The Time I Hugged A Mumford

I can't even talk about the heat in Cape Town City Bowl in midsummer without breaking out into sweats. Or maybe I'm just sweating right now because I haven't written a blogpost since October last year. The bottom line is, it gets hot here, especially in the middle of Cape Town where there is not a breeze to be felt. I honestly would stand next to a butterfly in the hopes of cooling down. I hate the heat. It envelopes you like warm syrup which would be great but there are no waffles involved. I would do anything to escape the heat. So why would I possibly get myself to exactly the hottest place in Cape Town and stand for hours under the beating sun? Oh yeah, the promise of a Mumford and Sons concert. Probably the only thing that would induce such behaviour.

Mumford and sons were only playing at 10pm. I arrived at 4pm, my friends had been there since 3. This was our opportunity to be front and centre of a concert that promised to impress. It overshot impressive by a few hundred miles. 

We stood in a queue outside the Grand Parade waiting desperately for the gates to open. Everything was hot and melty. I could practically feel the makeup on my eyes melting onto my cheeks and mixing with the beads of sweat running down my face. So I wasn't the picture of beauty. The tarmac under our feet had absorbed as much heat as it could which resulted in us feeling like we were standing inside a pizza oven, our feet placed where burning embers had been moments before. There was slight shade on the other side of the road and we took turns going across the street and enjoying the shade for 15 minutes at a time while the others kept our spot in the queue. When 5 o'clock arrived and the gates opened, the queue started inching into the concert venue which wasn't much of an improvement, besides the fact that there were food trucks open selling water and ice-cream. Ice-cream for once, however, wasn't the priority. The first thing we did was run to the front of the area in which the audience stands to make sure we were as close as we could get. To be fair, one of our number did the running, the rest of us casually joined him after purchasing merch. This was where we would stay for the next 7 hours. Brutal. 

Three opening acts adorned us with their strumming, drumming and humming. They were singing too but that last sentence sounds cool with the rhyming. One of these bands were called The Very Best and they really were brilliant. I would suggest a quick google (or a bing for those of you in Washington, sorry about my loyalty). They managed to hype up the crowd to an incredible level, I felt like I was at a festival and that really usually isn't my thing. After The Very Best were a South African duo called Beatenberg and despite dressing tragically grade-ten-dance-like with buttoned, yet untucked blue shirts, chinos and a flat cap, I was impressed with their music. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't downloaded one or two of their songs since. Especially when they brought out THE Marcus Mumford to accompany them on a drum. 

Come half-past nine and we're getting tetchy for Mumford to come on stage. 15 minutes later we were not disappointed. They started playing. 

I have never seen a concert performance like that. The production value was though the roof. These guys are good. I've never properly appreciated them until I watched them in person. It was after the first song that I turned to my mates and suggested that they turn professional. (I'm kidding.) But in all seriousness if one listed the amount of instruments that all these guys can play I swear we'd be well into the double digits and still be talking about strings. Let's not get started on percussion. I couldn't help but dance and jump up and down and hold my hands to my face and say "I can't believe it" periodically. Marcus Mumford was leaping about on the stage and I felt like he was singing to me personally. Then they played Ditmas. It was during this song that Marcus walked off the stage and danced in amongst the crowd. I have no idea how he did this whilst singing, and singing well I might add. When I say  'danced' amongst the crowd, I really mean that he made like a tornado with his arms and just ran. It was when he got to where I was that the title of this post comes in. Every one was trying desperately to put their hands on him and hold his arm or basically just be as close to him as possible, as you can imagine. The security guards were with him and they were making their way towards MY VERY SPOT so that they could lift him over the low fence that separated the crowd from the stage. This was when I assume he had a little trip because he landed IN MY OPEN ARMS. This situation called for quick thinking. My idea was simply to wrap my arms around him and try not to hyperventilate. The guards eventually got him up and over the fence quite gracefully and I was left covered in Marcus Mumford's sweat. I don't think I've ever loved sweat more in my life.

Immediately after that they played The Cave and there was lots of pushing over of drumming equipment, shouting into microphones and general craziness which I joined in whole-heartedly as I still was riding my high from hugging Marcus. (I'd still be riding that high now but there's nothing like boring work-type things to bring one crashing back into reality.) 

The rest of the concert was just as powerful as the first half. I sung Little Lion Man with the crowd and being in that situation was so spectacular. I kind of felt like I was a tiny cell in a huge animal that was the crowd, all shouting the words to this song along with the band. And when they played Ghosts That We Knew I may have melted a little. This was a different kind of melting that I had been doing in the heat. This melting was the tingling kind of melting fuelled by a huge wave of emotion. Often we, the crowd, were complimented by the band as they convinced us that we were the BEST and they had never had more fun in a city. But I'm sure they say that to all the audiences. 

By the end of the concert we all felt pretty shaken as we had been taken on quite the emotional rollercoaster ride. As soon as it finished all I could think was that I had to write this blog post as I couldn't stand the thought of forgetting a moment of what we had experienced. 

(If I can beat my own drum for a minute: I am so proud of myself for going to this concert and having  an exquisite time! I don't think I would have been able to while I was in matric and spending most of my days crumpled up into a ball ensconced in duvet because I was scared of people. There definitely would have been frightened tears and laboured breathing. But I did it!)

I don't want to describe this as a "Life Defining Moment" or "The Most Incredible Thing" for fear of sounding dramatic and insincere but I honestly felt a happiness I sometimes forget that I can feel. That happens, sometimes unexpectedly, and it puts my whole life into perspective and I forget for a second about how I buckle under responsibility and my general fear of adulthood and those things. 

I love a lot of things. Mumford and Sons is one of them and it's incredibly likely that if you're reading this then you're probably one of them too. 

Until next time, 

Jen x

P.S. Sarah Wallace, Nicci Lotz, Britt Watkins-Baker and Cameron Seegers: I'm not sure my night would have been half as successful without you four. Thank you!