One Liner: Scruffy indie folk guys who have maintained a strange level of popularity
Poster Position: Headliner
Both Weekends.
Friday.
Thoughts: I am deeply confused about these cats being the #5 artist on the ACL poster. Ever. Even at the height of their "Ho Hey" popularity, I never would have pegged them for nearly this high. In all honesty, before I fired up their Spotify, I was like, "OK, they have the Hey song and then the "Ophelia" song - is there anything else?" And yes, there is one other song I recognize, the "Cleopatra" one. But despite the insane streaming numbers for those first two, I still would be deeply shocked if anyone on the planet was like HELL YEAH FINALLY THE LUMINEERS. I expect 19 people are their stage while everyone else is at Kendrick. This feels like if they put the Head and the Heart or Avett Brothers or Band of Horses as a headliner. I like those bands a lot, but they don't belong with the Foos and Kendrick.
That was rude, really, and I'm sorry. I don't hate this band by any means. I've seen them twice, and both times have been both enjoyable and unpleasant (but the unpleasantness is not their fault in the slightest). It is perfectly milquetoast and pleasant music that is fun to sing along to and pretty. The first time I saw them was at ACL in 2012, and the planning of the stages failed to understand the sudden popularity that they would enjoy by the time the show rolled around. So they were at the tiny little Rock Island stage, which no longer exists, but faced the food court area and there were so many people shoved into the zone that it was absolutely a fire hazard. Like the Lizzo show a few years ago. It was insane and honestly difficult to just chill and enjoy because people were freaking out in the crush. Then I saw them open for U2 a few years ago, and that was unpleasant just because the acoustics in Jerry World were truly awful when the stadium was mostly empty. By the time the crowd showed up for U2, the sound was way better, but during the Lumineers' set, it was horrible.
So, all of that aside, if you have never heard of the band and are coming here for a recap, let's get in to that after their biggest hit whets your appetite. "Ho Hey" somehow has 1,035,574,309 streams. A freaking BILLION streams.
The two original guys - Wesley Schultz (vocals, Guitar) and Jeremiah Fraites (drums, piano) started making tunes together in New Jersey in 2005. Schultz said that he was struggling to survive in the New York area, working three jobs just to keep up with rent, and never having time for music. So, they later ended up in Denver and have made that their home base since. The self-titled debut album, featuring "Ho Hey" and other good tunes like "Stubborn Love", came out in 2012 and peaked at #2 on the Billboard charts. Triple platinum in the U.S. "Ho Hey" became one of those tunes that crossed over to everything - alternative rock radio, adult contemporary radio, pop radio, everywhere. It was unstoppable juggernaut of radio that still gets played to this day on all sorts of radio stations.
Membership in the band has apparently shifted around over time, with just those two main dudes staying as the backbone of the group. Wikipedia lists four former members and four "touring members" who we'll likely see in the fall.
2016 saw the release of the second album, Cleopatra. The hit, called "Ophelia," has another easy-to-sing-along-with tune that is again ready-made for sing-a-longs at shows. 1,022,494,081 freaking streams.
"Heaven help the fool who falls in love." The whole album is more fun, jangly indie - their vocalist has such a purely nice voice. I can't help but enjoy him. They apparently are deeply into songs named after girls, because the other big songs from this disc are "Cleopatra" and "Angela." But, again, over a billion streams blows my mind. That feels reserved for Drake and Lil Nas X, not some scruffy guys jumping into the Mumford & Sons slipstream and the folky indie renaissance. Hell, Mumford doesn't even have billion stream songs!
They apparently released a 2019 album called III. I did not review it and didn't pay it any attention at all, even though the top song rings a bell from radio play. This is "Gloria," sticking with their theme of the ladies love. 113 million streams.
And then a 2022 album called Brightside. Had no clue they were still out there tossing out tunes! And it would appear that no one else was either, as none of these songs come close to their other success. And I'm not surprised, really. There is nothing here. It is fine - just more of the exact same. Well, not exactly, as the lowest stream-count song uses freaking drum machines for crying out loud. What happened? I checked the Metacritic score, and only 4 critics actually rated this album. Rolling Stone went with 3 (out of 5) stars, saying "its upbeat feel and finely wrought prettiness with satisfy Luministas for sure." Do they have a rabid fan group out there? Could that be possible? Just for curiosity, their debut has 9 critic reviews, Cleopatra has 11, III had 5. Midnights by T. Swift had 28. But Here We Are from Foo Fighters had 21. I'm flogging the dead horse here, but the band just doesn't feel important enough to be this high on the poster.
Normally, sure, I'd go see their show. But up against Kendrick Lamar? I can't imagine skipping one of the most important voices in music to hear these guys harmonize their way through their two hits and a John Denver cover. It will likely be a fun show to yell along to though!
No comments:
Post a Comment