Mumford & Sons & Dawes - Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff - 13th December 2012 (Live Review)
Friday, 14 December 2012
Written by David Ball
It’s been a strange few years for Mumford & Sons. After bursting onto the scene as media darlings with the release of their huge debut album ‘Sigh No More’ their gruelling touring schedule saw them seemingly play every festival and small venue across the UK for the following two years while their singles were staples on every radio station you tuned in to. The effect of this was a ‘Coldplay effect’ for some people, where it seemed to become cool to dislike them. After a break while they worked equally hard at breaking North America (with a fair amount of success) and a well received new album, ‘Babel’, they’re back for their first full arena tour.
First up though was the support. Providing good value for money two acts are laid on tonight, although Cardiff Christmas traffic means my 3 mile journey to the arena takes over 45 minutes and I miss all but the last half a song from Post War Years. It would be pretty unfair to judge them on that but I can say what I’ve heard from scanning some of their tracks on YouTube I think I’d have quite enjoyed them.
Main support comes from LA quartet Dawes who I come away very impressed by. They bravely open the set with a track which includes a long instrumental section, a bold move which shows not only their confidence but also each of their individual skills. It’s an unmistakably West coast sound with influences including Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and to a lesser extent The Eagles giving each of their songs a traditional familiarity while maintaining a modern enough leaning to keep them sounding current.
Blending balanced dual vocals with some substantial musicianship they demand the attention of a crowd which rapidly moves from the bar areas to the main hall throughout their set while their stage presence belies their status as a support act. If you walked in without prior knowledge of the bands playing you could easily have believed they were the headliner. Their 45 minute set flies past with country influenced ballad ‘A Little Bit Of Everything’ and ‘If I wanted Someone’ the stand-out tracks of a thoroughly impressive set which they close with an elongated instrumental, further showing off their talents.
What follows before Mumford & Sons may be the strangest thing I’ve seen at a show. A man dressed up as a cartoon dragon (Piff the magic dragon, Puffs younger brother perhaps?) appears on stage and for the next 10 minutes bores the entire audience. I genuinely would have been happier watching the road-crew setting up than being put through his attempts at comedy and pre-school magic. I’m not sure whose idea it was but hopefully they usually come up with better ones.
As the curtain drops Mumford & Sons take the stage with a bang, launching into the title track of latest album ‘Babel’ before jumping straight into ‘I Will Wait’ as they’re joined by a 3 man horn section. The reaction to both tells you everything you need to know about their lasting popularity as both are sung back at them enthusiastically despite being new tracks. Further evidence of the increased set up now they’ve graduated to arenas comes with a string section for ‘Winter Winds’ with their now trademark four way vocal harmonies perfectly balanced.
Playing for just over 90 minutes they’re able to run through almost their entire back catalogue, keeping chat at a minimum the various flowing textures of their sound keeping a nice balance of pace throughout. The last time I saw Mumford & Sons was at Glastonbury’s John Peel tent in 2010 and my main concern coming into this review was whether they could maintain the connection and intimacy of their smaller shows. The results are mixed in my opinion. While the band sounds excellent there is an annoyingly high volume of crowd chatter during slower tracks which takes away from the delicacy of those more gentle moments. That’s no fault of the band in a sense but it does take away from the overall feel of the show.
There are no such problems during ‘Little Lion Man’ where the rows of bulbs draped from the ceiling are barely needed with the volume of camera phones held up to record it lighting the hall up. Dawes are invited back on stage to perform ‘Awake My Soul’, the addition of an electric guitar part subtly adding an extra colour to an already rich sounding song. ‘Dustbowl Dances’ closes the main set with Marcus Mumford taking a spot behind the drum kit for a spectacular finish. It’s my favourite track of the night and has the feel of a festival headline slot closer. There are no surprises when ‘The Cave’ finishes the encore to a raucous, bouncing crowd.
On this evidence Mumford & Sons status will continue to rise and, as they get more used to playing these larger venues I have no doubt the shows will get even better. Older songs ‘Roll Away Your Stone’ and ‘Winter Winds’ sound fresh again and there have been no difficult second album issues. I also fully expect to see Dawes getting bigger and bigger on this evidence.
Dawes latest album ‘Nothing Is Wrong’ is out now.
Mumford & Sons ‘Babel’ is also out now. Mumford & Sons still have a few dates left on this tour and will headline T In The Park this summer.
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
First up though was the support. Providing good value for money two acts are laid on tonight, although Cardiff Christmas traffic means my 3 mile journey to the arena takes over 45 minutes and I miss all but the last half a song from Post War Years. It would be pretty unfair to judge them on that but I can say what I’ve heard from scanning some of their tracks on YouTube I think I’d have quite enjoyed them.
