By Sloane Samberson
Staff Writer
The Oklahoma heat was no obstacle when keeping people from coming all across the nation to the “Gentlemen of the Road” tour. All 30,000 people showed up to the small town of Guthrie, Okla. to enjoy a weekend filled with fun festivities, good food and a show featuring some of the greatest bands of our time.
The Gentlemen of the Road tour was created by the British band, Mumford and Sons, in 2012. The tour consists of five worldwide stopovers, each lasting two days. Mumford and Sons completely plans out every aspect of the tour. They handpick the lineup, chose each specific town and create a venue that will compliment the show they put on. This year the second to last stopover happened to be located in the Cottonwood Flats of Guthrie, Okla. from September 6th-7th.
This year the lineup was made up of twelve bands. Heading the Guthrie stopover was Mumford and Sons and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. The opening bands for the heading artists were Willy Mason, Justin Townes Earle, Phosphorescent, Bear’s Den, Those Darlins, Half Moon Run, Haim, The Vaccines, Alabama Shakes and Yacht Club DJs.
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros did not disappoint. The crowd was so enthralled with his show, that it lasted longer than expected. Alexander Ebert, the lead singer of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, interacted with the crowd almost constantly. Those who were in the front row were so close that they got to touch him while he sang “Man on Fire”. At one point one fan got their phone taken up by Ebert as he filmed himself and band members on stage. They made the show so personable that when singing their hit song “Home” Ebert let fans tell the whole crowd what this song meant to them.
Mumford and Sons headed day two, performing after six of the opening bands. The wait was so anticipating for all fans. You could feel the excitement in the air. The crowd was even bigger than the previous day, and the wait was even longer. Some waited up to 12 hours just to get a front spot. Some were even brought to tears when the band made their first appearance. They balanced their song line-up between their more fast paced songs and songs that were mellow. Each song was played perfectly, I could not find a fault.
Occasionally, Marcus Mumford would throw out a guitar pick or drumstick that fans went ballistic over trying to catch. He even threw out his tambourine which was quite the big score for one lucky fan. Overall their show left fans satisfied and wanting more.
The smaller bands playing at the GOTR tour almost all had magnificent performances. Bear’s Den, Alabama Shakes, Half Moon Run and The Vaccines were definitely the crowds favorite bands considering the amount of positive feedback they received from the audience.
Haim and Those Darlins were not very popular amongst all the fans. Both of their vocals are very unique but could be viewed as annoying. I was not a fan of their performances at all. Their lyrics were just empty words which made the song unappealing.
The show was closed with one big collaborative performance including all the bands that performed over the weekend. They sang “With A Little Help From My Friends” by The Beatles. It was a great way to not only end the show, but wrap up an even better weekend.
