On Feb. 17, 2013, I was lucky enough to attend the Mumford & Sons concert at the Susquehanna Bank Center located in Camden, NJ. With the lawn seats closed off due to the winter season, the Susquehanna Bank Center was turned into a more reserved, intimate venue. The change in size allowed the audience members to feel they were one-on-one with the band.
When I arrived at the venue, I anxiously took my seat and could not get over my location, section 102, row Q, seat 20. I was seated 16 rows away from the stage and directly in the center; I could not have asked for better seats. 8:00 finally came around and the first act was up, Haim. Three grungy girls came out on stage, each with a guitar draped around her chest, and long, untamed hair. I did not know anything about them previously, but they blew my mind. I automatically fell in love with their style; it is like nothing else out today. Their songs emanated a vintage 80s, girls-rule attitude. Their wild, carefree spirit sets them apart, putting them on the right path to becoming a well-known band. All three sisters are multi-talented; from singing to playing multiple instruments, they truly started the night off with a bang. Each song had a heavy beat accompanied by drums that got the audience up on its feet and clapping along.
Shortly after the Haim girls’ performance, the vocally and lyrically talented Ben Howard came on stage. His performance was a complete energy change. His lyrics were calm and honest. He mostly sat, strumming his guitar until his last song when he stood up and showed off his fast guitar skills to the audience.
The stage was soon covered by a red curtain, which displayed the Mumford & Sons’ “Gentlemen of the Road” logo. We all patiently waited for the stage crew to set up their props and for the men of the hour to appear. One by one, the shadows of the band members appeared on the curtain. At the site of the band, the whole audience rose to its feet and began cheering and clapping. The anticipation grew as the sound of the band testing their instruments began to fill the building. Finally, the first note to their hit song, “Babel,” rang throughout the venue, the curtain collapsed, and Mumford & Sons appeared.
The unique sound of the banjo paired with Marcus Mumford’s voice echoed throughout the center. The audience could not stop singing along with their beautifully written lyrics. They performed for two straight hours, singing, dancing, strumming, and joking around with the audience. It was a show of its own; the energy exhibited could be matched to no other performance.
For their encore, Mumford & Sons came back out, along with the band Haim, and performed the song, “Meet Me in Atlantic City” by Bruce Springsteen. The band informed the audience that, while doing a concert in New Jersey, it was next to impossible not to do a cover of a Springsteen song. The rendition of the hit was perfect! Mumford & Sons truly put on one of the best concerts I have ever attended; they are better live than recorded. There is nothing I love more than watching people doing exactly what they are meant to do and loving every second of it. That is precisely what I witnessed Sunday night.
Anjelica Finore is a first-year student majoring in communication studies. She can be reached at AF780271@wcupa.edu.