the night with a DJ set. What a way to end 2010!

The nominations for the 2010 Barclaycard Mercury Prize – awarded to the album deemed the best released during the prior year from the United Kingdom and Ireland – were announced earlier today, July 20, at a London ceremony by BBC 6music radio host Lauren Laverne. You may recognize several of this year’s nominees as acts previously featured on PopWreckoning.

Here are the 12 nominees for this year’s Mercury Prize:

Biffy Clyro – Only Revolutions
Corinne Bailey Rae – The Sea
Dizzee Rascal – Tongue N’ Cheek
Foals – Total Life Forever
I Am Kloot – Sky At Night
Kit Downes Trio – Golden
Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can
Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More
Paul Weller – Wake Up The Nation
Villagers - Becoming A Jackal
Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
The xx – xx

Receiving a Mercury Prize nomination (and/or winning it) generally leads to increased album sales and increased celebrity profile for a band. London rapper Speech Debelle received the honor in 2009. The 2010 Barclaycard Mercury Prize will be awarded in London on September 7. The winning act will receive a cash award of £20,000 (over $30,000 US).

After seeing Laura Marling and Mumford and Sons last month, I suspect I may well be turning into a folkie. Not that it’d be a bad thing. Furthering my genre-specific education was folk rock siren April Smith and her four-man band the Great Picture Show, who graced the Christmas light-lit Iota stage this past Tuesday night – a decidedly balmy, sticky night in the Nation’s Capital. This sort of weather is typical for June here, and native Washingtonians have learned to live with the heat and humidity of our summers. For Smith and her band however, I felt terrible about it because she kept mentioning the stifling heat. Surely the night before in Atlanta could not have been much better? I was worried how this was going to affect them playing songs from her fan-financed debut album Songs for a Sinking Ship, full of hand claps and finger snaps. I really needn’t have worried.

I decided that her talking about the heat and revealing to us that they had indulged in a large pasta dinner earlier (and saying it was probably a bad idea before a performance) was her way of reaching out to us, like we were friends. Iota has that kind of vibe about it– it’s a small but comfortable, homey place, a place where you can go to see an up and coming band perform and you don’t feel like you have to be someone else. Wearing a sleeveless white blouse with a red skirt and lacy petticoat, the brunette Smith looked more cowgirl than a rocker. This thought was quickly put out of mind as soon as she opened her mouth on their opening number, “Movie Loves a Screen,” Smith engaging the audience with her sweet voice.

Wow, what a voice. The best numbers were those that showcased Smith’s amazing vocal control, range, and delivery, like “Dixie Boy” (a woman’s stern warning to another woman eyeing her man), and those that got the crowd involved, like the hand clap, foot stomp-inducing “Colors.” The end of the show should have been album track “Wow and Flutter,” which if you were wondering did wow me quite a lot, especially thanks to a homage to Led Zeppelin the band injected into the bridge of the song in the form of a folky bit of “Whole Lotta Love,” including some of the rock anthem’s racier lyrics. Not what you expected from a bunch of folkies, huh?

After a short period of deliberation in a huddle, the band decided to return for an encore. Smith explained that it was going to have to be a cover. “Do you want upbeat…” she started to ask, interrupted by someone shouting out “upbeat!” Well then. Smith and the band proceeded to play a blazing version of Melanie’s “Brand New Key,” a 1970s pop hit that you may be familiar with via a recent cover by American Idol alum Katharine McPhee. Given the choice, I’d take April Smith and the Great Picture Show’s version any day. According to the band’s Facebook page, Smith provides “vocals, rhythm guitar, [and] sass” – she’s got plenty of talent in all three to teach generations of women how music is done right.

April Smith and the Great Picture Show Set List
Movie Loves a Screen
Drop Dead Gorgeous
Terrible Things
Stop Wondering
What’ll I Do
Colors
Can’t Say No
The One That Got Away
Dixie Boy
Wow and Flutter
//
Brand New Key (Melanie cover)

April Smith and the Great Picture Show: website | myspace | Songs for a Sinking Ship review

Taking the three-hour drive to the Columbia River Gorge is a boring trip. You merge a couple times from state route 16, then from I-5 to I-90, over a mountain pass and through the eastern Washington flatlands. But when you reach the Gorge on Memorial Day weekend, it’s like a dome of awesome civilization in the middle of empty Washington wasteland. It was the second year in a row that I traveled to the Sasquatch! Music Festival, but this year I’d be spending all three days at the Gorge, camping about a quarter of the mile from the festival grounds, where one could still hear the music late into the night after tucking one’s self into one’s sleeping bag.

