edpaffjr.comLast night I attended The Lumineers concert at Riverbend. It was a lovely night for a concert with temperatures hovering around the 70 degree mark. The show was originally scheduled for the much smaller and intimate PNC Pavilion on May 4, but was moved to Riverbend after tickets originally sold out in minutes.
Opening the show were J Roddy Walston and the Business, which I completely missed, and the Cold War Kids. I wasn’t familiar with the Cold War Kids at all, but their indie rock sound reminded me a lot of the Local Natives. Their latest single “Miracle Mile” is a good example of their sound at it’s best. I watched the majority of their set from the lawn and noticed that Riverbend has installed another projection screen.
New Project Screen
The Lumineers started their 80 minute set at 9:30 on the dot with their piano and drum driven song “Submarines.” The biggest shock of the night came when they launched into their mega-hit “Ho Hey” after playing just three songs before it. I almost expected some of the crowd to thin after this move, but the venue remained filled throughout their entire set.
I never really noticed it before, but lead singer Wesley Schultz sounds a lot like Bob Dylan. This was especially evident during a cover of Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” One of my favorite moments of the night came in the middle of their set when Schultz and Neyla Pekarek shared vocal duties on a new song. Pekarek can really sing, and I wish the band better utilized her vocal abilities.
The Lumineers
The second single from their debut album, “Stubborn Love,” was the second to last song of the set and was a high point of the night. The encore started with “Morning Song,” the last song on their album. Then came another cover, the Violent Femmes’ “American Music” which turned into a big sing along. The same was also true with the last song of the night, “Big Parade”
Overall the concert was a good one and was well worth the $35 ticket price. I still think that it could have been even better if it were at a smaller venue, where the audience could feel more connected. However I think that opportunity has passed since the band continues to sell out venues across the country.