The Lumineers @ O2 Academy Brixton

My mum has always told me if I had chance to see The Lumineers live I should jump at the opportunity; she saw them years ago as a support act and promised me they wouldn't disappoint, and boy she wasn't wrong.

On the 24th of April I made my way into a packed out O2 Academy in Brixton (which, as a side note, is one of the best venues I've been to thanks to it's old theatre setting and sloped floor) to witness the Cleopatra world tour.

Kicking off with the opener on their newest album 'Sleep On The Floor' and 'Cleopatra' I wondered if their set list would focus on Cleopatra showcasing their new material. This was quickly proved wrong as they moved onto 'Classy Girls' and surprisingly 'Ho Hey' (which I was expecting for the encore). The entire set moved smoothly between their new and old material picking up momentum with songs like 'Big Parade' before slowing it back down and giving more intimate performances of 'My Eyes' and 'Slow It Down'.
What struck me the most was how much these songs just seemed to be made to be heard live. I love the songs already. but especially ones such as 'Stubborn Love' and 'Dead Sea' suddenly took on this extra quality which is maybe lost when you're listening to them through dodgy headphones you got free with your phone. The instruments and Wesley's vocals had more impact and power which made the slower songs more beautiful and the faster ones more fun and energetic.

The entire band had this amazing energy throughout the show as they danced around, encouraged the audience to join in and generally seemed to have genuine fun performing. Rather than just being a simple transition from one song into the next the lights would dim as the band rearranged, swapping instruments, changing positioning, sometimes leaving altogether; this kept momentum up and gave each song a completely new feel to the last.

One thing that really struck me which I wasn't expecting was how well produced the show was from a technical side. I was half expecting there to be little to no lighting and instead the focus being completely on the music, but I was really wrong. You could tell a lot of thought had been put into how the lighting could enhance each song, with spotlights and different colours being used to great effect.

A slight downside to the gig was that at times the band seemed to struggle to keep the attention of the entire audience during their more quiet numbers and the chattering of audience members round the edges even blocked out some parts, which was pretty irritating but I guess a danger of seeing these kind of bands in such large venues.

Overall the gig was an absolute dream, my highlight being their finishing on 'Stubborn Love' which had the entire room singing along in adoration. And now just like my mum urged me I'd urge everyone to make it a priority to see this band live. Their songs are already fantastic but in a live setting they really take it up a notch, you'll come out an even bigger fan then you went in.

If you haven't already ordered their new album Cleopatra (I'm going to assume to have their first one because if you haven't then you're not living your musical life right) make sure to get yourself a copy asap.

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Labels: Music