By Kevin Rademeyer.
The Lumineers returned to South Africa with quiet confidence and considerable grace, transforming SunBet Arena in Pretoria into a shared living room of memory, movement and melody on the opening night of their Automatic World Tour.
The evening began with a thoughtful and understated set from Tommy WÁ, the Nigerian born and Ghana based artist handpicked to open the Pretoria leg of the tour. His performance was warm and restrained, setting a reflective tone that suited the night. Later, he rejoined The Lumineers on stage for a tender rendition of Slow Down, his voice blending seamlessly into the band’s folk textures. It was a generous moment of collaboration that felt organic rather than performative.
From the moment The Lumineers took the stage, it was clear this would be a concert driven by intimacy blended with an explosion of vision and sound. The stage design was expansive yet inviting. Elevated drums sat like watchtowers above the band, while organ and keyboards flanked either side. Angled white frames caught the light and visuals, with a recurring image of a cassette tape unspooling and reforming into the band’s name, a subtle meditation on memory and repetition.
Frontman Wesley Schultz carried the night with restless energy and easy charm, moving constantly, smiling often, visibly delighted by the connection with the crowd. Jeremiah Fraites anchored the performance with calm authority, his presence steady and assured. The band shifted positions throughout the set, swapping instruments and locations with an ease that belied the complexity of the production. The sound, remarkably, never faltered. Every harmony, drumbeat and accordion line landed with clarity, a quiet triumph for the technical team.
When the band moved onto the catwalk early in the set, the atmosphere shifted palpably. Songs like Flowers in Your Hair, Angela and You’re all I got , unfolded among the audience, collapsing the distance between stage and seats behind the standing zone. Strangers smiled at one another, sharing the kind of unspoken recognition that only live music can spark.
“I’ve seen them on screens for years,” said Lucy Jones from Mooikloof, talking exclusively with Fullview. “But being here, feeling it in your chest, it reminded me why live music matters.”
Between songs, Schultz proved himself to be a gifted storyteller, speaking to the crowd as though addressing old friends. Reflections on long friendships and years spent making music together lent weight to songs such as Dead Sea, grounding the performance in lived experience rather than nostalgia alone.
Quieter moments, including a hushed and cinematic Donna, brought the arena to near stillness. Screens focused closely on Fraites at the piano while Schultz edged down the catwalk, his voice fraying at just the right moments. It was a study in restraint and emotional honesty.
The set moved fluidly between intimacy and release. Where We Are and Cleopatra were met with confident singalongs, while Ho Hey turned the arena into a single, booming choir, the band stepping back and allowing the audience to carry the opening verse entirely on their own.
One of the defining moments of the evening came during Brightside, when Wesley Schultz stepped away from the stage and moved through the heart of the arena, weaving between aisles and greeting fans in the seated sections as he sang. The gesture dissolved the scale of SunBet Arena, allowing every corner of the venue to feel intimately connected to one of the world’s most accomplished songwriters. For a few minutes, the performance ceased to be about spectacle and became something far more personal.
For some attendees, the journey to Pretoria carried its own significance. “I flew up from Durban for this, “said Sumeshni Naidoo as the crowd slowly filtered out. “I needed something that felt hopeful, and this was worth every rand. My favourite moment was when Wesley spoke about the loss of his brother to a heart attack, and then performed an intimate cover of Ghost by Justin Bieber in his memory. That was something we will never see again. The tears, from the band and from the audience, were completely real.”
It was a reminder that The Lumineers’ greatest strength lies not only in their catalogue of enduring songs, but in their willingness to share vulnerability on stage, inviting thousands of strangers into moments that feel profoundly human.
As the final notes faded and the lights rose, there was no sense of abrupt ending. Instead, the crowd drifted out slowly, voices hoarse, spirits lifted, phones raised to preserve fragments of the night. The Lumineers did not simply perform in Pretoria. They connected, gently and deliberately, reminding a packed arena that the most powerful concerts are not just heard, but felt long after the last song ends.
The Lumineers end their South African tour, promoted by Big Concerts, with a second show tonight. There are a limited number of tickets available at Ticketmaster.