By WILLIAM WRIGHT-HEATLEY
Staff Writer
Before a crowd of over fifteen thousand people on Saturday March 2, Mumford and Sons brought the noise up and the house down. The London-based alternative/pop/folk/rock group came to Albany as part of their 2019 tour to promote the release of their new Delta album.
The concert, held at the Times Union Center, ran over two hours of music, laughter, and anecdotes. The aspect of the concert that attracted so much interest was the way in which the stage for the venue was set up. Traditionally for a big band or other musical act, one area of the arena is completely allocated for the stage space in a traditional auditorium style, so approximately three quarters of the venue are audience. For this concert however, a smaller performance space which estimated 30 by 15 was set up in the center of the arena, with audience on both sides, in a “theatre in the round” style. This set up gave the concert more of a stadium feel. It provided both the performers and the audience a more intimate experience that doesn’t exist with the traditional setup.
American songwriter Cat Power opened the concert, playing a 45 minute set. The signature moment from Power’s set came when she performed “I Don’t Blame You” from her 2003 album You Are Free. The song is one of the most notable in her repertoire, as it helped her break into the mainstream in the early 2000s.
The visuals for Power’s set were immersive. There were several mobile cameras that were connected to projector screens. This allowed people who were sitting in the higher sections to be able to see her perform. Throughout her set, the camera work and light design were mixed in such a way that had a near theatrical quality. Camera cuts and various cuts were programmed to match color changes in the lighting, from reds and oranges to blues and dark purples. Power also used a smoke machine at various points during her set. Though starting quiet at first, the mood and sound increased the longer she was on stage. By the time her set was over, the crowd wasn’t aware how much time had past. Her music had a hypnotic quality, which once ended snapped the crowd back to a reality that was about to get rocked by the main act of the night.
Mumford and Sons arrived from the audience to kick off their set, which was nothing short of spectacular. They performed classic singles “Little Lion Man,” “The Cave,” and “Roll Away Your Stone” from their debut album Sigh No More, yielding thunderous applause. The new material was mixed in with older classics, making the overall setlist diverse and unpredictable. One particular song which resonated with the Times Union crowd was “I Will Wait,” from their sophomore album Babel. A song with a studio version runtime of just over three minutes, “I Will Wait” became a ten minute exercise in interacting with the audience. The bridge of the song alone was a two minute instrumental as the crowd repeated the refrain multiple times. It had the same appeal as doing a sports chant in a soccer stadium; where everyone is singing in one voice and melody.
The signature moment of Mumford’s set was the a cappella numbers that they sang. In a traditional English folk style, a cappella pieces have a distinct harmony that makes every note and lyric unique. Mumford’s catalog features several songs written in this style, and performed live, they are borderline hypnotic. A perfect example of this came when the band unexpectedly appeared in the upper balcony of the arena with a singular microphone to perform “Lovers’ Eyes” and “Timshel” respectively. With the occasional obnoxious audience member yelling out of turn, yielding frontman Marcus Mumford to remark, “Now, see we talked about this…please shut the f**k up for this part, okay?” the silence of the TU collectively listening to a choir of five was spectacular.
Mumford and Sons and Cat Power was a great concert that I was lucky enough to be able to see. The music and visuals provided such a wonderful environment in which the crowd never lost interest throughout the evening. At the end of the show, they exclaimed “We’ll see you again, Albany!” I certainly hope so, but for now, I will wait for you.
