Live Review: Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Willy Mason

Despite US singer-songwriter Willy Mason's warm vocal probably being better suited to more intimate surroundings than offered by the Entertainment Centre, his mix of blues and country is full of deep textures that still manage to fill the hall. Oxygen rolls along with his shifting tones perfectly placed throughout.

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros crowd the stage with their 12 members, who proceed to create a sound that resembles a contortion of a hippy Eurovision and folk on steroids. Janglin' has all the feel of a New Year's party and with some big sounds and trumpet blasts, they maintain a celebratory air in all their songs. Such is the respect shown to them by the headline act that Marcus Mumford even joins them during the softer and vocal-led Child.

With the stage predominately backlit throughout, Mumford & Sons open with Lovers' Eyes in virtual darkness. Their near two-hour set is composed fairly equally of tracks from their first and most recent album, and a good number of songs such as White Blank Page and Below My Feet follow their favoured set up of a slow start, followed by the swell of a massive chorus. It is the songs outside this pattern, though, that were most effective, such as an intense Thistle And Weeds and the harmony-led Timshel. The resounding huge sounds of The Cave – which simmer perfectly – and Little Lion Man, complete with the illumination of industrial-sized fairy lights, are met with the largest response of the night. The biggest sound, however, is saved for the closing stomping cover of Fleetwood Mac's The Chain, complete with the support acts on stage as well. Overall, it's a well-managed performance that shows hints the band can deviate more than they sometimes seem willing to do. Folk has never been more indie.