The Lumineers, The Head And The Heart @ Entertainment Centre, Adelaide 18/1/2025
It was a massive week for live music in Adelaide and it is quite staggering that we are barely half way through January and the calibre of shows experienced already is next level. What a way to top off that week than with alt-folk outfit The Lumineers and Seattle indie folk band The Head And The Heart. Combined this made for a formidable line up. It was definitely a case of Sunday done right.
It felt like an eternity ago since The Head And The Heart were last here in Adelaide back in 2012 supporting Grouplove. Even back then touring their self-titled album made an impact and resonated strongly with me being one of those bands I’d hoped would come back and tour again. As each year rolled by the chances look increasingly unlikely so it was a great day when this was announced. Super tight, it was a splendid forty five minutes kicking off with Arrow from new album Aperture.
Even guitarist Josiah Johnson suggested that most “wouldn’t remember the first time we were here” before rolling in to All We Ever Knew. Really classy set pulling out the likes of Fire Escape, Another Story and Lost In My Mind. There were plenty of feels with Virginia (Wind in the Night) that “hits home wherever you are”. Singer Jonathan Russell reflected on the five dollar house parties in Idaho in the early days with The Lumineers then finishing on Rivers And Roads. This was definitely well worth the wait.
From humble beginnings The Lumineers have built a solid catalogue of material that spans five incredible albums and this tour tour definitely show cased that. It was quite a youthful crowd which was great to see and it was a fairly chilled vibe in anticipation of a solid night Sunday night of music. Last here in Adelaide for Harvest Rock in 2022 as part of the Brightside World Tour it was a real feather in the cap this time to see them play their own headline show here. The heart and soul of The Lumineers are Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites but it is the rest of the band that are unique characters also bringing plenty of fun and spirit to the performance. Their music is steeped in story telling and soulful lyrics and it seemed that every component of the performance had its place.
Opening with Same Old Song there was something quite captivating and mesmerising about the music. The arrow shaped catwalk was an integral part of the show allowing the band to be a lot closer and engage the crowd adding various anecdotes and other stories about the songs. Flowers In Your Hair was one of those moments where both Wesley and Jeremiah were right up close to the crowd. A second drum set emerged half way down the catwalk which was pretty cool. Angela was stellar and there was a moment of reflection playing music for twenty years acknowledging you can’t go this far on your own and spoke about celebrating Jeremiah’s birthday the day before, singing Happy Birthday twice. A.M. RADIO was an absolute beauty also.
A moment of honesty where Wesley spoke of the background to Asshole pitching it as a toast to himself confessing to be one with the quote “it’s suss of those who present themselves as perfect as they are hiding the dark secrets – a toast to the assholes”. Gale Song saw The Head And The Heart return to the stage, no doubt this should be released as a collab single. Ho Hey was a defining moment bringing the crowd in to it, phones were out to capture this one. Wesley said he was honoured that this song is a part of peoples lives including the first dance at weddings but admitting it was a break up song in a twist of irony. BRIGHTSIDE saw Wesley get amongst the crowd followed a confetti shower in Sleep On The Floor. Singles Gloria and Salt and the Sea were great inclusions.
Gee whiz, how good was Leader Of The Landslide which morphed in to The Rolling Stones You Can’t Always Get What You Want? So good! Automatic was there and Ophelia was another for the highlights reel as was Big Parade where a big part of it was passing the microphone round so that each band member could sing a verse. Approaching two hours Adelaide was left with a couple of big guns in Cleopatra and Stubborn Love which came across more as a celebration than anything else and a great way to wrap another week’s worth of shows in Adelaide.
Live Review By Rob Lyon