what a difference three months makes.

3 months ago, before i left san diego, i went to what was by far the very best show i had ever been to. i was completely in awe as i watched these 4 young gents from london put their heart and soul into this very intimate show at the belly up in san diego. there was so much pride and excitement exuding from these men, the energy completely contagious. it felt to every person there that marcus mumford was singing directly at you. as if it was you and him and his guitar. intimacy at it's finest in a crowd of a couple hundred at most. when i saw they were coming to portland i didn't even blink when it came to buying my ticket, this was one show i was not going to miss. oh how i wish i had. not to say that they weren't still amazing, that the music still didn't move me, it's just that, well, there was no way that they could ever recreate that moment that we shared a mere three months ago. i was trying to explain this disappointment to a friend and i came up with a couple of things. to start, it was perhaps one of the most obnoxious venues i have ever been to. the crystal ballroom should be ashamed. i have never experienced a place where the 80's dance party that they were throwing downstairs completely overshadowed the sold out show occurring in the ballroom. you could literally hear the downstairs music over the band. wtf!!! the second thing that i had a harder time explaining yet, thankfully captured, was the new found pyrotechnics that they added to their show. (now, perhaps i am a bit biased as i was thoroughly annoyed with kings of leon and their pyrotechnics as well BUT......) some may say that the fireworks happen when a band makes it big, that that's kind of like how you know they are now somebody, well, if that's the case, i want mumford and sons to remain nobodies. it completely took away from the beauty of the music. it was an absolute distraction and spectacle. i think those kinds of hyjinks should be reserved for bands that need the distractions from their lacking in substance music. it makes me sad to write this and feel so disappointed. it makes me sad to feel that there went another great band.... le sigh. anyways, i took a few pictures, shocking i know, and thought i would share. the last one being the only one i like. it's simple, quiet, beautiful, like their music, before it got all out of control. 

  hurts, doesn't it.

xoxo.