Pristinely groomed facial hair and high waisted shorts filed through the new security scanners and past the guards at the Mumford and Sons concert at Verizon Arena April 7. Guitar-strummed notes and soulful lyrics bounced off the walls of the arena, not only opening act Blake Mills, but also from the mouths of all of his new fans.

The lights disappeared as Mumford and Sons ascended the stage; the audience held their breath in anticipation, only to force it out in waves of screams and cheers at the first lyrics of Snake Eyes passed through the speakers . In an almost ceremonial fashion, the audience began belting the songs and swaying in unison. The band serenaded the audience with songs from their albums Sigh No More, Babel and Wilder Mind.

The lead singer, Marcus, descended the stage to dance with not only the fans on the floor, but also in the lower level. Even better than recorded, the band exceeded expectations. Positive energy bounced from the crowd to the stage and back.

For the first two hours, the audience matched the band’s morale, but when the lights dimmed back down, we thought it was the end. To our surprise, the boys appeared on the other side of the arena’s floor on a smaller stage. After performing two more acoustic-style songs, Timshel and Cold Arms, the lights dimmed once more. For the last set, the group invited the opening act onto the stage to help them finish off the night. The final song, The Wolf, ended a few minutes later, but the screams of the crowd echoed for some time after, and the euphoric feeling the night held stayed with me for days.