It was a moment of music magic: Mumford & Sons ended their set at the Barclays Center tonight with Haim and Ben Howard, the band’s opening acts, who joined in for a rendition of The Weight, in tribute to the late Levon Helm. It’s the same tribute the group was part of at the Grammys this past weekend – only this time the song was performed a lot more relaxed and free-flowing.
Fresh from their big Album of the Year win on Sunday, Mumford & Sons took to the stage of the Barclays Center to perform the second of their two sold-out shows at the Brooklyn venue. Lead singer Marcus Mumford (or as I now like to call him, Mrs Carey Mulligan) looked a bit lost for a moment before Little Lion Man, offering this explanation: “Sorry, we’re a little dazed. We had a mental weekend.” Tiredness aside, the band played their spirited, banjo-driven hearts out, with Marcus’ vocals soaring to the heights of Jay-Z’s venue, which had been turned into a giant back garden of sorts, complete with hanging fairy lights from the ceiling.
For their encore, the band popped up at the back of the arena to surprise the audience by doing “a quiet one”, which would’ve worked had some members of said audience not been totally intoxicated, shouting out “we can’t hear you” and “louder!” as the band tried to turn the giant venue into an intimate campfire.
Opening acts Ben Howard and Haim did their best to try win over a crowd that was clearly there for the Sons. But a nice word from Marcus, telling the audience that Haim is “the best band in the world right now” and to go buy Ben’s record should set those not-yet-fans on the path to redemption.
Find the set list here.