Cleveland’s QuickenLoans Arena was filled to capacity on March 9 with Mumford & Sons fans whohave been waiting almost a decade for the band’s return to the area. As MarcusMumford pointed out early on during the 95-minute set, "This is our secondshow in Cleveland. Last time was 2010. There were a lot less of you then, andwe had a lot less songs." He referenced the quartet’s May 21, 2010 show atthe 500-capacity Beachland Ballroom, a former Croatian dance hall. This time,with 18,000 in attendance, the band was set up on a rectangular stage in themiddle of the arena floor with general admission sections on either side of it.
Watching the bandmembers handle the setting was impressive. The production aimed for a degree ofintimacy by occasionally lighting up portions of the venue as well as loweringspecific lighting trusses, rather than use spotlights, in order to focus on themusicians. They also showed awareness of their surroundings by constantlyhaving someone facing one of the four sides of the Q. That conscious effortguaranteed that no one in the crowd to spent the night watching a musician’sbackside. During “Ditmas,” Mumford left the stage, made his way to the veryback section and ran up 26 rows to get closer to fans. He then ran through themiddle of the GA crowd before returning onstage.
In order to producethe more expansive, textured material from their last two albums – “WilderMind” (2015) and “Delta” (2018) -- Marcus Mumford, Winston Marshall, BenLovett, and Ted Dwane were augmented by five musicians who contributed drums,keyboards, guitar, trombone and trumpet. The night began with “42” and “GuidingLight,” which, coincidentally, are the opening numbers “Delta.” They playedfour more tracks from that album.
The 19-song setleaned on their more recent songs wherein the band pursued musical ambitionsthat avoided the folk and bluegrass mix that made Mumford & Sonsinternational superstars and helped the Americana genre blossom into a culturaljuggernaut. “Tompkins Square Park” and “Believe” worked best in this anthemicapproach.
Songs off of theirmulti-platinum debut and follow-up “Sigh No More” and “Babel” such as “LittleLion Man,” “The Cave,” and “Babel” were sprinkled throughout the night. Eachbrought with it a rapturous response from the audience.
Going back to theirroots the four members played the first encore number, “Timshel,” around onemicrophone that was set up in the center of the stage. After complimenting thecrowd for singing along throughout the concert, Mumford, in a plea forcooperation said, “Let’s see if we can get 18,000 people to shut the fuck up.”All but a tiny minority of loudmouths passed the “test.”
Next was a cover ofNine Inch Nails’ “Hurt,” which leaned towards the infamous Johnny Cash version.“That was a thank you to Cleveland for giving us Nine Inch Nails,” saidMumford, “and a thank you to the U.S. for giving us Johnny Cash.”
A rousing “I WillWait” from “Babel” came next before the evening ended with the title track off“Delta.” With the song’s combination of electronics and dynamics, it was afinal reminder that the quartet is still working out in public its attempt togrow beyond Americana’s musical boundaries. sdsemihidde
