There’s just over a week to go until The Lumineers take to the stage at the AO Arena, and the pandemic-enforced hiatus from the live music scene can’t have ended quickly enough for the band.
For Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites, who started performing together way back in 2005, it’s the live circuit where The Lumineers really come to life.
According to Wes, the audience is ‘like another instrument’.
Ever since releasing their self-titled debut album in 2012 – and that ever-present, chart-topping single Ho Hey – the audiences have flocked to their shows, singing and chanting every word right back at the band.
Nowhere, Wes says, is quite like a Manchester audience.
ADVERTISEMENT
“You’re all pretty rowdy!” he told The Manc during a chat this week.
“It’s some of the most rowdy, fun audiences you can find anywhere. I like audiences that aren’t worried about being overly polite – it’s like it’s uninhibited and that lends itself well to music.
ADVERTISEMENT
“For us, the audience is like another instrument. If we ever put out a live album you’ll hear a lot of the audience, because they’re singing with us and they’re adding things, and energy.
“So many of my favourite records growing up had that presence, that electricity.”
Obviously, for much of the last two years, bands like The Lumineers have lost this stage time, as the pandemic forced gigs to be cancelled for months on end.
ADVERTISEMENT
Their last tour, the III World Tour, was cut short because of Covid.
“I think we feel like we have unfinished business,” Wes said.
“We feel like we have a lot left to express that wasn’t.
“And then you combine that with all of the pent-up emotion from the last two years that is gonna be out there on full display on stage.
“I think you’re going to see some of the best live music you’re ever going to see because bands, including us, have been just dying to get back out there.
ADVERTISEMENT
“There’s just been a lot of solitary confinement in everyone’s life and I think these concerts are, for those of us who don’t go to organised religion, this is our church.
“This is our way of feeling community and it’s a beautiful thing.”
That band-to-audience connection is something Wes and Jeremiah have tried to hang on to, even as their following has grown.
It’s a desire that will be tested on the 2 March when The Lumineers take to the stage at their AO Arena gig – the second time they’ve performed at the enormous venue.
Wes continued: “There’s a desire to connect, no matter the size of the room. It’s supposed to feel like you’re at a house show, even if it’s an arena.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We’re supposed to feel like we’re sharing some secrets together.
“We’ve been so lucky to move up and play bigger venues, but it presents a whole new set of challenges because really what you’re going after is the thing you started with – you know that really beautiful connection you’d have with an audience if you were playing in someone’s living room.
“You’re trying to have that same experience in a big room, and I hope we’ve got better at that over the years.”
Wes said he remembers the arena dates were more than a little daunting at first.
“I remember we didn’t know what was going to happen but it went really well, and we were like ‘I can’t believe that worked’,” he laughed.
ADVERTISEMENT
“That’s the essence of being in a band – you have all these hopes but it’s like, the whole thing is kind of a wild ride, including playing this arena.”
The Lumineers are touring off the back of their fourth studio album, Brightside, and that means plenty of new material to join the likes of Ho Hey, Ophelia, and Gloria.
As with most musicians, the pair are enjoying testing out their new songs with a crowd at long last.
Wes said: “A.M. Radio’s been really fun to play live, it has a really anthemic chorus and the audience has been singing it back to us.
“That, and there’s a song off the record called Birthday that we actually made to entertain ourselves, and even people who’ve never heard it will join in screaming ‘IT’S ALRIGHT, IT’S ALRIGHT’ – they get it right away, there’s something really immediate.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I like it when people are putting their arms around each other, especially complete strangers, because that’s what we all need right now.
“We need that celebratory mood and I think music was meant to bring people together.
“That’s what I love about music – when you see total strangers high-fiving, singing together, there’s some unification.
“I just love that about live music, it short-circuits all of our defences and leaves us more open.”
The Lumineers have chart-topping albums and huge world tours under their belts, but the thing they’re most proud of is much more wholesome than accolades.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Beyond anything, Jer and I will have been doing this for 10 years in April, and I’m most proud of the fact that we’ve managed to stay excited and having fun.
“I think the risk is that people lose that edge of childlike wonderment that keeps you going and doesn’t make things look formulaic.
“For me, I’m most proud of us for still being on the ball – still really wanting to play this music and being excited, like kids.
“It’s been 10 years and for me it’s the most positive sign that we’re still like little school kids. It’s a good feeling.”
ADVERTISEMENT
And what’s left on his bucket list? It’s something we can surely all agree with – “I really want to have a tequila with Bruce Springsteen.”
The Lumineers will perform at Manchester’s AO Arena on 2 March. You can get tickets through the venue or at Eventim here.
