Mumford & Sons—Live from South Africa: Dust and Thunder

International superstar band Mumford & Sons, hailing from the U.K., cap a tour of South Africa from 2016 with a two-night stand in Pretoria in this 17-song concert. Those who find Mumford & Sons' music to be a colorless mush of a sound, whether from their country-folk days or their revised, more driving, electrified material, will witness little here to change their minds. Despite a passionate crowd of Pretorian fans who know the group's lyrics and respond well to African guest musicians who turn up, Mumford & Sons rarely frame a song as anything more than a murmured, undistinguished series of cyclical rhythms at modulated speeds. The opening track “Snake Eyes” (following a curiously diffident “hello” to the audience by Marcus Mumford) is a rumbling engine that shifts from slow to fast. “I Will Wait” offers tuneless bluegrass and folk-rock, while “Awake My Soul” fares better, starting as a prayerful, meditative piece that shifts to a slightly more celebratory, rocking tempo. “Lover of the Light” is the centerpiece of the show in many ways, breaking open as a Coldplay-like exciting anthem driven by Mumford's thrilling turn on a drum kit. Presented in DTS HD 5.1, Dolby Atmos, and LPCM stereo on Blu-ray, and DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and stereo on DVD, this is a strong optional purchase. (T. Keogh)