Thriving within the limits of arena-folk
Mumford & Sons (out of 4) With Maggie Rogers. At Scotiabank Arena, Monday, Dec. 17.
It is surely not by happenstance that Mumford & Sons have chosen to wind down their 2018 touring schedule in support of the new album, Delta, with a pair of shows in Toronto.
Actually, “wind down” is a poor choice of words. Back when it was called the Air Canada Centre, the Scotiabank Arena was — as frontman Marcus Mumford reminded the sold-out and thoroughly boisterous crowd one tune into the band’s 100-minute set on Monday night — “the first arena we ever played” in October of 2011, and Toronto’s passion for the Mumfords does not appear to have diminished one iota during the intervening years.
That place was lit up in spectacularly un-Toronto-like fashion on Monday, and no doubt was again when the London quartet returned to the same venue to play its last gig of the year on Tuesday night.
Seriously, I see a lot of big-room gigs in this town where the crowd thinks it’s into the show, but isn’t really behaving that way. This crowd was into it, on its feet and roaring and drinking itself delirious with impressively two-fisted abandon for the duration. I haven’t seen Toronto go that hard on a school night since the last time Slayer came to town. For some reason, Mumford & Sons have struck a nerve in our fair city.
And this was not lost on the band — which was planted on a schooner-like in-the-round stage at the centre of the frothing arena bowl and could routinely be seen exchanging awestruck “WTF?” glances at the huge response each and every note it collectively sang and played was getting — on Monday evening.
“Somehow your country has ended up being the most welcoming and generous for our band,” Mumford said toward the close of the set, sounding highly sincere. “So for that we thank you.”
If the tremendous energy in the air wasn’t quite enough to turn a nonfan into a fan, it was sufficiently contagious to get you through the gig without much complaint. The stompin’ arena-folk thing that’s done by Mumford & Sons — Mumford, bassist Ted Dwane, keyboardist Ben Lovett and banjo maestro Winston Marshall, with four extra musicians chipping in on trombone, guitar and keys when needed — tends to be a little predictable and predictably overblown over the long haul, but stuck in the middle of 20,000 people belting out “Little Lion Man” or “Babel” or “The Cave” or “I Will Wait” word-for-word, it’s hard to disparage the band’s knack for penning everyman pop tunes. They’re “bro-y” enough for the bros embracing and dumping beer down your back, sensitive enough for the ladies travelling in packs and swooning into their white wines and a relatively painless night out for whichever half of the couple doesn’t really want to be there. Mumford & Sons are the very definition of inoffensive.
The group’s efforts to mess with the folksy formula established on its 2009 debut, Sigh No More, and 2012’s Babel on its last two albums, 2015’s Wilder Mind and this year’s Delta, are admirable enough, although the distinct U2-isms of the crowd-pleasing new single “Guiding Light,” “Believe,” “Ditmas” (for which Mumford made a run into the stands) or grand finale “Delta” betray where Mumford & Sons’ career ambitions ultimately lie.
For the most part, Monday’s crowd seemed content enough with the Delta material. The only moment things ground completely to a halt — and I do mean completely — was during an illtimed digression into brooding electropop on “Picture You” and “Darkness Visible” right before the encore. For the first time of the entire night, legions of fans could be seen taking their seats or making for the exits. Some guy who looked like he was about to be beheaded in a terrorist video started talking on the big screens and everyone just got more confused. The couple to my right packed up and left. It was a clear sign that Mumford & Sons will only be indulged in their experimentation so much.
But then “The Wolf” erupted amidst a shower of sparks at either side of the stage and the band brought out opener Maggie Rogers to sing “Awake My Soul” and they finally got to “I Will Wait” and all seemed forgiven. Nice rebound.