“Thumping, foot stomping”
As one of the biggest British bands, Mumford and Sons were bound to put on a show when they played Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena on Tuesday 27th November.
I’d never been to a concert in Motorpoint before, but was really impressed with the band’s stage set-up. The stage was in the middle of the arena, splitting the room into two halves, meaning that no one was miles away from the stage. There were four translucent screens at angles, double sided around the room, so you could still see behind if they were in the way. The last time I had seen Mumford and Sons live, was at London’s O2 Arena, and my dad and I were right at the back. The band looked like tiny specs on the stage in the distance. This new set-up was inclusive and impressive.
I did, at some points, find the acoustics a bit quiet… for me personally I want to feel the music in my chest and have it be immersive. This might have been something to do with me being in the stands though.
When we arrived we caught the end of support act Maggie Roger’s set. Her stage presence was really impressive, and she was able to command the room with both her quirky dancing and her singing. Her performance was whacky but in the best way, and she clearly had a good relationship with Mumford and Sons because she came on again during their set to sing Beloved.
At 20:45 Mumford and Sons took to the stage. After a strong start with Guiding Light from the new Delta album, they went straight into the classics: Little Lion Man, Babel and Lover of the Light. It was a thumping, foot stomping first half of the show.
They then performed some songs from the new album, including The Wild, Beloved (with Rogers), Darkness Visible, and Picture You. The pace did slow at this point, as Mumford himself pointed out the album only came out a few weeks ago.
At one point a heckler shouted something after Mumford was talking about ‘performing new songs on the tour’. Mumford joked that he just assumed someone was talking shit about the music.
One sweet moment occurred when Mumford apologised to an 11 year old boy in the audience, after clumsily uttering an expletive on stage. Towards the end of the second half the tempo picked back up again, and we heard some more of the classics.
My highlights from the night included Little Lion Man, Ditmas, Timshel, and Awake My Soul, all some of my favourites from the albums. It was lovely to hear their new music however, and I was pleasantly surprised by the new direction they have gone in.
Gigs are always better when you know all the words to the songs, and it was a shame they didn’t perform some of their older hits because of the new album. But each time Mumford and Sons tour they change it up and do something new and I think it’s a tribute to their lasting talent and appeal that each album sells and sounds so good live. I don’t think anyone could have walked away from that gig saying they didn’t enjoy it.
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