Mumford & Sons: Live at Glastonbury

Saturday's Lolla headliners hardly need an introduction, as they've taken the American music scene by storm since dropping their debut album, Sigh No More, in early 2010. Prior to that, Mumford & Sons had already developed a fan following in their home of England and neighboring Ireland. But as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Amy Winehouse, the Kinks, the Sex Pistols, Elvis Costello, and dozens of other magnanimous British artists have proven, to make it in the U.S. is to hit the jackpot. Maybe it's because we spend more than $300 million a year on costumes for our pets, or maybe it's because we're the world connoisseurs of music. No one can be sure.

Anyway, the U.S. word-of-mouth machine began rumbling about this quartet of stunningly talented Brits in mid-2010, but we really took notice when they nabbed two Grammy nominations in December 2010. The attention garnered from their live performance of "The Cave" at the Grammy ceremony in February 2011 doubled their album sales, and a few months later Mumford & Sons headlined at Glastonbury, giving us today's hour-long, full-concert jam. They charmingly insert a few "new" (at the time) songs, tracks like "Lovers' Eyes" and "Below My Feet" that became the lynchpins of their sophomore album, Babel, released more worldwide more than a year later, in September 2012. This time they won the Grammy, nabbing "Album of the Year" this past February and killing the competition with an unapologetically emotional and lively performance of the lead track, "I Will Wait," a video of which is sadly absent from YouTube (darn you, copyright).

You've got to love a band that has fun on stage.

I was somewhat distressed to learn, while researching this post, that frontman Marcus Mumford was born in 1987, making him the same age as me. Cue "what am I doing with my life?" moment, to be superseded by "fuck yeah, my generation!" This band is one of the most entrancing rock bands performing today, and their show will be a major highlight of Lollapalooza. Their music is ardent, poetic, danceable, and instrumentally complex thanks to each members' expertise on a range of elements and willingness to go balls-to-the-walls on four-part harmonies. The effect is chilling.

I'm so excited, I'm giving you TWO full-length concerts in today's post. This is a Daijams first. Check 'em out in front of an American audience. Their charm, grace, and genuine thankfulness is ingratiating.