My track to Railroad Revival.

I began listening to Mumford & Sons about 9 months ago when they were a VH1 "You Outta Know" artist. I have always been a fan of folk rock and of British bands in general so I almost immediatly fell in love with them. I literally listened to them ALL the time (just ask my roommates!) and was devastated when they went on a small US tour in the fall with none other than Mt. Desolation, another one of my then new favorite british folky bands. Being that I go to college at humboldt State, the closest big city is San Francisco, which is 6 hours away, so hopes of going to any concerts were crushed. So they came and they went, and life went on...

THEN something wonderful happened. I was browsing facebook and twitter as I do, and came upon news of Mumford & Sons having another, smaller American Southwest tour! They called it the "Railroad Revival Tour." It sounded so exciting, but then I saw the cities. Once again, going to the northern most college in California was to prevent me from seeing Marcus Mumford and the gang do their stuff. So a few weeks passed, and one night some friends were over hanging out and jammin, and one of them mentioned the Railroad Revival Tour, and the fact that at 9am the next morning tickets were going on sale. I said I knew about it, but the closest concert would be in Oakland on a Thursday night and we couldn't possibly pull that off. Well, after frantically looking through our planners, the 6 of us made an impulsive decision that, little did we know, would be one of the best of our lives.

Although I was pumped to see Mumford, I knew the concert would be so much better if I knew these other 2 bands as well, Old Crow Medicine Show and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Listening to these bands just proves that good things only lead to more good things. They are awesome! Old Crow is bluegrass, and I had never really enjoyed music like that, but they have opened up another world to me and Edward Sharpe is basically a bunch of hippies playing and singing their hearts out making beautiful music. Needless to say after 5 weeks of hard core listening, I thought I was prepared for this concert.

But I wasn't.




I find it hard to express how this concert, no, experience, affected me. It was unlike any musical experience I have ever had, and I have had many. I've been to my fair share of concerts, but this could be compared to a mini festival. First to perform was Old Crow and whilst they were on it was still bright and sunny out, totally appropriate for their music and vibe. Then as the sun was setting Edward Sharpe took the stage, and yet again the setting for them was perfect. Finally, Mumford & Sons came out and illuminated our hearts with their stellar performance. There was literally nothing to improve or change.

Every part of the first stop on the Railroad Revival Tour was amazing. The setting, the music, Marcus Mumford creeping in the background during the other performances... The list could go on and on. I think I can speak for a few of us out of the 8,000 fans who were in Oakland, that our souls just may have been awakened that night.


Holly


"Cos I need freedom now, and I need to know how, to live my life as it's meant to be."
-The Cave, Mumford & Sons