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

 

Blair Davie (Press)

Blair Davie Releases Haunting New Single ‘Butterflies’ And Embarks On Their Biggest Tour Yet

Rising Scottish singer-songwriter Blair Davie returns with a stunning new single, Butterflies, a soul-baring love letter to enduring connection and emotional resilience — and announces an expansive UK and European tour to match. Butterflies captures the emotional depth and lyrical honesty that have quickly become Blair Davie’s trademark. With intimate vocals, cinematic instrumentation, and a vulnerability that lingers long after the final note, the track is a powerful meditation on the kind of love that withstands time, change, and conflict.

Coach Party (Josh Halling)

Coach Party Roar Back With Explosive New Single ‘Girls!’ and Announce Sophomore Album ‘Caramel’

Rising alt-rock quartet Coach Party have unleashed their thunderous new single Girls!, a fire-starting anthem of unity...
Fourmarks @ Water Rats(Louise Phillips)

Fourmarks And Koyo light Up A Water Rats Showcase

This was a showcase at The Water Rats featuring three new bands that I knew very little about. I arrived early enough...
Glastonbury Festival 2023 (Kalpesh Patel)

Glastonbury Festival 2025 Unveils Dazzling Line-Ups For Arcadia, The Common, San Remo, Theatre & Circus, And Left Field

As the countdown to Glastonbury Festival 2025 intensifies, Worthy Farm has revealed an explosive series of area...
Olivia Rodrigo (Press)

Olivia Rodrigo Brings A Powerhouse Line-up Of Rising Stars And Fan Favourites To BST Hyde Park 2025

BST Hyde Park continues to cement its status as the crown jewel of the UK’s summer music season, and this year’s edition promises one of its most emotionally charged and dynamic nights yet. On Friday 27th June 2025, Olivia Rodrigo will headline the legendary Great Oak Stage—and now, she’ll be joined by a dazzling array of special guests and rising stars set to light up London’s Royal Park.

Avery Anna (Ben Humphrey)

Avery Anna Turns Heartbreak Into Healing On Bold New Album ‘Let Go Letters’

This Friday (16th May), Warner Music Nashville’s rising star Avery Anna returns with let go letters, a bold,...
Sarah Hollins (Elaine Torres)

Sarah Hollins Unleashes Ferocious Feminist Rage On New Single ‘Mother’

New Jersey-born and Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Sarah Hollins is no stranger to telling hard truths through even harder songs — and with her new single “Mother”, dropping just in time for Mother’s Day Weekend 2025, she has crafted her most uncompromising and timely release to date. Produced by Erik Kertes (Michael Bublé, Shakira, Jewel, Melissa Etheridge), the track is a snarling, defiant ode to the kind of feminine rage that rarely gets the sonic space it deserves.

The Kooks (Joshua Halling)

The Kooks Return With Reflective, Revitalised Seventh Album ‘Never/Know’

In a music landscape where reinvention can often seem forced, The Kooks have taken a different approach: reflection as a form of renewal. With their seventh studio album, Never/Know, out today, the Brighton-formed indie mainstays offer a vibrant, emotionally grounded record that doesn’t just revisit their roots—it reimagines them.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This

Share Thing