For music fans on the East Coast, the city of Philadelphia was the place to be on Friday, Sept. 9. The city welcomed acclaimed Brit singer-songwriter, Adele, who belted it out for adoring fans at the Wells Fargo Center. Across the street at Citizens Bank Park, legendary Bruce Springsteen and his E Street Band gave Philly fans perhaps his most unforgettable performance yet. This was especially true for one young fan whose sign read, “Can a college kid play “No Surrender’ with you?” and got him noticed by "The Boss" himself. Sure enough, that sign earned this lucky fan a first-class seat on stage playing right alongside Bruce and the boys.
Read more about it here.
As if that wasn’t enough to make headlines, Bruce broke record for his longest performance in U.S. history (a whopping four hours and four minutes) during the first (Wednesday, Sept. 7) of his two nightly performances at Citizens Bank Park.
I just so happened to be in Philadelphia that same evening, but was catching another performance on the other side of town by one of my favorite groups to have emerged in recent years. The Lumineers, presented by Radio 104.5, played a SOLD OUT show at the Mann Center. They were joined by special guests BØRNS and Rayland Baxter.
Traffic to the show was terrible coming from Wilmington, Delaware, presumably because of the number of acts Philly was hosting. However, not the traffic nor the four years in between that it took for The Lumineers to release their sophomore album, "Cleopatra," could make me wait any longer. My friends will tell you, that since the day I heard ‘Oh, Ophelia,’ I’ve been addicted to the song and the entire "Cleopatra" album.
(On our way to see The Lumineers)
As soon as The Lumineers opened up with “Sleep on The Floor,” the tone for the evening was set and I knew we’d be hearing a lot of fan favorites. As if not to disappoint, the band followed it up with “Ophelia,” “Flowers in Your Hair,” and “Ho, Hey.” It was before the performance of “Ho, Hey” that Wesley Schultz, lead vocalist and guitarist, asked the crowd to please refrain from the use of cell phones afterward. He wanted the fans to be more present with the band outside of technology’s noise stating, “Just be here now.”
A personal favorite of mine has and will be “Dead Sea” from The Lumineers first and self-titled album. I turned to my friend and expressed my profound desire to hear the song played just moments before the song came through the lineup. Then right on cue, Schultz delivered, but not before giving a brief introduction on how he often gets asked if “Dead Sea” is a love song. While the verse, ‘You told me I was like the Dead Sea,’ may seemingly give a negative connotation, the follow up verse, ‘You’ll never sink when you are with me,’ clearly indicates that it is indeed a love song. In fact, Schultz has said he recorded “Dead Sea” as a Valentine’s gift for his now wife who I can only reason to be the song’s muse.
Schultz also gave some insight into “Gun Song,” which he recalled writing after his father died. It’s about one of the first memories he had shortly after dealing with the loss. Schultz just happened to be rummaging through one of his father’s drawers only to discover a pistol that he never knew his father owned. The experience left Schultz nostalgic for all the questions he could no longer get the answers to from his father and “All the other things I might still not know about him,” said Schultz.
Aside from their lyrical storytelling, one of the qualities I’ve deeply admired about The Lumineers is the level of intimacy they are able to create live in front of a large audience. The dim lighting, the echoing bellows from the cello, followed by the soft chords of the acoustic guitar and plinking of each piano key, makes you feel personally invited to a private musical showing. So it was a pleasant surprise during their mid-set performance when the band broke from the main stage to reappear on a second, backstage. For fans like me located near the lawn area of the Mann amphitheater, the backstage was utilized to engage fans watching the concert from afar. The Lumineers broke into “Abe Song,” and in that moment, you felt the bridge connect between artist and fan. It did not matter from where you came or the location of your seat, and the fans were appreciative of this added personal touch. The Lumineers ended with “Classy Girls” before heading back to the main stage to finish out the night.
That Tuesday, following the concert, fans were treated to yet another surprise from The Lumineers. The band announced the release of their second music video, “Angela/Patience,” directed by Isaac Ravishankara who also directed the “Cleopatra” music video. The “Angela/Patience” story-line seems to mirror, or at least in part, accompany the previous “Cleopatra” video’s story-line. The leading character in “Angela/Patience” is the same young, pregnant female who accepts a ride from an older, female cab driver and who is the leading character of “Cleopatra.” Both videos also begin with a metaphoric separation of two people stepping outside themselves, which subtly suggests the two characters and timelines are intertwined.
I’m excited to see how the “Cleopatra” story will continue to unfold and what previous characters may emerge to help push the plot along. I’m also looking forward to how The Lumineers will continue to tell the story and connect fans with “Cleopatra” while on tour.
A post I saw later in the week from a friend on Facebook read, “The Lumineers are the kind of band you gotta see every now and then so you remember what music is.”
I couldn’t agree more.
