The Lumineers arrive to a roar that has been years in the making. Playing their first-ever Cork show, the Colorado outfit are greeted by a Virgin Media Park crowd eager to make the occasion feel like a homecoming.
Wasting no time, Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites make their way down the runway that cuts through the heart of the audience, opening with ‘Flowers in Your Hair’. It’s a gentle invitation rather than a grand entrance, immediately dissolving the distance between band and crowd. As the Automatic World Tour unfolds beneath a warm summer sky, the singalongs arrive effortlessly. The stomps, handclaps and harmonies that have become the band’s calling card feel perfectly at home in the open air.
The set draws confidently from across their catalogue, with ‘Ho Hey’, ‘Gloria’ and ‘Brightside’ landing as expected highlights, each greeted by a chorus as if the audiance are band members themselves. Throughout the night, members of the group repeatedly step off the stage and into the audience, turning a crowd of thousands into something that feels unexpectedly close-knit. It’s a simple gesture, but one that reinforces what has always made The Lumineers so enduring: even on their biggest stages, they never lose sight of the communal spirit at the heart of their songs.
For a city that had waited so long to welcome them, The Lumineers delivered.
Tom Odell photos:
The Lumineers photos:
Photos & words – Shane J Horan @shanejhoran