After spending a couple of years dismissing Mumford And Sons as the most boring buncha bastards you ever got stuck at a Bus Stop with, I caught them playing a mini set at Radio City Music Hall and changed my mind. My problem was I didn't like "Sigh No More" or "The Cave" and it put me off the band, clouded my judgement.
Live, they perform well, in the large Radio City, their music still managed to connect, and remember, we are discussing a poppy variation on English folk. Which reminds me of another problem I had with the band: they aren't Fairport Convention. Mumford And Sons are inauthentic in ways Laura Marling (who is gonna be 30 if she doesn't release a new album soon) never has been.
Butthe first single "I Will Wait" of the current smash hit album Babel, was inauthentic in a good way, it was pop-folk but pop-folk that sounded like an English equivalent of Paul Simon. The cover of "The Boxer" cemented to the concept. And Marcus Mumford's barely concealed contempt for bedwetters Coldplay was a Bruce Springsteen hugging Chris Christi moment between us.
So, yeah, I missed the instantaneous sellout to the February 6th gig at Barclay Center, but then they added another on Tuesday February 13th and I got one for that. Last time I looked (Sunday morning) tickets were still available. Don't make my mistake, be there now.