Mumford and Sons concert

 Mark and I treated ourselves to a performance of one of our favorite bands - Mumford and Sons - for our anniversary. We headed to the Moore Theater Sunday night, planning to get to the venue at least an hour early since our tickets were general admission. Street parking was procured less than a block away from the front door of the theater - we should've been more suspicious but chalked it up to good parking luck instead. But a quick glance at the theater revealed locked doors and no lights. Something was definitely wrong. The marquee had no mention of M&S but we approached anyway and saw a small sign hanging over the ticket window: "The Mumford and Sons concert scheduled for October 24, 2010, has been moved to the Paramount Theatre." Good thing we were early!


The Paramount Theatre,
Seattle, WA

We headed to the Paramount and saw the nearly three-block-long line for the concert formed outside the venue. Definitely the right place this time. We found one of our friends in line and she told us she'd received an e-mail about the venue change - I'm guessing I didn't receive it (I later checked) because I got our tickets directly from the box office and not from an online ticket service?

We got into the Paramount expecting to head up to the second or third level since our original seats at the Moore were general admission to the balcony. However, since we had originally bought our tickets when the show was still at the Moore, we were told we could go wherever we wanted! The Paramount had removed all the seating from the main floor, creating a more typical concert atmosphere, so we secured standing spots about eight rows back from the stage. Perfecto.

During the "Ian Interlude"

And the band. My goodness. What a talented group of musicians - the lead singer alternated between the guitar, the mandolin and the drums; the keyboardist alternated between the keyboard, the drums, and an accordion; and another guitar player alternated between the guitar, the slide guitar, and the banjo. INCREDIBLE. Their energy was infectious and I don't know if I've ever seen a more dedicated group of fans.

One fan in particular was singled out in between songs, in what was dubbed the "Ian Interlude" - Ian was wearing a glow-in-the-dark shirt, which prompted the lead singer to forbid any more black lights unless they wanted him to start laughing during a song.


All in all, the concert was completely worth it. We'll totally go again. Plus they played three new songs, all of which were amazing. New album? Yes, please!