The Lumineers, Manchester Academy 1, 19th Feb 2013 8/10

The Lumineers' album was one of my favourites of 2012, and having only seen them previously supporting The Civil Wars, this gig was one of my most eagerly awaited of the year. I queued early for a place on the front rail, and even a double upgrade to a larger venue did nothing to dampen my enthusiasm. I’d read amazing reviews of the support band Langhorne Slim & The Law in Glasgow and Manchester, so when tthe vocals were barely audible in the start, my heart sank. After a couple of songs the sound improved, but by this time much of the audience had been lost, and the background chatter remained audible throughout their set . Given the energy on stage, this lack of attention was baffling, and the full effect of Langhorne's poignant Song for Sid about his late grandfather sung from the edge of the stage, was lost. Attention was regained when three members of The Lumineers joined them, a gesture which was reciprocated at the end of the evening when both bands jammed together. Langhorne, from Pennsylvania, has a distinctive voice and I’ll seek out  his shows in future, hopefully in more sympathetic circumstances.

In 2010, The Lumineers were playing open mike nights in a bar in Denver. Even a year ago, they were relatively unknown in the UK, yet tonight they had easily sold out the 2300 capacity Academy One after gaining 2 Grammy nominations. Much of this success can be attributed to the hit Ho Hey, and the band exploited its familiarity by moving into the crowd to play acoustically, leading a sing along. The request not to use cameras for this song were ignored, but it was still a thrilling moment.  Ho Hey was repeated later on stage with full instrumentation, to much delight, a testament to the simple power of melody. Yet there was still some background noise to contend with in The Lumineers' quieter numbers, reminding me of an less than ideal Mumford and Sons gig I attended in 2011. It's a reflection that the band has broken through into the mainstream, beyond those regularly attending shows, lured by their knowledge of (perhaps only) Ho Hey.

The addition of covers to the set (notably Dylan's Boots of Spanish Leather and a blues number called I Ain't Nobody's Problem But My Own) highlighted a paucity of original material of the level of invention of songs such as Big Parade, Submarines or Morning Song. A new, darker number appropriately called Manchester suggested a possible broadening of direction, yet didn’t wholly convince. The most promising avenue is surely to further exploit cellist Neyla Pekarek’s soulful voice: the bluesy Falling, in which she took centre stage with Wesley Schultz, was captivating. The sound was better than for the support act, despite the odd balance problem.

With the move to larger venues, The Lumineers have stretched their songs to make for more a more dramatic impact, and their stage moves are also (necessarily) exaggerated. I wish however that they hadn’t been positioned so far away from each other on the wide stage: this felt unnatural, a world away from front porch improvisation. Schultz was adept in working the crowd, and the level of joy and fun as he led sing along after sing along was immense. Of course Mumford and Sons blazed a trail, but the Lumineers’ ability to make acoustic music relevant again is heartening. It would have been impossible not to come away from the experience feeling uplifted.

Yet, I’m left with a reservation about the music. The night before, I listened to Thom Yorke's Amok, from his side project Atoms for Peace, for the first time . The electronic style makes it inappropriate to compare it with The Lumineers; yet the way in which it engaged me creativity (in a similar way to great works of classical music) makes me realise there's a danger of excessive expectations torwards The Lumineers. Their execution, stagecraft, and chemistry can’t be questioned, but the simplicity of the music could end up being a limitation rather than a strength, with no pretence of originality. There’s nothing wrong in living in the moment, but composers like Thom Yorke or Trent Reznor use the trust they’ve built up in their fans to lead them to new, challenging places. The open question is whether The Lumineers will take risks with their second album, or sell out to commercial imperatives as did Mumford with the over driven, stale Babel album. In the mean time though, their debut will continue to bring much happiness to the world.

Langhorne Slim