Mumford and Sons Adventures

Someone once told me that college is a time to have wonderful adventures. This past Sunday was definitely  a memorable one! Back in August, Holly, Jeremy Caty and Matt (4 of my closest friends at Whitworth) and I all got tickets to go see one of our new favorite bands Mumford and Sons in Seattle. The plan was to leave Saturday afternoon stay the night, have the day to walk around Seattle, go to the concert, hop in the car and head back to Spokane. Well it turns out that Jeremy had a mandatory leadership retreat and wouldn't be back until 12:00 on Sunday afternoon.  By the time Jeremy got back it was close to 1 and the doors opened at 6:30. We squished into Holly's little car and headed west on I90. The clouds were big and dark with bits of pink and it had just rained, and all the leaves were at their peak for color. Snoqualmie pass was incredible, the clouds were low mingling with the pines and patches of bright golden trees and the tops of the mountains were covered in fresh snow.. Needless to say it was a gorgeous drive, with good conversation, laughter and great music (seeing as it was my ipod that was playing!)

When we got to Seattle we enjoyed delicious Chipotle (which we don't have in Spokane!) had trouble figuring out which of the 7 Starbuck's we should buy our coffee from and then stood in line awaiting our first Mumford concert.  

We were relatively close to the front of the line, which put us standing about 7 rows back from the stage. A guy called King Charles was the first to open. The only way that I could think to describe him is a reggae Captain Jack Sparrow. Lyrically he put together some beautiful poetic songs. He just played the guitar and sang. He was obviously not the most talented musician at the Paramount that night but his lyrics and dress were interesting enough to keep everyone entertained. Next came Mt. Desolation a somewhat alternative country band that was decently good, but King Charles was far more interesting to listen to.

For the main event...Mumford and Sons. What a show! Really. It was phenomenal! I have been listening to MaS for over a year now and I find I become more interested in their music the more and more I listen to them. Hearing them live was definitely a treat! However I must admit I was a bit nervous that they wouldn't be as good live. Anytime I watched Youtube videos they seemed really pitchy and just not as good as the recording for their album, but it was far from that at this show. 

They opened with their album title song the beautiful Sigh No More, and followed with most of the rest of their songs with a few new ones thrown in there. Lover of the light was a stunning song with Marcus Mumford (as the lead singer) at the drums. They played another song they just wrote on the road a couple of months ago. They said they were doing a show two nights in a row and on the second day when they were practicing, they were messing around and came up with a beautiful harmony filled song. They still don't have a name for it, but I'm hoping they decide to record it! 

It's hard to pinpoint which songs were the 'best' ... they were all fantastic and each one filled with energy. There were times when mic stands fell over and sweat was flying... they have real passion for what they were singing about.  Standing in a huge (beautiful) theater with hundreds of strangers all singing the same melodies, the same powerful (and spiritual) lyrics with a powerful band at the leading at the front was quite the experience.

We jumped back into the car around 11:45, and started back on the road. We tried to sleep, but sleep wasn't so kind to us all squished in the back and filled with the events of the night, so by the time we pulled into Whitworth around 4:30 we were quite exhausted. The next few days were a little choppy with lots of homework and little sleep... but all worth it! I can't wait till Mumford comes back to the Northwest!