The Lumineers at Forest Hills Stadium, Queens

Wesley Schultz

Vocalist/guitarist Wesley Schultz and drummer Jeremiah Fraites were friends as youth in Ramsey, New Jersey. After years of practicing music together in the Fraites home, they moved to New York City in 2005 and began to perform, sometimes with other musicians, under the names 6Cheek and Wesley Jeremiah at the Bitter End and the Lion's Den. One night, an emcee incorrectly introduced the band as the Lumineers and the name stuck. In 2009, Schultz and Fraites decided to relocate somewhere with a lower cost of living; after considering London, Philadelphia, and Boston, Fraites and Schultz moved to Denver, Colorado, where they joined the open mic scene. Banding with other musicians, the Lumineers built a following and the success of the band's first two multiple-platinum albums led to headlining arena tours around the world. The Lumineers will release a third album, entitled III, on September 13, 2019.

The Lumineers tonight headlined the first night of the two-night ALT 92.3 Summer Open concerts at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, New York. Schultz and Fraites were joined on stage by multi-instrumentalists Stelth Ulvang and Lauren Jacobson, guitarist Brandon Miller, and bassist Byron Isaacs for a fast-moving hour set that packed many of the band's best known songs plus four songs from the forthcoming album. Schultz's vocal inflections recalled early American folk heroes, with accordion, fiddle and other instruments providing a rustic backdrop and the rhythm section providing adrenalin-pumping arrangements. The amplified sound turned the toe-tappers into raging fist pumpers, and the rocking tempo turned the hoedown into a barn burner. The Lumineers might not purists when it comes to Americana music, but the band also has not sold out its roots, and if rock and Americana was ever to marry, this is where it was destined to go for its honeymoon.

Setlist:

1. Sleep on the Floor
2. Cleopatra
3. Life in the City
4. Submarines
5. Flowers in Your Hair
6. Ho Hey
7. Ophelia
8. Gloria
9. Big Parade
10. Leader of the Landslide
11. Donna
12. Angela
13. Stubborn Love