CONCERT REVIEW: Mumford & Sons

So, earlier in the week, Tuesday 18th to be precise, I got invited to the final date of Mumford & Son's 'Tour of Two Halves' at the O2. Yes, the freakin' O2. These are the four boys that went to local schools, and are now playing at great ol' arenas like the O2.
Feeling very privileged, I arrived at the arena, only to be escorted to the VIP entrance and headed to a box. Yes, I was to watch the boys perform from a box. No more moshpit-ing for me.
Honestly, I'd never heard of the first support act, Bear's Den, but I managed to get there in time for the second support, Mystery Jets with a belly full of Mexican food. Mexican, Mystery Jets and Mumford. Sounds like a good combo to me.
I LOVE THE MYSTERY JETS. So my evening was already off to a good start. I just remember turning to my sister as soon as we heard the opening to 'Two Doors Down', both our favourite Jets song. The only awkward thing about being in a box, above all the 'moshpitting commoners' as they came to be known, was that it became very hard to dance. Bopping in your seat doesn't have quite the same effect. And the friends that invited us to their box also invited a bunch of artsy fartsy types. Imagine the looks when our family turned up, me and my sister almost ready to cry and my dad in a tweed jacket. TWEED JACKET. Of all the nights...
And then the moment came...

As the lights of the O2 went down, the buzz of excitement rised. The beginning of the first track on their second album, and also the song it was named after, Babel, rings out across the whole stadium. You see four silhouettes appear appear the blood red curtain, and suddenly the curtain falls and the screaming begins. And that's just me.
The great thing about Mumford & Sons is that they all actually play their instrument. And more than one at that. We are so used to electronic music, and artists like Katy Perry who view their concerts as 'shows'. Mumford & Sons manage to combine the two effortlessly. The music is flawless, lively and upbeat and you can't take your eyes of them either.
Between songs, they pick up different instruments before belting out another catchy yet different song that you just have to sing along to, regardless of the stylish dressed 20-something standing next to you.
For me, bopping still proved a difficulty and part of me wanted to be down in the standing area, closer to the slightly messy-looking beardy folk on stage, but I loved being able to take it all in from a distance. I could appreciate the music without being soaked in someone elses sweat (this will reappear later, watch out) and rubbing up against some strangers body. Hmm, happy holidays.
They play out every song on their new album, and some of the bigger ones on their first album flawlessly, barely pausing for oxygen. It was so admirable, these men are so talented at what they do and genuinely seem as if they enjoy. I, and many others, never took them for the sort of band to play stadiums and big arenas, and I don't think they did either. But that's just how it played out. However, the lights draped above the heads of those standing made it feel a intimate occasion. Or however intimate you can get you and 23,000 others.

And just when you thought it was other, the thank you's said and done, they reappeared in the centre of stadium to sing an acapella song before rushing back to the stage to sing their last song, and perhaps their most well known 'The Cave', before wearily leaving the stage, back pats a plenty. I imagine it must have been quite sentimental, with it being their last show of 2012. And what a year it has been for them.

For me, this is when the night became rather dream like. I got given an Access All Areas pass. Technically, this is the end of the concert review, which in case you couldn't decipher, I enjoyed. But read on if you fancy potentially boiling over with jealousy.

And five minutes later, there I was, backstage at the O2 arena, Marcus Mumford all up in my face, shaking my hand with his sweaty palms and informing me that he is called Marcus. Like I didn't freaking know. If you care to image how close we were, probably as close as you are to your computer monitor phone/device right now. Maybe closer.

After meeting the other boys (for all non-fans, they're not his sons), I didn't think my life could ever reach this point of ecstasy again. Enter Carey Mulligan and Colin Firth. Now, I like to consider me and Colin to be quite good friends. He doesn't know it, but I believe this because we happen to live in the same area and I know what he is eating Christmas Day. Please don't tell the police.

But Carey Mulligan may or may not be my idol. If she knew how much I was obsessed with The Great Gatbsy, she would steer clear of me. But not that night. I kept it cool, I think the leather jacket was admitting some kind of 'cool hormone' into my skin. I'll ask my Biology teacher. I'm sure it's a real thing.

Can I just take a moment to digress? Pretty sure Carey Mulligan is officially 'The Coolest 20-Something In The World'. She started off playing Kitty in the incredibly Keira Knightley version of 'Pride and Prejudice', and I'm a true Austen girl at heart, before starring in one of my all time favourite films 'An Education'. Now she's married to Marcus Mumford, the man whose sweat I am currently soaking in and is best friends with Colin Firth. Oh, and she's Daisy in Baz Luhrmann's version of 'The Great Gatsby' due out next year. Yes, that does mean she has pulled Leonardo DiCaprio. Cue screams.

We ended up talking for about five minutes about babies, ping-pong and, of course, the wonderful Marcus. I don't think she sussed how obsessed with her I was, kudos to me.

I still can't believe how fab the evening was and, after all of that, my highlight still has to be the first few notes of Babel and the sheer excitement ringing around the stadium. Absolutely unforgettable.

L x