For my 17th birthday my mom took me up to Denver to see The Lumineers perform at Fiddler’s Green in their hometown. This past March when they came to play in Dallas, I was unable to see them due to an important soccer game. 

I have been listening to The Lumineers since I was in sixth grade… so FIVE years! I was beyond excited to see them perform. 

Everyone cheered when the five members walked on stage to their instruments and promptly opened the concert with the first song from their newest album, “Sleep on the Floor”. They followed this with several songs from their first album. After performing “Gun Song” from their Cleopatra album, they walked through the crowd to a smaller stage in the middle of the venue that was lifted up. Eventually they travelled back down to the main stage to finish up the remainder of the concert. 

Throughout the concert, the Lumineers continued to strike me with awe. When performing a cover of “Walls” by Tom Petty, they incorporated a beautiful four part harmony. During the entire show, the instruments flowed together brilliantly, surrounding the pavilion in their sound. One of my favorite parts of the show was the closing song. All band members had exited after performing “My Eyes”, except drummer Jeremiah Fraites who, instead, headed over to the piano and proceeded to perform one of my personal favorites from the Cleopatra album, “Patience”. 

What makes The Lumineers stand out in today’s music industry is the honesty in their music. Multiple times throughout the concert, lead singer Wesley Shultz would introduce a song with a story that helped listeners understand the lyrics from a whole new perspective.

After seeing them live, I have realized that the recordings of their songs that I have been listening since I was 12 don’t do their live performance justice.