Featured image: Danny Clinch
Audio
Posters around Manchester city centre spark serious rumours Charli XCX is set to headline Parklife 2025
Danny Jones
Some pretty big, green posters are popping up around town and, not to get ahead of ourselves, but it looks like they’re hinting at Charli XCX headlining Parklife 2025…
Feel free to lose your bratting minds.
A number of tall, let’s call it ‘apple’ green posters have been sighted in various places across Manchester city centre this Friday, 22 November and the last time we saw this slightly low-resolution, plain black Arial font and colour combo we got a reworked version of Charli XCX’s brat album.
Listen, all we can tell you is that this is almost exactly the same marketing and the letters on the poster simply read, “PL25”. Come on… you do the math(s).
Spotting at least two of the posters for ourselves around both Newton and Thomas Street in and around the Northern Quarter, plenty of people have been double-taking at the simple but bold and undeniably eye-catching portrait posters.
Trust us, we weren’t the only ones stopping to take a picture and frantically send them to half of our phonebook either.
Charli herself hasn’t given us any other clues on social media thus far – to be fair, this one feels fairly obvious to us – but it’s well worth keeping your eyes peeled on her stories as she did plenty of teasing before dropping Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat.
Still can’t get over that actually being the title, by the way.
It’s also worth noting that Parklife themselves recently confirmed that festival fans can expect to find out their headliners and the full 2025 lineup very soon. Check out that colour…
Oh, who are we kidding? That’s not apple green it’s straight-up BRAT green, b*tch. We’re fully getting carried away and you’ll just have to deal with it.
Even if it somehow turns out she’s not headlining it’s certainly looking like she’s going to be there and it wouldn’t be the first time.
Better yet, fans of the pop sensation won’t have to wait too long to see her right here in Greater Manchester because Charli is bringing her already smash-hit tour to Co-op Live next Wednesday, 27 November and in case you couldn’t tell by all the shouting in capitals, we’re very excited.
Roll on ‘PL25’. Other than Charli XCX, who else would you like to see as your Parklife headliners next summer?
Bez and Shaun Ryder are starring in a new gangster movie – nope, not kidding
Danny Jones
No, you didn’t misread the headline and you’re not on acid: Manchester music legends Bez and Shaun Ryder are set to feature in a brand-new gangster film.
Yes, the ones from the Happy Mondays – why are you having such trouble processing this?
Seriously though, we did a little double-take ourselves when we came across this news, but the familiar Manc faces look to be among the ensemble of a brand-new gangster movie by Irish writer, actor, producer and filmmaker, Ciaron Davies.
And this is just a little leak or rumour that may have been blown out of proportion: you can take it from the horse’s mouth as Happy Mondays frontman, Ryder, recently shared the news on social media.
As you can see, the new film is called Geezers and is billed as a “British crime caper” written and directed by Davies, featuring Shaun as hard-man Robbie and Bez as ‘Monk’. If you saw Ryder shaking off that snake biting his hand like it was nothing then you already know he’s hard as nails.
Although it’s not strictly listed as a comedy per se, ‘caper’ would suggest plenty of humour and light-heartedness, so we’re thinking more like The Gentleman, Italian Job, or maybe even Four Lions, rather than a serious crime thriller.
Now, while we’ve seen both of the Salfordians on screen before not only in the likes of music videos, interviews, panel shows and even as two of the funniest guests to ever go on Celebrity Gogglebox, this latest venture will serve as their respective acting debuts.
According to the IMDb page, the synopsis of the film is as follows: “Crime caper about a stolen bag of money. Caught in the crossfire are ‘The Geezers’ a bunch of wannabe criminals who have bitten off more than they can chew. With 24 hours to grab the cash, London may just go up in smoke tonight.”
Shame it’s not set on the mean streets of Manchester, or better yet Salford, but you’ve still very much caught our interest.
You can see the first promotional poster for the film down below.
As for Davies, he has been involved with a number of small-budget TV film projects, as well as appearing in shorts and even video games, so it’s fair to say that getting 62-year-old Ryder and his ever-energetic hype man, 60, involved is quite the coup for his movie-making career.
Although the film has no release date just yet, we know that filming locations having included parts of Warrington and Pinewood Studios, will be produced by Loose Gripp Films and distributed by publishers High Fliers.
Given the high-octane nature of Geezers and its genre, the feature will involve lots of action, stunts, violence and even martial arts – though how much kung-fu these two will have learned for the project remains to be seen…
All we know is that the film is supposedly “coming soon” and if you don’t want to see Bez and Shaun Ryder doing their best impression of a Guy Ritchie gangster movie then you’re lying to yourself. Praying for a Rowetta cameo to put the cherry on top.