(Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
The Eastern Promenade in Portland, Maine played host to one of the more unique summer concert tours of the year over the weekend as Mumford & Sons performed live in front of thousands of elated New Englanders for their Gentlemen of the Road U.S. Stopover summer tour that featured a stacked list of performers hand-picked by the band.
Patrick Doyle of Rolling Stone attended the show and described it as “Portland’s biggest musical event in years,” noting the heavy traffic that caused road closings. Bassist Ted Dwane told Doyle the band never imagined in the past that they would host their own festival and play in front of over 15,000 fans in a gorgeous setting like the Eastern Promenade.
“I suppose you could dream of it, but we didn’t even dare to dream of this,” he said. “It’s so weird.”
The Portland Press-Herald’s review noted along with Rolling Stone that, as expected, “The Cave” was a massive sing-along that stood out among the setlist, which also included new songs “Lovers’ Eyes,” “I Will Wait,” “Ghosts That We Knew” and “Lover of the Night” from the band’s upcoming second album Babel.
Instagrams from @ckrunfar and @janieliz19 show exactly how gorgeous it looks to see a show at the Eastern Promenade, which features a huge stage in front of a sprawling field with the sailboat-filled Atlantic Ocean painting the backdrop. And the below Twitter photos show exactly how crazy the crowd was going during the songs, clapping and singing along with every note.
Mumford and sons #epic # amazing #music http://t.co/UqaJAXsj
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Meghan Kilcoyne (@meg_kilc0) August 05, 2012@daniperry16 #lovingthis Mumford and sons 1st show of the tour, Portland http://t.co/J7epTQ1W
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Thomas Dodge (@TDodgeMusic) August 05, 2012This fan sacrificed the power of her phone to send out one last tweet letting everyone know just how amazing Mumford’s performance was…
Phones dying. Who cares, i'm seeing Mumford and Sons LIVE. 👍
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Jordyn (@JoJoPotato5) August 04, 2012…While this one had enough battery time to add hashtags!
Mumford and Sons killing it!! #gentlemenoftheroad #Portland #perfectsaturday
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Adam Carlow (@Gorphiss) August 05, 2012Post-show reactions were largely positive, with one fan even going so far as to say the entire state of Maine had just seen its finest hour.
I feel comfortable saying mumford and sons was probably the coolest thing to ever happen in Maine, maybe even new England
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Ryan Murphy (@rmurphy95) August 05, 2012@justinrussell @annesphotos Most. Amazing. Show. Ever! BRAVO Mumford &Sons!!!
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Amber C. Small (@STWeddings) August 05, 2012Resting after overstim on the Eastern Prom yesterday. Sunset with Mumford and Sons and friends was divine.
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Prana Regina Barrett (@PranaHeals) August 05, 2012mumford and sons and co. in portland was #unreal #portlandstopover
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Max Miller (@MaxMiller08) August 05, 2012Were you at the Mumford & Sons show in Portland over the weekend? Let us know how it was in the comments!
See also: Mumford & Sons Announce “Babel,” Talk “Natural Progression”
