We climb the seemingly endless steps at Allstate Arena and squeeze into our nosebleed seats. Mt. Joy finishes their set as the crowd shuffles in anticipation. “Gimmie Shelter” shakes the venue as imagery from, III, draws us in. A soft light reveals The Lumineers flooding the stage with their pulsing energy. The crowd sings along to “Sleep on The Floor ” and the band breathes an entirely new life into space.
They showcase their new album, III, without sacrificing the songs that made us fall for them like “Ho Hey,” “Ophelia,” and even “Stubborn Love” in their encore set. The mood ebbs and flows from hip swaying anthems to slow, single-spotlight, phone-lights-in-the-air ballads to highlight all sides of their expansive repertoire.
Even from our perch in the nosebleed section, we have become part of it. The energy of the band transcends the stage: first metaphorically then physically. The lead singer, Wesley Schultz, dismounts the stage to join the crowd. He sings through the stadium, serenading fans as the audience parts before him. Allstate Arena feels small, intimate and beautiful.
We scream the words of “Democracy” and clutch our hearts while Schultz whispers, “You can crash my window, you can steal my instrument, but you can’t stop us from making this music,” an anecdote that warranted a windowless winter drive and inspired the song “Slow it Down.” Together, the crowd becomes one voice woven together by The Lumineers’ gift to create rhythms that sound most like home. We are simultaneously lost and found in their music.
