The Lumineers Lead A Big Parade At The O2 Arena

by | Nov 29, 2019

Lumineers @ The O2 Arena

When The Lumineers hit the big time with 2012’s inescapable Ho Hey, they were lumped in with the other bands riding the folk revival wave of the time. Their contemporaries (say Mumford & Sons and Of Monsters And Men) have since embraced Coldplay-rock, adult-oriented-pop, inoffensive electronica, and everything Imagine Dragons have ever done. But The Lumineers have stuck to their guns.

Lumineers @ The O2 Arena

The group’s recently released third album (the aptly named III), is all acoustic guitar, mandolin, piano, cello, and drums that alternately shuffle and gallop. But that’s not to say that the group, led by singer-guitarist Wesley Shultz and drummer/multi-instrumentalist Jeremiah Fraites, are stuck in the past or a barn somewhere in Idaho.

Lumineers @ The O2 Arena

Songs like the rollicking Life In The City and tender ballad Dead Sea, which the earnest Shultz attributes to his now wife, are just as timeless as the organic instrumentation the musicians favour, with even more mass appeal.

Lumineers @ The O2 Arena

Slick enough to fill out The O2 Arena on a Wednesday night, The Lumineers’ repertoire is as tasteful as the staging: all exposed wood and velvet drapes, paired with a Vegas-calibre light show. The effect is completed by three human-height, petal-shaped, timber-and-fabric screens awash with colours and textures behind the musicians.

Lumineers @ The O2 Arena

But there’s nothing restrained about the performance itself. Even before the musicians take the stage, with spotlights sweeping across the crowd to the sound of The Rolling Stones Gimme Shelter, they want you to know that, beneath the sheen, this is a rock ‘n roll show at heart.

Lumineers @ The O2 Arena

The venues, budgets, and audiences may have grown dramatically but, where it counts, nothing much has changed since the group played to 200 people in Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen (and were accidentally locked out of the venue before the encore) less than a decade ago.

Lumineers @ The O2 Arena

So, despite all that’s going on behind them, for stretches of the show the entire band perform in a row at the foot of the stage, using just the songs and the joyous intensity of their playing to connect – with each other and thousands of strangers. In fact, some of the most powerful moments happen when Shultz and Fraites are left alone up there to perform the stark Slow It Down and angelic Donna.

Lumineers @ The O2 Arena

Yet for all the intimacy, they also know how to play to the highest seats of an arena. Shultz hops into the audience, to walk among the fans, during Ophelia. Prone to putting his feet up on the keys, or leaping off raised platforms, the barefoot Stelth Ulvang bounds onto the top of his upright piano to dance and bash a tambourine as Big Parade hits its fiesta finale and the audience clap along enmasse.

Lumineers @ The O2 Arena

When not stuck behind his kit, Fraites is just as energetic, literally skipping from drums to keys to the guitars being handed out by a roadie, while Byron Isaacs (mainly bass), Brandon Miller (mainly guitar), and Lauren Jacobson (mainly strings) are equally adept at playing seemingly any instrument with flair and confidence.

Lumineers @ The O2 Arena

But it’s not all big smiles and shouts of “ho!”. Shultz introduces Leader Of The Landslide by revealing the sombre, heartbreaking origins of its protagonist’s descent into addiction and homelessness.

Lumineers @ The O2 Arena

And, before performing a heavy rendition of Leonard Cohen’s 1992 track Democracy (with the late singer’s backing vocalists, The Webb Sisters), the frontman quotes its most prescient lines: “I’m sentimental, if you know what I mean/ I love the country but I can’t stand the scene/ And I’m neither left or right/ I’m just staying home tonight/ Getting lost in that hopeless little screen”.

Lumineers @ The O2 Arena

That hopelessness doesn’t last long. The Webbs stick around for a stirring take on Angela, before the good-time finale Stubborn Love and its “oh oh”s has the entire audience shouting, clapping, and stomping along as one. That’s a send-off that can’t be bought, no matter how big the budget.

Lumineers @ The O2 Arena

Review of The Lumineers at The O2 Arena on 27th November 2019 by Nils van der Linden. Photos by Kalpesh Patel.

Luna Bay Bring The Fire To Their Hometown At London’s Scala

 

Billy Idol @ Wembley Arena (Kalpesh Patel)

Billy Proves He Is No False Idol, But A Truly Authentic One At Wembley Arena

Fresh from being well received at the inaugural Forever Now festival as well as a surprise appearance alongside...
Wide angle photo of Opus Stage and Arena at DownloadXXII

From Chaos To Catharsis: Sleep Token Silence The Doubters As Day Two Of Download Festival XXII Delivers Big Moments And Bigger Emotion

We’re back for Day 2 of Download Festival XXII. Would today live up to the great start we had yesterday? Let’s see…

Bludfest 2025 @ Milton Keynes Bowl (Ruby Boland)

Hello Heaven, Hello! Bludfest Returns Bigger Than Ever!

The elfin Elin Hall makes for the perfect entrance music, America swirling like the threat of rain overhead, as...
Nine Inch Nails @ Scala (Kalpesh Patel)

Trent And Atticus Nine Inch Nail It At The O2 Arena

Every act craves that strong connection with their audience – but how do you achieve this in a cavernous space like The O2 Arena, filled to the brim with around 20,000 fans (all, naturally, dressed in black)? Well, in typical belligerent style, Nine Inch Nails meet this challenge head on – treating us to a set by turns poetic and punishing, and despite the odd technical hiccup, really delivering that all important connection.

L-R: Roger Taylor, John Taylor, Simon Le Bon & Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran @ The O2 (Kalpesh Patel)

Duran Duran To Bring Their Spectacular Danse Macabre Halloween Party To Manchester’s Co-Op Live

British music legends Duran Duran have announced their first-ever UK Halloween extravaganza, set to take over Manchester’s Co-Op Live on Friday, 31st October 2025. Promising a night of haunting glamour, sonic mischief and spine-tingling surprises, the one-off show will mark the UK debut of the band’s acclaimed Danse Macabre Halloween Party.

Jane Remover @ Outbreak London 2025

Outbreak Festival Storms London: A Genre-Bending Baptism Of Hardcore, Chaos & Community

Outbreak has been the beating heart of the UK’s hardcore scene since 2011 at its home in Manchester, finally the...
Santana @ The O2 Arena (Kalpesh Patel)

A Higher Frequency: Santana’s Timeless Spirit Lights Up The O2 Arena

As London sweltered under a 32-degree summer solstice sun, a different kind of illumination awaited inside The O2 Arena. Carlos Santana—guitar deity, Woodstock survivor, and spiritual messenger—brought his legendary band and transcendental energy to the capital with his Oneness Tour, proving once again that music, when played with heart and soul, can truly heal.

Matt Bellamy of Muse @ The O2 (Kalpesh Patel)

Muse Return With Electrifying New Single ‘Unravelling’ — A Thunderous Taste Of What’s To Come

Muse have unleashed their blistering new single Unravelling, igniting excitement among fans as they return to the world stage with their trademark flair for drama and dystopian grandeur. The track marks their first new music since 2022’s Will Of The People and signals the beginning of a bold new chapter for the stadium-filling trio.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This

Share Thing