Mumford & Sons prove themselves fine folk
Kevin Bronson on
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Mumford & Sons have it down pat. Maybe even too pat. When the West London quartet brought its folkbluepopgrass* to the Fonda Theatre for the first of two sold-out shows on Thursday night, the lads were everything that Angelenos have come to love in visitors from Old Blighty: handsome and dapper with snappy British accents, and snarky senses of humor too. (* so tired of hyphenating)
Oh, and they can play.
Among the phalanx of new bands trudging the dusty roads of Americana in search of a musical lifeline, there are the Shameless Plunderers, the Reasonable Facsimiles Thereof and the Worthy Followers, and on this night Marcus Mumford and mates reserved a table with the latter group. They countered the tenderest of moments with jig-inspiring danciness executed at times with punk-rock ferocity. Half the time the Fonda crowd ogled, half the time they sang along, and front start to finish there was hardly a frown to be found.
- ||| Photos by Laurie Scavo
“Little Lion Man,” with its F-word-peppered chorus, brought out everybody’s singing voice, as did “The Cave,” and handclaps provided most of the percussion for the title track to their debut album, “Sigh No More.” Chatty charlies in the crowd were actually shushed during quieter songs like “Thistle & Weeds” – a courtesy that was most definitely not extended to openers the Middle East, who were more boring that you thought seven people and a laptop could be.
In between, the Orange County-born Mumford marveled at the adulation his band has found in L.A., and responded in kind several times before joking wryly, “We’ll stop flattering you soon, you wankers.” His shout-out to the Lakers got a curiously mixed reaction, but not Country Winston’s gangsta-mocking greeting for Inglewood. Laughs all around.
Very tidy – but for all the heartache and drama on “Sigh No More,” though, the quartet left the nagging feeling that they could have gotten by with a little less aplomb. Shouldn’t the material dictate that there be some discernible rough edges? Shouldn’t blood – at least the metaphorical kind – be spilled? If theirs are whiskey songs, it was still only a vodka-and-cranberry night. But at least it was something hard.
||| Live: Mumford & Sons reprise their show tonight at the Fonda Theatre.
great review. completely agree about the middle east. at one point i turned to my friend & said “how can so many people make so little noise?”
I like Mumford and Sons, but they’ve obviously been listening to the Avett Brothers who seem more authentic to these ears.
false. punk rock. false, good. each song sounds the same. Between song banter should be reserved for those who have earned it. Mr. Mumford certainly has not. It’s a soundtrack band and every song could be used for the same scene. They will not distract me from the Melvins next weekend.