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Review & setlist: The Lumineers go big but stay folksy to start two-night Fenway Park run
The Lumineers captured their melodic singalong hits and more intimate moments for one of their largest shows ever in Boston.
The Lumineers, with Hippo Campus and Young the Giant, Fenway Park, July 17. 2025.
The Lumineers started a two-night run at Fenway Park with crowd-pleasing tunes and nostalgic moments underlined by their lyrical storytelling.
The Denver-based folk rock duo, made up of Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites, captured their melodic singalong hits and more intimate moments for one of their largest shows ever in Boston.
The band is touring their new album “Automatic,” which was released in February, but the two-hour show also featured their chart-toppers from more than a decade ago like “Ophelia” and “Cleopatra.”
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The Lumineers’ first few songs felt a little stilted, but the band quickly hit their stride by “A.M. Radio.” Schultz called on the audience to help complete the tune, setting the tone for an audience-focused, stomp-and holler, folksy show.
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With pauses between songs and some sentimental monologues, the Lumineers’ set was more reminiscent of a smaller venue show, much like the House of Blues, where Schultz said the Lumineers had previously played. But the band also visited Boston at the Xfinity Center, played the Leader Bank Pavilion, and even headlined Boston Calling.
“I don’t think you know how abnormal this is to be playing in this place tonight,” Schultz said over a meandering piano tune, noting that the Fenway Park crowd might be their largest show ever in the Hub. “It’s hard for me to explain how special this is that you guys are here tonight.”
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Each concertgoer had an LED bracelet, allowing for an easy, colorful effect across Fenway Park. The heat broke and the sun dropped after openers Hippo Campus and Young the Giant, and a purple sunset over the Green Monster added another effect to the stadium as the Lumineers took the stage.
Schultz kept an easy rapport with the audience, joking about people judging him as an “a—hole” before the track of that name. During “BRIGHTSIDE,” the frontman got off the stage and walked around the entire arena, the light of the bracelets illuminating his path.
And other than a confetti explosion during “Sleep On The Floor,” the show was informal, without gimmicks and stunts. During “Gale Song,” the Lumineers brought out Young the Giant frontman Sameer Gadhia, with Schultz even counting off and starting the band again after a rocky beginning.
If the Lumineers’ main members Schultz and Fraites were authentic and unpretentious, one of the band members was showy enough for the entire touring band. At one point, Stealth Ulvang, who played piano throughout the set, took off the top of his red suit (but kept on the bolo tie). He was barefoot, and even played with his toes while he head banged through the show, clearly feeling every beat.
Ulvang stood atop the Green Monster with an accordion during a fun moment, but it turned a little awkward when, under a spotlight, he made it halfway down the Monster’s ladder and then scurried back up. With the band playing at the front of Fenway, it was a little distracting.
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The band truly shined during “Big Parade,” from their eponymous debut studio album, where each member sang a verse. The crowd loved their call-and-response musicality, buoying the show’s energy after their hit “Ophelia.”
The concert then veered toward sentimentalism with, surprisingly, a Justin Bieber cover. The Lumineers brought Josiah and the Bonnevilles to the stage for Schultz’s cover of Bieber’s “Ghost.” The song honored Schultz’s little brother, who passed away a few weeks ago, he said.
“I’ve been playing these shows just thinking about him every time, trying to make him proud or remember him in some way,” Schultz said. “I think that’s the beauty of playing music, is that you get to put all this grief and all these emotions into something.”
The show didn’t end with “Ho Hey,” their rocket-launching 2012 single, but their follow-up hit “Cleopatra.” But their encore turned away from the hits with “Stubborn Love,” a true ode to the Lumineers’ fans. It was more nostalgic and a tender encore for the audience to sway to before hitting Fenway traffic.
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The Lumineers return to Fenway Park Friday night, July 18, with Hippo Campus and St. Vincent in support.
Setlist for The Lumineers at Fenway Park, Boston, July 17, 2025:
- Same Old Song
- Flowers In Your Hair
- Angela
- You’re All I Got
- A.M. RADIO
- Asshole
- Gale Song
- Plasticine
- Donna
- Ho Hey
- Dead sea
- BRIGHTSIDE
- Sleep On The Floor
- Gloria
- Keys on the Table
- WHERE WE ARE
- Slow It Down
- Strings
- Automatic
- Ophelia
- Big Parade
- Leader Of The Landslide
- April
- Salt And The Sea
- Ghost
- REPRISE
- Cleopatra
- Stubborn Love
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