ACL Day 3: Mumford and Sons

Mumford and Sons floored the town during their headlining set at Austin City Limits. 

The British are coming! And we don’t even mind. As a matter of fact, Austin welcomed Mumford and Sons with open arms during their headlining set at Austin City Limits. 

The set began with “Guiding Light,” a current favorite of the band in terms of openers. They then proceeded to set the bar as high as it would go by performing their breakout hit, “Little Lion Man,” from a stage right among the audience. After knocking “Babel” out of the setlist as well, they returned to the main stage to continue the performance. 

The band was allotted with two hours of limelight, and they made stellar use of it, weaving both fan favorites and deep cuts to create an experience fans were unlikely to forget. 

That lighting was warm and orangey, contrasted by beams of white during climaxes or breakdowns of songs. Although the set was simple, the perfect use of lighting to compliment the beats made for a noteworthy experience, especially during “Lover of the Light” and “The Wolf.” 

On that note, they said their good-byes to the audience and walked offstage. But with around 20 minutes left till 10, the crowd knew better than to leave their places.

Like clockwork, Mumford and Sons returned to the  stage. For this part, they kept the instruments acoustic, beelining back to the stage amongst the audience. Cheers of welcome fell silent as the first notes of “Forever” began to play, interrupted only by screams of encouragement as Marcus Mumford hit the higher notes. 

Things picked up more after “Awake My Soul,” from whence the band proceeded to return to the stage and their usual instruments. Three more songs were played, concluding the night with crowd pleaser “I Will Wait”  and “Delta.” The folk rock act said one final good-bye,thanked the audience, and left. 

Lights gently faded back to house. Some fans stayed by barrier in hopes to nab a pick or setlist, but most began their journey home. 

Mumford and Sons did a worthy job of closing out Weekend 1 of 2019’s Austin City Limits. If you want to experience the magic for yourself, buy tickets to Weekend 2 today.