This weekend was nothing less than glorious. The clouds defied the weather forecast, which told us that it would be cloudy and possibly raining all weekend. Only a couple bouts of rain didn’t damper the festival at all. In fact, the rain we did get was refreshing and added to the greatness of the Columbia River Gorge.

I’ll start with Saturday. After waiting in line for over an hour, I finally arrived on the festival grounds, and headed over to the newly renamed Bigfoot Solar Stage. It used to be called the Wookie Stage, but as a preemptive action against any sort of lawsuit from George Lucas, the Sasquatch organizers changed the name. Catching the second half of Mumford and Sons, I could tell that people were already crowding in front of each stage.

Following Mumford and Sons was Portugal. The Man on the same stage. I’m really glad I stayed to watch them, because the crazy psychedelic rock that you find on their record Censored Colors sounds even better live. And with such songs like “Lay Me Back Down,” the relatively large crowd could sing right along with the chorus. It was a good way to start the day. The very long day.

With my first of two steep treks down to the main stage, I was reminded how much I really love this venue. Actually, Damian Kulash of OK Go, the band playing on the main stage next, said it best:

“You know, we play a lot of these festivals, and most of the time the venue sucks and the bands blow, but this place is fucking awesome.” Or something like that. You get the gist.

As much as I love OK Go for their genius music videos, they were surprisingly good live. Fun and energetic, and it was only 3 in the afternoon. It was too bad their crowd was small though, because I’m pretty sure Kulash would have crowd surfed a lot further if he’d had the ability to. Playing through some oldies but goodies, like “Get Over It” from their 2002 debut album, as well as the funky “White Knuckles” off their newest Of The Blue Colour of the Sky, it was a joyful and satisfying set. One thing though – with how breathy and seductive Kulash’s voice is most of the time, you’d never expect him to bust out this gut-draining shriek. But he did. It was cool.

I headed back up to the Yeti Stage, the smallest of the three outdoor stages, to see one of my favorite local bands The Lonely Forest for the third time this year. What can I say? They’re really good. But I could tell that it was still a bit intimidating being at Sasquatch because they were good, but they weren’t as good as at the Seattle clubs. But that is one of the parts of Sasquatch that I really love – we get a lot of locals. Sasquatch doesn’t import nearly as many acts as other festivals do. The Lonely Forest did mention the new record they have coming out this year that they just finished recording with Chris Walla’s new label Trans. Hearing those new songs again was nice.

Back at the main stage, The National was getting ready to take the stage and the floor started to fill up. This was about when the sun started to set, and the smell of marijuana was inescapable, and the threat of sunburn in the part of your hair was no longer a worry. The perfect time of night at the Gorge. The National took the stage a bit late, making everyone in the pit incredibly anxious, but in the end it was worth it. Playing some of their best songs, including the haunting “Afraid of Everyone” off High Violet as well as a plethora of older songs, the crowd was clearly satisfied. Matt Berninger actually ventured out into the pit towards the end of their set holding up his microphone cord as to not get tangled in the jumble of fans. Some would find Berninger’s energy flat, because it is an odd stage presence. At times he seems a bit angry, but I enjoy his intensity. It’s a quiet intensity. I think without the jumbo screens adjacent to the stage, it wouldn’t have been suited for the giant amphitheatre, but this time it worked.

A stark change from The National’s energy, the lovely and adorable and so full of energy Vampire Weekend took the Main Stage at as on-time as they could have been. I was so thankful when they announced the lineup for Sasquatch this year, because when I saw Vampire Weekend back in December it wasn’t for but twenty short minutes. And that’s not nearly enough time to fully enjoy a band. It got a second chance to love Vampire Weekend at Sasquatch. Being shoved in that pit made it even better, because everyone around me was equally as excited. This guy, about 6’3”, standing next to me kept saying, “I’m so happy right now!” And that was the general consensus I gathered from the thousands of people in the amphitheater that night, as well as from the band. Frontman Ezra Koenig made the second declaration of the Gorge’s sheer awesomeness that day, and Koenig has enough energy himself to carry the entire place. It was the perfect way to follow The National, with a giant dance party to songs like “A-Punk,” “Walcott” and ridiculously quick and almost derailing “Cousins.” And it was quite magical to hear thousands of people singing at the top of their lungs “Blake’s got a new face!” during the song “One.”

It was as I hiked up the hill to the campground that I knew that this was going to be a good weekend.

Stay tuned for a recap of Sunday and Monday, which were equally as awesome.

