Love it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you,
It will set you free
Be more like the man you were made to be.
There is a design,
An alignment to cry,
Of my heart to see,
The beauty of love as it was made to be
~ “Sigh No More”
Don’t worry, you haven’t come in the wrong door! I just wanted to share the joy of seeing my first Mumford & Sons concert Tuesday night. I’m a fairly recent fan of the band (only first heard of them when they blew me away with their performance on the Grammys last year) so I missed the smaller shows they did here last year and was thrilled that they were returning to Canada this fall.
The boys: Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford, Ted Dwayne, Country Winston (Pic: NME.com)
I was also thrilled to discover I could just be a “normal” fan again, lol. After the whole David tsunami hit three years ago, it crossed my mind that I wouldn’t be able to just enjoy bands/singers like I always had before, from a comfortable distance. But I’m happy to say, as much as I LOOOVE M&S’s music, I do not need to meet them, I don’t have a clue who their manager or “team” is (nor do I wish to know), I’ve never been to one of their fan sites and don’t feel compelled to start one. 🙂 And while I enjoy reading and watching interviews with them, I don’t keep hitting “replay” all day.
It was also cool to go to their amazing show, and observe the crowd WAY up in the rafter seats (because they sold-out the 15,800 capacity Air Canada Centre, with hundreds of people forming a rolling-wave ocean of a mosh pit down on the floor).
I will admit though that so many things reminded me of a David concert … how humble they are (mentioning repeatedly how honoured they felt that such a huge crowd came out to see them and how nervous and stressed it made them feel) … how passionately they throw every fibre of their beings into each performance … but most of all, how their music makes me feel: pure joy, while also sticking with me and making me think more deeply about things.
Unlike a David concert, they played a bunch of new songs for us, thanked us for our patience with them and explained that this is part of their process. They sort of “workshop” new material on the road live, work out the kinks, reshape songs until they feel they’re ready to record. Love, love, LOOOVE that concept … would it not be aMAZing if David tried that someday too? To do that, you need a patient, dedicated, supportive fan base who believes in you and feels as though they’re part of your “process” — sound familiar?
Two thumbs up all the way!!!!!! 🙂
P.S. Marcus Mumford introduced this Neil Young cover by saying that some of their favourite musicians are Canadian. 🙂
SnowAngelz: Canadian fans of David Archuleta 
Love your summary Deb. Yes, it was great just to be a fan again at a concert. But I did find myself google-ing M&S after the performance, their origins, Marcus (of course), and discology. I also downloaded their first album. So, what turns out to be ‘just a concert’ can spark an interest to know more! That DOES sound familiar lol!
BTW, David’s Motab performance will now be shown on PBS on at least 3 additional dates, as per an email sent to me this week from LDS events:
Watch Last Year?s Concert on PBS: The 2010 concert featuring David Archuleta and Michael York will be seen on nationwide PBS Television on Tuesday, December 13; Saturday, December 17; Friday, December 23; Saturday, December 24; and on Christmas Day. Check local listings for times in your area.
5 nationwide telecasts!!!! Wow! Thanks, Pastel! That is fantastic exposure… and how PERFECT it’s airing on Christmas Day!!!! Glory, hallelujah!!! 🙂
This is really a good post, I’m not just saying that because I’m a huge Mumford and Sons fan lol. David has a ‘whole body’ of songs he could try out that have never make the cut. I can remember that he trial tested ‘If I can only be’ even though I didnt personally like it myself, It did show he’s willing to expose himself as an artist. However I think there might be legal issues from other songwriters, so he’s restricted from testing new songs.
If David was the sole author of the songs he wrote, why not just test it out with the audience? This is another interesting approach in concerts instead of singing cover songs. The new songs may or may not work, he has nothing to lose but all to gain. I would consider them like ‘diamonds in the rough’; songs can take shape by just having an ‘idea’ and what makes them perfect are the little tweaks in arrangement and composition. It’s like the scientific method to exposing your songs to bunch of critics.
