Mumford & Sons

If you listened to BBC Radio 1 or Capital FM in the late 2000s and early 2010s, chances are you’d hear a wave of ‘stomp clap hey’ music that was dominating the airwaves. From The Lumineers to Of Monsters and Men, they were in abundance. However, none truly had as much success as British-based Mumford & Sons, composed of frontman Marcus Mumford alongside Ted Dwane and Ben Lovett. From Grammy wins to a headline slot at Glastonbury, they’ve done it all and then some, yet they’ve been away from the spotlight for the last few years, partly due to the fallout and subsequent firing of former member Winston Marshall. Despite the gaping hole that was obviously left following his departure, the band mended it back together brilliantly and have delivered a fantastic return to form in 2025. From the release of their first album in seven years, Rushmere, to the upcoming Aaron Dessner-produced Prizefighter due in February, they’ve certainly had their hands busy in the studio, as well as on a tour that has spanned across every corner of North America and Europe. Now finally back home, they certainly gave the fans what they’ve been missing all this time: an excellent set that rolled back the years while looking optimistically towards the future.

After beginning their set with the subdued unreleased track “Run Together”, they then dive in head first into the classic track “Babel”. While some may scoff at the album of that same name winning Album of the Year at the 2013 Grammys and call it undeserved, you can’t help but let out a massive grin the second you hear the banjo come in for the first time. “Rubber Band Man” followed, the lead single from Prizefighter, and with it a stunning fixed light structure illuminating hearts, stars and flowers. It’s hard to describe it, and pictures don’t do the marvel justice, but it is a truly impressive piece of set design that immediately elevated the live experience. To the surprise of a few, they went into arguably their most popular song, “Little Lion Man” just 15 minutes into the set. As frontman Marcus Mumford asked the crowd to stand and dance along, the screams of the song’s now iconic chorus bellowed out across the arena. If you want to make an impression on an audience of this size, there are few ways more effective. The early part of the set highlighted the band’s stylistic variety: “Truth” leaned more into alternative rock, complete with guitar solos, punchy brass harmonies and flame pyrotechnics. On the other end of the spectrum, “Here” (another Prizefighter track) had four-time Grammy winner and opening act Sierra Ferrell join the stage to sing along with Marcus. Her beautifully delivered vibratos and backing vocals complimented Marcus perfectly and added a different dynamic to the track.

The band then jumped off the main stage to move towards a B-stage situated in the middle of the crowd, where it was just Marcus, Ted, Ben and touring banjo player Matt Menefee. This intimate setting felt very reminiscent of the band’s free pop-up show at Flat Iron Square in London earlier this year, as part of their warm-up promo for their newest album Rushmere. With all the theatrics and performative art stripped to its bare minimum, you really got a feel for their raw sound. It helped that Marcus was also as charismatic as you would ever want a frontman to be, mentioning his friendship with Brummie Jack Grealish (to a mixed response of cheers and jeers), while dedicating “Guiding Light” to his notorious calves. While their 2018 album “Delta”, which this song features on, leaned further away from the folk they were best known for, the song still prompted a great response from a dedicated crowd. Even after the band returned to the main stage, Marcus certainly wasn’t done with his showman antics. During “Ditmas”, he not only came down towards the standing crowd, but went as far as to jump into the seating bowl, run across and dash all the way up to the very back row of the nosebleeds. All while singing the entire time. If that isn’t stamina, I don’t know what is. This was a brilliant way of connecting an arena crowd, a job that can be so difficult with so many different people present.

As the initial set began to draw to a close, the trifecta of “The Cave”, “Roll Away Your Stone” and “Rushmere” were perhaps as Mumford & Sons as Mumford & Sons can get. Their characteristic folk sound shone throughout this run of tracks, and it was here where it started to really click for me. Fans singing every word to every lyric, while jumping up and and down to the point where you could see the broadcast cameras shaking. Moments like these are why Mumford & Sons still have nearly 15 million Spotify monthly listeners, and why the band are still selling out arenas worldwide. A mostly electrifying encore followed, beginning on a quieter note with “Timshel” - Marcus, Ted and Ben all stood around one microphone, with Marcus politely asking the audience to “shut the fuck up” for one song. Following this came the brilliant back to back of “Awake My Soul” and “I Will Wait”, which would’ve been the most perfect way to finish the set had it stopped there. Unfortunately, the night ended on a fairly anticlimactic note with yet another unreleased track, titled “Conversation With My Song (Gangsters & Angels)”. While not a bad song by any means, it was a telling sign when hundreds of fans decided they’d rather make their way to the exits than stay for one last song. Nevertheless, there was more than enough to suffice and make this a very enjoyable evening. With their second record in the space of a year looming, as well as their biggest ever headline show at Hyde Park in July, their name isn’t going to leave the limelight anytime soon. If anything, the name may only grow brighter.