Mumford and sons rocking the parade

By a twist of fate I unexpectedly ended up at the Mumfordand sons concert last night, at the Grand Parade in Cape Town.

Initially I thought that the Parade is a rather weird venue, but it turns out it is a rather lovely space. The sound was great and surrounding buildings and backdrop of the mountain made it rather special. 

And finding parking was also no problem. There were also park and ride services available, but that had to be prebooked, and as I only found out on the day I was going, that wasn’t an option for me.

Hearing some bad reviews regarding the cashless system that was used, I was a little nervous about queuing for drinks, but they must have sorted the trouble spots, as we had no trouble with the NFC payment system. I was a bit disappointed though that there was only beer, Redbul, soft drinks and water available. I would have loved a cider in the summer heat (beer is too bitter for me), so I settled for Coke and water.

I was also surprised at the rather lovely looking selection of food available, the venue lends itself to bringing in food trucks and it was a nice surprise.

I didn’t recognise any of the opening acts, but they were fine to listen to as background music – although not necessarily your taste if you are a Mumford and sons fan.

The main act did not disappoint. I know of Mumford and sons, but did not know them – but a few songs in and they became a fast favourite. I will be hitting the shops to find a CD in the next few days (yes, I still buy CDs).

The tunes are catchy and the lead singer has a great personality and stage presence, and I soon enough found myself singing along to the choruses.

Towards the end a collaborative piece was played with the opening acts Baaba and The Very Best – I really wanted to like this, but I simply did not – so luckily for me the night was ended with a few more Mumford and sons songs.

Overall a great night out, made even better by the company I had. And it was obviously enjoyed by the people around us – although I do wish the one chap near me would have saved his singing for the shower. While alone. At least he was having fun! ;)