After more than a decade since their debut ACL performance in 2012, The Lumineers came back with a bang AND as a headliner.
Their lead singer, Wesley Schultz, guided us through a wide range of their discography stopping every few songs for an anecdote about the next. Now I am not religious, but if I went to church, I am confident this is what a revival feels like.
It was impossible to be angry in this pit, it honestly made me want to skip in a field of flowers until I needed my inhaler
They started their set with hit songs from their debut and Cleopatra album, ‘Cleopatra’, ‘Flowers in Your Hair’, and ‘Ho Hey’. There was never a silent moment in the crowd and when you weren’t entertained by The Lumineers you were people watching all the love spilling out of the crowd. Heaven is real, and it’s The Lumineers pit at ACL 2023.
About halfway through their performance, Schultz surprises the crowd by hopping right in while singing ‘BRIGHTSIDE’ from their senior album. While emerging in the crowd, Scultz sang so beautifully, connecting with many people in that pit physically AND emotionally.
Later, after emerging from the chaos of the ACL crowd, they dedicated a song to the beautiful city of Austin and sang a Willie Nelson cover of ‘A Song For You’, calling him an ATX legend (which I’d happened to agree on).
This was my first time seeing them live and the energy from this performance will stay with me forever. I was repeatedly blown away by the music, stage-presence, crowd, and lyricism. I was captivated by Schultz's vocals to Sleth Ulvang on the keys jumping around barefoot shaking that tambourine having the time of his life genuinely enjoying himself. Watching the band evidently being so in love with the music they are playing, and fans being in love with the music they are hearing, I never wanted the set to end.