Mumford & Sons mania hits The Pageant

Jason Gonulsen
Special to Metromix

So, let's talk about Mumford & Sons. They're English, they shared the stage with The Avett Brothers and Bob Dylan at the 2011 Grammys, and on Sunday they're about to play one of the most anticipated shows ever at The Pageant. Sounds great, right? Well, it's not exactly all puppy dogs and kittens, at least not when it comes to buying tickets to their 2011 tour.

You see, just last year, the English folk-rock band played Off Broadway. Yes, it was sold-out, but tickets were available for at least a good month before the show, if my memory serves me correctly. So, if you didn't get in the door on that evening, it was either your fault for being lazy, or you didn't know of their music until it was too late. You would go next time they were in town, you assured yourself.

But that was before the Grammys, before freaking Mumford & Sons became the band you must love, even if you didn't absolutely adore them the first time you listened to 'Sigh No More,' their debut album. You were going to like the album because, somewhere along the way (maybe it was their Grammy performance, I don't know), they were the band everyone was talking about.

There, friends, is where hype takes over. The hype that sells out their show at The Pageant in around fifteen minutes. The hype that forces the people at The Pageant to create a special Web site the day before the sale outlining what you can do to increase your chances of buying tickets. The hype that leaves pretty much everyone without lightning-speed internet connections and quick fingers without tickets. The hype that, as I'm writing this, has a $35 ticket going for $2,500 on stubhub.com as an 'instant download." (Seriously, does that come with a bed and breakfast and a free trip to Puerto Rico? I'm curious.)

The thing is, I'm not at all bitter (I'm being serious right now, I promise). I'm lucky that I'm going to get to see them at Bonnaroo in nine days. I'm just disappointed that when a band like Mumford & Sons comes along—a band that makes great music—almost everyone I knew who wanted a ticket struck out on ticketmaster.com and (shockingly) doesn't have a few grand in their emergency concert fund to blow on the show. What we're left with is a bunch of pissed-off people who were basically begging to free themselves of frauds like Lady Gaga and witness awesome live music. Does anyone, besides the promoter and some guy in a stubhub/ticketmaster suit, win in this situation? Does Mumford & Sons win? With all the hype surrounding them after one album, are we ever going to see them realize their full potential? I mean, that's a lot of immediate pressure, right?

Does anyone else have an opinion on this? I'd really love to hear from you in the comments section below! And if you are going to the show on Sunday, I salute you for getting tickets. Have a blast.

Mumford & Sons videos: