Marcus Mumford of Mumford & Sons performs during the Gentlemen of the Road tour stop in Guthrie Saturday. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World
Music fans fill the festival grounds during the Gentlemen of the Road tour stop in Guthrie, Okla. on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2013. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World
See a slideshow of photos from the weekend by Tulsa World photographer Matt Barnard
here.
GUTHRIE — In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Mumford & Sons bassist Ted Dwane said the band members were all Okies at heart.
“I don’t really know what an Okie is, but I feel like one,” he told the magazine.
Dwane and the band were eagerly welcomed into the fold Saturday night, the last day of their Gentlemen of the Road stopover, which brought more than 35,000 people to this central Oklahoma town for two days of incredible music.
The folk-rock Mumford & Sons, just off winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year with Babel, were the definite draw of the festival, which featured several big and growing acts
Friday and on Saturday saw rockers Alabama Shakes, with the sublime and beautiful Brittany Howard's soaring and powerful vocals; British rock band The Vaccines; the indie-rock band Haim made of sisters Este, Danielle and Alana Haim; Canadian indie-rock band Half Moon Run; Nashville rockers Those Darlins and British folk band Bear’s Den.
Each band brought something different to the festival, but it all seemed to fit. That was by design, said Mumford & Sons singer and guitarist Marcus Mumford.
“We put together the gig we want to watch, then we watch it,” Mumford said from the stage before all the performers from the weekend came on stage to play “With a Little Help From My Friends,” a jam session that was nearly as polished as the rest of the weekend, an impressive feat with the number of performers on stage at once.
But it was Mumford & Sons the crowd was there to see, and they did not disappoint.
Usually at music festivals of this stature, multiple stages and multiple big draws. This was unique because nearly all of the 35,000 or so people were there for Mumford & Sons. The crowd sweated together as temperatures neared 100 during the day, got dusty and dirty together in the large, open field, and on Saturday night, danced and sang together.
With a darkened stage, the band started with “Lover’s Eyes,” which built to a soaring crescendo to reveal the band when the stage lights lit up. It was followed by “Little Lion Man,” “Whispers in the Dark,” “Holland Road,” and more, a healthy mix of songs from their first and second albums. But it seemed no matter the album, a deeper track or a hit, the crowd sang along.
Guitarist and legendary producer T-Bone Burnett joined the band for “Awake My Soul,” a song and experience that moved the woman in her late 40s to tears. She told me later it was just so powerful for her to see and hear that, and to be able to share it with her daughter.
Mumford & Sons then brought out the other British acts, Bear’s Den and The Vaccines, for a cover of the Beatles’ “Come Together.”
For an encore, the band came out to show off their singing and harmony talent around one mic in the middle of the stage for “Reminder” and “Sister.” The crowd volume dropped to a whisper, the quietest it had been all weekend. "With a Little Help From My Friends," was a perfect ending, reminding the crowd that we all can get by with a little help.
Mumford & Sons proved why they are such a huge draw for live shows, delivering a high-energy and exciting set that left the whole crowd with a huge smile as they filed out of the festival Saturday night into Guthrie, which played the most gracious host it could. Local businesses and Guthrie natives rolled out the carpet for the festival, adding to an atmosphere that perfectly complemented the music both nights.
While the show drew people from across the United States and outside the country, everyone was an Okie on Saturday night.
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