The lights dimmed on the championship flag-lined United Center in Chicago at 7:51 p.m.
Flashing orange lights and rich trumpet sounds filled the arena as Stephen Sanchez and the Barr Brothers took the stage to open for the English-lad folk rock band Mumford & Sons.
The pairing brought soulful jazz mixes to the stage as Sanchez showcased his vocal range and control. Despite battling a cold, Sanchez’s raspy to rich voice got the crowd fired up.
The best way to describe the opening was “moving and grooving” as Sanchez somewhat awkwardly orbited the stage. From “Be More” to “Until I Found You,” the indie jazz beats left the crowd with their heads bopping as they exited the stage.
After 30 minutes, the lights dimmed, bright white lights flashed on the stage and the banjo started.
The crowd erupted as Mumford & Sons appeared on the stage and, to the audience’s surprise, went straight into “Run Together,” an unreleased single. Quickly after the end of its first song, the band transitioned to the well-known track “Babel,” bringing the crowd’s hands up and every butt out of its seat.
“Rushmere,” Mumford & Sons’ third song and the namesake of its newest album and tour, played as a sky contraption of neonlight doves and hearts came down.
Screens behind the band also brought an at-home film quality to the show as the jamming really started.
We heard Marcus Mumford, lead singer of the band, speak for the first time after the end of “Rushmere” as he said, “We didn’t come to f—k around.” Mumford & Sons went straight into one of its biggest hits, “Little Lion Man.”
Seeing the song live was surreal. By its end, even Marcus couldn’t contain his joy, letting his smirk peak through the band’s perfect harmonies.
The background screens transitioned to three large circles as the band slowed down with keys from keyboardist Ben Lovett. “Hopeless Wanderer” let the audience belt the lyrics to their heart’s desire. The flashing lights, guitar runs and screaming from crowdgoers felt more rock ‘n’ roll than sweet indie folk.
Mumford (as the nonchalant king he is) quickly hopped up to the drum set, grabbing a pair of soft white mallets. As one of the most versatile artists of our generation, he began singing the fan favorite “Lover of the Light” while playing the drums and chewing gum — a combination of actions I didn’t even think was possible.
Running back to his spot in the center stage, a single spotlight fell on Mumford. “Believe,” one of my personal favorites, started slow, and by the time the beat picked up, Mumford was in the pit letting concertgoers do the lyric grunt work.
“Truth,” from Mumford & Sons’ new album, proved to be the most rock ‘n’ roll of all the songs. Flames lit up the edge of the stage; the heat could be felt from the ground floor.
At 9:44, the stage went abruptly dark, leaving the audience confused. Just 30 seconds later, the band reappeared on a smaller stage in the middle of the floor.
“Ghosts That We Knew” and “Caroline” left the crowd totally captivated. By this point, Mumford seemed just as happy to be there as the rest of us. Leaning over to his bandmates, they decided to improvise, staying on the platform to perform “Guiding Light.”
Instead of walking back to the main stage, Mumford chose to take a longer route. He began running through the stands, hugging fans and jumping on empty seats as both his security guard and the spotlight struggled to keep up. Oh, and did I mention, he did all that while singing one of the band’s most technically tough songs: “Ditmas.”
After three more songs, Mumford & Sons attempted to end the night with “The Wolf” as sparklers shot down from the ceiling, but the crowd begged for more.
They came back out for a five-song encore.
For their first encore song, “Timshel,” Mumford asked the audience to play a team game with him where “you shut the f—k up,” which he noted, “is hard for any American.”
“Timshel” was followed by “Malibu” and “Awake My Soul.”
But the crowd was really waiting for arguably the band’s most popular hit, “I Will Wait,” to cap the night off.
After the song’s end, the crowd swarmed to get out of the gates, but the band stopped them in their tracks with another unreleased single called “A Conversation With My Son, Gangsters, and Angels.”
In a serene moment, Mumford started doing happy spins and stomps onstage, and sparks flew to conclude a truly “no notes” concert.
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