Mumford And Sons, Alan Pownall - The Borderline, London - Monday 24th August 2009

After what seemed like a while waiting, the wonderful Mumford And Sons finally played a London headline gig, in the intimacy of the Borderline. I had first got into them a year ago, seen them play a short set at Pure Groove records back in December - but then fate had conspired to make me miss all of their London dates since. With their gig at The Scala next month sure to be a triumph, this was a great chance to see them somewhere smaller first - in front of what looked like an audience of family, friends, and diehards.

Support came in the shape of a short set from Alan Pownall, a long time friend of the band. I say "short", it probably lasted no longer than 20 minutes, to the extent that a trip to the bar accounted for most of it. He played quiet acoustic songs, to a mainly respectfully quiet audience. It all sounded good enough to me.

Mumford And Sons took the stage at 9:30pm sharp, to a wild reception. They kicked off with the title track from their forthcoming album, Sigh No More, immediately followed by lead single Little Lion Man - both of which got the crowd going nicely. Of course, many of their songs follow a similar format, starting quietly with vocal harmonies, then descending into a riot of loud vocals and instruments, before ending suddenly. However, this never seems to get boring in the slightest, such is the hard work that all four band members put in - switching instruments, and generally doing a number of different things on any one song.

At times, this gig reminded me of some of the early Magic Numbers gigs I went to - a very tight band, with vocal harmonies, songs that sound instantly familiar even on the first listen, and a feeling that the band is about to become pretty famous. I would certainly be surprised if Mumford And Sons aren't very well know in a year's time. Tunes like Roll Away Your Stone and Dust Bowl Dance show that as well as the folky stuff, the band can also provide the soundtrack to a party.

The best thing for me about this gig was hearing some of their songs for the first time - like Timshel, Thistle And Weeds, and encore Whispers In The Dark. The last of these was an unfinished new song, that showed what the incredible future for this band might be like. A true indie rock classic, it deserves to see them see significant success. I'm really looking forward to their Scala gig next month now, but was really pleased to see them at this gig - if there is any justice in the world, it will be one of their last in a venue this small.