The queue before the doors opened was the longest I have ever seen at the O2 Academy and it’s easy to see why. The Lumineers have enjoyed what can only be described as a meteoric rise over the past two years; with their simple, enjoyable and downright lovely catalogue of folk music.
Support was provided by Thao & The Get Down Stay Down who did a decent job in getting the crowd ready, at one point even bringing on Lumineers member Ben Wahamaki to help make some noise on the drums. After a surprisingly atmospheric into The Lumineers opened with their lyrically beautiful Submarines before quickly going into Flowers In Your Hair and their megahit “o Hey. A particularly enjoyable moment came when frontman Wesley Schultz kindly asked the audience to lower their cameras and phones for a while, which most in the crowd were more than happy to do.
Bringing out their most famous song so early in the night may seem risky but the following ninety minutes were simply sublime. Feeling no need to pretend to go off stage before an encore, the band treated the crowd to the entirety of the tracks from their debut album along with some unreleased numbers and covers. Of especial charm was the duet Falling between Schultz and Neyla Pekarek, which had the whole crowd swaying and the performance of Elouise from the middle of the crowd. The entire night hammered home just how much talent is found within this band, whether it’s the percussion skills of Jeremiah Fraites, cello playing of Pekarek or the sublime lead vocals and guitar provided by Schultz. After finishing with a spectacular performance of Big Parade the band remained on stage for a little while to cuddle each other and applaud the crowd. This is a band who are genuinely in love with music and performing.
Ben Rider
