London’s Hoxton Hall—a very fine east End Victorian Music Hall—was a suitably intimate venue for a special stripped-down set by The Lumineers, as a preview for their fans of their forthcoming album “Automatic” out on the 14th February. The gig was set up as a fundraiser for War Child, with fans invited to apply for ballot tickets, with just 300 successful applicants squeezed into the venue.
“We’re incredibly grateful to The Lumineers and their team for donating their time and talents to help raise money for us with what I’m sure will be a beautifully intimate show at Hoxton Hall and fans are in for a real treat,” Clare Sanders-Wright, Live Music Lead at War Child said. “No child should ever be a part of war, and with the past year being particularly dire, it means that much more to be supported in our work, both by The Lumineers and their team, and to everyone that donates. Every penny raised helps us to provide desperately needed emergency aid, psychological support, education, and more for children caught in conflict zones around the world.”
Performing as a duo, with Jeremiah Fraites on piano and drums and Wesley Schulz on guitar, the evening was an opportunity to enjoy both new songs, in an ‘as written’ form before the full band arrangements on the forthcoming recording, and old favourites, drawing from fan requests prior to the show.
Schulz cut a striking figure in a sharp red suit, and to emphasise the celebratory vibe we learnt it was Fraites’s birthday—and that the duo have been together now for twenty years. Even in stripped-back form, the duo’s anthemic songs made for a crowd-pleasing night, opening with ‘Flowers in Your Hair’, from their self-titled first album, followed by ‘Cleopatra’.
‘Same Old Song’ introduced the duo’s new album, the first single release from “Automatic”, up-tempo, and hooky as hell with characteristic high register vocals from Schulz, followed by ‘Asshole’ from the forthcoming collection, before returning to their established live repertoire with ‘Where We Are’, and ‘Gloria’, a sing-along favourite, from their third release “III”. ‘Plasticine’ and title track ‘Automatic’ followed from the new release, before the ballad ‘Brightside’ with Schulz putting down his guitar for an intimate rendition of the song backed by Fraites’s keys. Another crowd favourite, ‘Angela’, preceded ‘You’re All I Got’, from the forthcoming release before ‘So Long’, introduced by Schulz as his favourite from the new album and an opportunity to hear the song as first written, rather than in the full band arrangement.
Closing the set ‘Ophelia’ brought an enthusiastic audience response, followed by ‘A.M. Radio’ which shone bright with its refrain “Long as you run/ I couldn’t give you up/ Forever run/ I couldn’t give you up”, before a rousing finale with ‘Stubborn Love’ from the duo’s debut album. It’s classic Lumineers’ “ooh ooh ooh ooh” chorus line closed a memorable night for those privileged to be there.