As Winnie (banjo player) would say: ‘Can I get a pair of thumbs-up?’ lol
nes, good point about the legal issues … since David’s mentioned he’s started tons of songs but has difficulty finishing them on his own, “workshopping” them with small crowds could be a great way to develop them further until they are finished. M&S introduced the “untitled” one I posted by saying they’d never performed it before a crowd before but I think they meant the “finished” version because someone commented on youTube that they’d seen a much earlier unfinished rough of it (I think you mentioned that too, nes). At this point in his career, David might be too much of a perfectionist to perform an unfinished song in public (and every writer has their own process of course) but it’s certainly a great way to get instant feedback (which is probably why he’s never sang IICOB again, lol).
Vlog!
More info: Excited to be going to Hong Kong with Channel V! Doing an event with them as well as shooting a music video for my song “Wait” while there in Hong Kong. Went to Florida for Childrens Miracle Network Hospitals and then went to Vegas to visit relatives there. Have a show in Singapore Nov. 19 and a few other things coming up.
Tags:
David Archuleta Hong Kong Channel Childrens MIracle Network Hospitals Florida Disney World Las Vegas Singapore Thailan
Love the way he says “Canada”. Don’t know why really but it makes me smile 😀
major major major fan fail … did not even hear him say “Canada” when I saw it the first time … and also didn’t notice he said he’s trying to release the extra songs on the ATE edition over here *smacks self* 😯
Love this, TOfan!! So glad you got to see them in concert! And experience being a “normal fan” again 🙂
Thanks for this post TOfan !!! What a great concert>> so glad I was able to share it with you!!!
The vlog….. I agree with Abanana> it is great to just hear him say “Canada”!!!
To fan
I love your thoughtfull posts and I in the last three year have done at least on thing a day to know about what is going on with David, he has such an emotional draw ( ODD) thanks for bring back the reality of just watching a concert lol! But David is different and always will be for me!
Btw I think zero gravitity was a song on tour that fans wanted him to release! Finally, on the Tosod arte!! I still can’t get enough of that one!
Thanks, Harold! ZG is still one of my faves too!
Here’s a twitpic of David & former Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton (she makes David look like a giant! lol) (click 2 enlarge)
….and check out this cool sketch by Miranda Tacchia, Ben gf, (on her blog), wow she’s so talented … looks like the Hong Kong gig will be acoustic *fingers crossed for vids*:
Love the sketch above and living room rehearsal, very nice! Yes, what a treat to be there and an acoustic set…hope there is video too!
Love your assessment TOfan of attending a M&S concert and just being a ‘normal fan’ again,haha.
Whenever I attend a concert of another artist, I thoroughly enjoy it but am also reminded of the contrast between being a fan of David’s and any other artist, lol. M&S are great and so unique!
What a sweet vlog from David, he is such a breath of fresh air. Going to Hong Kong now and making a video yet, exciting for him! I was thrilled when he said the video would be for the song “Wait”….ahhhh, love the song and I adore the way David sings it. Hope it gets released here too.
Oh….and it is great to hear David say “Canada”….in any context. 🙂
Just saw link this on Twitter, David’s “Artist Ambassador” Page on the Invisible Children site (they also embedded the ALTNOY video on his page 🙂 ):
David Archuleta
David Archuleta quickly became an office favorite this past year after playing at our Nashville 25: Breaking the Silence event. Since then David has provided his support on other campaigns, including The Musician Coalition. The best thing about our partnership with David is that it really isn’t a partnership at all. David really has embraced the entire Invisible Children office and our supporters as his friends. We’re always grateful to work with such a humble human being.
The Musician Coalition is, “a dedicated group of musicians united with their fans to raise money and awareness to end Africa’s longest running war.”
David’s Musician Coalition entry says:
“David Archuleta quickly became an office favorite this past year when he played with Landon Pigg at our Nashville 25: Breaking the Slience event. His fans proved their loyalty when they backed him throughout the entire event. No doubt they’ll pull through again and help him exceed his goal. Click his image to donate.
Here’s David’s team donation page (his goal is only $500 but his amount so far is “0” because we didn’t know about it *goes to donate*):
http://www.stayclassy.org/fundraise/ic-team?ftid=2928
Very nice, thanks TOfan,…..no, didn’t know about David’s donation page on Invisible Children. A great cause to support and of course am happy to donate on David’s page!
Donated. Thanks, TOFan, for the heads up!
Me too! Thanks Tofan!
big *wave* to all you guys!
New post/thread!
🙂