The Lumineers – Coachella + S.F. Primer

     It is not too early for us to start preparing for Coachella. So, we each selected performers we want to cover in this blog. At the beginning, the greater attention will be on the artists who are also performing in the San Francisco Bay Area within the next few months. Ben Howard and Jesse Ware fit within this “Coachella + SF” category, and have been the subjects of earlier posts.

Ben Howard post - CLICK HERE

Jesse Ware post - CLICK HERE

 

     At Coachella, The Lumineers are scheduled for the two Sundays (April 14 and April 21). Between those Sundays, they will be at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, Ca. (Friday, April 19).

     It was about this time last year that the band made its final touches on a creation that turned out to be an Indie monster. In March, 2012, The Lumineers played at a small club in San Francisco (Café du Nord). Seven months later, fans were climbing trees and trying to position themselves on a hill just to catch a glimpse of the band at a festival in Golden Gate Park in SF.

     Unlike some of the other bands discussed in our blog entries, we don’t need to explain what this band does. They are a known quantity, well known. Instead, we will describe our first two festival experiences with the band.

     The Austin City Limits festival was well run. The staff does its job well. We have a high level of respect for the festival-givers. But the one flaw was their unawareness of the popularity of The Lumineers. The band created a pedestrian gridlock when scheduled at a stage area that did not even approach the ability to accommodate the mass of people. Without any exaggeration, the pace along the dirt path to and from the next stage area was about three steps per minute. The band members of Old 97's were among those of us trying to move, but they had a greater need for urgency.

     At the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, our “sweetest concert moment of 2012” occurred.  The fourth song on their setlist was “Ho Hey.” Everyone around us was enjoying the experience when a girl, whose every facial feature seemed to “beam,” quickly turned, kissed the cheek of the boy next to her, and just as quickly turned her attention back to the band. It’s always a treat to witness a situation in which music has placed someone “in the moment.”
     As we noted in our earlier blog about Ben Howard, “Stubborn Love” is one of our favorite songs of 2012.

The song that first brought The Lumineers into the spotlight was “Ho Hey.”

There are a number of good choices for a third song. We’re going with “Big Parade.”

Origin: The Lumineers are from Denver, Colorado.
Favorite Fact:: Neyla Pekarek joined the band by responding to a Craigslist post.
Band Members:  Wesley Schultz (lead vocals, guitar), Jeremiah Fraites (drums, percussion),  Neyla Pekarek (cello, vocals), Stelth Ulvang (piano), and Ben Wahamaki (bass).
For More Background: There is an interview at http://www.americansongwriter.com/2012/04/chatting-it-up-with-the-lumineers/ (Before Stelth and Ben became full time members).