December 9 at Store Vega

Colorado folk rockers the Lumineers gave a clinical performance at a sold-out Store Vega last night. Theirs is a gentle, windswept blend of rock that borrows from traditions of Americana and soft rock styles; a compact rendition that’s easy to sway to and easier still to sing along to.

Gracing the dark stage armed primarily with a mere album’s worth of recorded material off their 2013 eponymous masterpiece, the trio were all smiles as they exited the parapet and shared their music with the crowd.  Popular, catchy tracks off this work such as ‘Dead Sea’ and the merry ‘Flowers in Your Hair’. A warm, enduring cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ followed suit, hitting home with the partisan crowd, and showcasing their skills at playing and interpreting other musicians’ music.

This breezy start was short-lived however, as the momentum from the first string of popular songs reeled, though not for too long. Minimalist acoustic versions of lesser-known songs lifted things, as the cheery, swaying mood was subbed for a more quiet, composed intimacy that saw xylophones played and guitars strummed with a soft disposition, working wonders on the crowd, who were still and approving with the benevolence of kids at an ice cream parlor.

This quiet, simple approach to music is indeed one of the defining features of the trio’s music, which at its silent moments acquires a cinematic, ethereal quality that carries it gently through the air. Things did get louder towards the end though as the Lumineers upped the tempo, capping things off with the unforgettable ‘Big Parade,’ the tune that just about sums up all that is good about this band. The crowd made their presence felt on this particular number, yelling along the chorus and rallying for a raucous call for an encore, which duly followed.

The Lumineers re-appeared without too much hassle and closed the night on the same cheery note, signing off having captivated the audience in the most entertaining of fashions. They are surely a band to keep an eye on and their local popularity has been anything but harmed following last night’s neatly composed and well organised concert which did its bit to banish the grim stillness of the cold December night, if only momentarily, to a faraway corner of one’s mind.