For a full set of photos from Saturday, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbigshmail/sets/72157624061143157/

Sunday’s coverage: http://popwreckoning.com/2010/06/03/sasquatch-festival-sunday-with-local-natives-kid-cudi-dirty-projectors/

Monday’s coverage: http://popwreckoning.com/2010/06/04/sasquatch-festival-monday-with-the-temper-trap-the-mountain-goats-mgmt/

The more acts I see perform and talk to, the more I am amazed by just how famous the 9:30 Club is internationally. “We’ve heard a lot about this city and this venue…” Marcus Mumford, leader of London-based folk outfit Mumford and Sons, admitted to a Washington D.C. crowd. He and his band had just played the title track of their debut album, Sigh No More, to a very excited audience. Smiling broadly, he continued with, “…and it’s lived up to all of our expectations!” Based on the crazy reaction I witnessed both physically and audibly on the floor, I’d say the feeling was mutual. The quartet stopped Thursday night in D.C., just one of the dates on a sold-out, 5-week tour across North America.

Their mates for this tour are the Middle East, a seven-piece indie band hailing from Townsville, Queensland, Australia. Before this current tour with Mumford and Sons, these Aussies played a well-received set at fellow blog BrooklynVegan’s showcase at South by Southwest in March, then supported Frightened Rabbit when the Scots toured America. Musically, they were a good match for Mumford, with both soft, folk-tinged (“The Darkest Side”) and harder, borderline folky (“Beleriand”) songs. The band closed their set with “Blood,” a song from the band’s self-titled EP last year that got radio stations across the globe buzzing about them. Live, the joyous, harmonious vocalizing was simply beautiful. So really, it’s no surprise that for an opening band, they were able to attract as well as wow a sizeable crowd over an hour before the headliner was due onstage.

I remember the first time I heard Mumford and Sons. Their single “Little Lion Man” was all over BBC Radio last summer, and from one whiff of the confident lyrics and blazing folk instrumentation, I was hooked. A couple weeks ago I read on the 9:30 Club website that the show was sold out. Huh? I thought I was the only one in town who’d heard of them. In this case, I’d like to thank the internet, because I’m pretty sure it was electronic word of mouth that has helped spread word about this quartet of fine musicians.

The sultry darkness of tearful broken heartedness was explored brilliantly in “I Gave You All” and “White Blank Page.” But the band can incite spontaneous hoedowns, as in the case of “The Cave.” What surprised me the most was how chaotically they could play their instruments; this is more what you would expect in a metal band, not a folk one. Just goes to show that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover (or rather judge a band by the songs on their album). Three new songs were previewed – “Nothing is Written,” “Lover of the Light,” and “Whispers in the Dark,” the latter being the only song played in the encore, much to the disgust of fans who, probably just like me, were disappointed that they did not play the gorgeous love song “Winter Winds.”

“Roll Away Your Stone” was the definite highlight of the night. As the audience was whipped into a frenzy as Mumford and company threw all caution to the wind, arms flying as they played their instruments with fury, members of the Middle East reappeared onstage, some of them only in their boxers, dancing around Mumford’s troupe, shaking all sorts of hand percussion. It was definitely one of those “caught up in the moment” experiences, as everyone around me pogo-ed, shrieked in delight, or the combination of the two. Think folk music is boring? Mumford and Sons will make you think twice. Don’t believe me? Check out this tv appearance on “Later Live with Jools Holland” from the first week of May. (Sorry, no one in underwear in this version.)

Mumford and Sons Set List
Sigh No More
Awake My Soul
The Cave
I Gave You All
White Blank Page
Nothing is Written (new song)
Little Lion Man
Lover of the Light (new song)
Thistle and Weeds
Timshel
Roll Away Your Stone
Dust Bowl Dance
/
Whispers in the Dark (new song)

Tour Dates
May 21 – Beachland Ballroom / Cleveland*
May 22 – Wexner Center / Columbus*
May 24 - Lincoln Hall / Chicago*
May 25 – Varsity Theatre / Minneapolis*
May 29 – Sasquatch Music Festival / George, WA*
May 30 – 560 Club / Vancouver*
May 31 – Aladdin Theatre / Portland*
Jun 03 – Great American Music Hall / San Francisco*
Jun 04 – Henry Fonda Theatre / Los Angeles*
Jun 07 – Rhythm Room / Phoenix*
Jun 09 – Antone’s / Austin*
Jun 10 – House of Blues / Dallas*
Jun 12 – Bonnaroo Music Festival / Manchester, TN
Jun 14 – Bluebird / Bloomington, IN
Jun 15 – Off Broadway / St. Louis
Jun 16 – Record Bar / Kansas City, KS
*with the Middle East

Mumford and Sons: website | myspace | MP3 Minute: Mumford and Sons Cover Vampire Weekend | Sigh No More review
The Middle East: website | myspace | The Middle East Announces North American Festival Dates, Spring Tour with Mumford and Sons