Mumford and Sons stoke the Asheville Civic Center

Normally I find the square cavernous likes of the Asheville Civic Center to be an underwhelming drag. The conservative concrete walls have never accurately represented Asheville’s largest venue. But on Tuesday, June 7^th that cold hypnotic square found crackling coals inside. It was Mumford and Son’s biggest headline show to date and I was blessed to be amongst the sold- out crowd. The show started a bit slowly with the title track to their album, Sigh No More, but  quickly found pure foot stomping adrenaline as Roll Away Your Stone and Winter Winds brought the entire crowd to their feet. This British foursome turned a normally mediocre, drone ACC crowd into a raging fir e by consistently switching instruments and sincerely embracing the raw energy of music.

Sporting vest, tattered jeans and even a mohawk style mullet, the eclectic crew had a wide range of styles for an equally diverse crowd. Throughout the night the core four (Mumford, Lovett, Marshall, and Dwane) were joined by an assortment of guest including members from the opening band and a trio of horn players. Because their first and only full length release includes only one song with prominent horns, it seemed that the deep-lunged trio would only be out for a song or two. However much to the fans pleasant surprise, Mumford and Sons courageously tried out many new numbers from an album that should be finished shortly after their present tour. Many of the fresh tracks provided the horns section with plenty of opportunity to create an evolving emotional range. At one point the formulaically happy band even ventured into some slightly intriguing dark space. However it did not take them very long to veer back into their contagiously charismatic style. And in the end, the respectful newcomers paid tribute to their mentoring friends, The Avett Brothers, by playing Go to Sleep.

As the last notes were plucked, the entire civic center exhaled.  Then Mumford and Sons bowed and waved under a single strand of bulbs that glowed like poarch lights in the deep south. The line of lights looked so casually strewn that one might guess that the quartet had hung them on their own, and judging from all the other comfortable glowing warmth they brought with them tonight, I would not would not be surprised at all.