Photo Credit: Press

After six years away from UK stages, MUMFORD & SONS returned to Birmingham with the air of a group that has outgrown the folk-rock revival they once spearheaded. Now five albums in, with Prizefighter on the horizon for 2026, the trio arrived touring this year’s Rushmere and playing like a band determined on redrawing its own borders.

Country singer SIERRA FERRELL set the tone for the evening long before the headliners came on stage. The West Virginia native, already a multi-Grammy winner, brought her distinct sound to Birmingham and quickly won the crowd over. Her band, outfitted in matching red shirts, white tassels and cowboy hats, leaned into a vivid mix of country, swing and cosmic frontier energy. Ferrell’s voice was the anchor through it all: sharp, elastic and commanding. By the third song, the crowd was fully engrossed in her music, as they clapped in time to the rhythm. A surprise cameo from Marcus Mumford and Ben Lovett was welcomed among the set, joining Sierra and her band to perform ‘American Dreaming’. Ferrell closed the set by encouraging the arena to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to her sound engineer, a sweet gesture which reflected her charm candidly. 

It wasn’t long before MUMFORD & SONS took to the stage, greeted by a roar that seemed to shake every part of the arena. Opening with an unreleased track off their next album ‘Run Together’, the band are clearly unafraid of staking new territory. They seamlessly segued into ‘Babel’, a nod to the anthemic folk-rock that defined their early years, before teasing fans with their recent collaboration with Hozier, ‘Rubber Band Man’. 

Marcus Mumford’s connection with the audience was palpable from the start. Acknowledging the scale of the arena, he quipped that they had “come a long way from the glee club”, a nod to their humble beginnings. That intimacy only grew during early classics like ‘Little Lion Man’ and ‘Hopeless Wanderer’ which have contributed to the bands popularity. Moments like these reminded the audience why MUMFORD & SONS are a defining presence in modern folk rock, able to make even a larger venue feel like a living, breathing community. 

For a sold-out 15,800 capacity venue, the band had moulded the perfect set which felt massive yet intimate. ‘Lover of the Light’ had Marcus on drums, inviting the crowd to clap along, while slower, reflective moments during ‘Believe’ lit up the arena with phone torches. Sierra Ferrell returned to join the band on stage for a duet, adding a soulful highlight to the evening. Shortly after, the trio made their way to the B stage, giving their additional live performance members a break. Later, ‘Ditmas’ saw Marcus running from the upper tiers to the standing floor, feeding off the crowd’s energy. Not many lead singers could sprint around an arena mid-performance and make it look effortless.

The latter half of the set showcased all of the bands best work. ‘The Cave’ and ‘Roll Away Your Stone’ became singalongs, while the ‘Rushmere’ title track proved that their newest work resonated just as powerfully. ‘The Wolf ‘closed the main set with a rockier intensity, setting the stage for the much anticipated encore. Three voices around a single mic for ‘Timshel‘ created a quiet, almost private moment, before ‘Awake My Soul‘ and ‘I Will Wait‘ had every fan joining in. Marcus called it “one of my favourite shows ever” before closing with the unreleased ‘Conversation With My Son (Gangsters & Angels)’, hinting at the bands next chapter. 

By the end, MUMFORD & SONS had transformed the arena into a living heartbeat, every note, clap, and lyric a testament to why they remain untouchable in modern folk rock.