Mumford & Sons

They remember it well: the last time they played in Rome, on that very same stage at Rock In Roma, Ippodromo delle Capannelle, eleven years ago, summer 2015, on the tour for “Wilder Mind”, their third album. Since then three more records have come and gone, and 2026 brought us “Prizefighter”, co-written and co-produced with Aaron Dessner of The National: cottage-folk atmospheres that work on a subcutaneous emotional level, and which in the live setting alternate with something like a best-of of the songs Mumford & Sons have recorded across a brilliant career. “Prizefighter” is a choral record, packed with illustrious guests who, for obvious reasons, can't be there live.

But Marcus Mumford is more than capable of making up for their absence, reclaiming all that beauty which, for the most part, is his own handiwork anyway. One of the most intense moments of the show is the deeply introspective “Prizefighter” (the song) / “Badlands” sequence, an ultra-minimalist passage that sounds a lot like The National - on the record they're sung as duets with Bon Iver (the first) and Gracie Abrams (the second). Marcus sings them alone, with a bit of backing harmony, and fills the whole space with his voice. Spine-tingling stuff, even though more than a few distracted punters are queuing with their backs to the stage for a third or fourth beer (little do they know this cathartic moment will never come around again in their lives…).

Marcus plays acoustic guitar, banjo, electric guitar, then at one point sits down behind the drums, plays them, and sings - all with a flawless voice. Truly an artist of real stature. And the band backing him is top-notch too, starting with his two long-time bandmates, who've shared with him since the beginning (back in 2007) that amusing, law-firm-sounding moniker: Ben Lovett on synths and Ted Dwane on bass. It's a sound that's Americana to its very soul, though ironically one born and raised in London. Tonight, eight of the twenty-three songs performed are lifted wholesale from “Prizefighter”, one of which, “Here”, is a duet with Taylor Meier of Caamp, who opened the evening admirably with their radio-friendly country-bluegrass sound straight out of Columbus, Ohio. Everything is absolutely superb, and whenever Mumford & Sons decide to plug in and turn up the electricity, the results are excellent, as with the super-charged “The Wolf”, almost a hard-rock number by their usual standards, which closes out the first part of the show.

After a brief pause, they reappear on a second, smaller stage set up in the middle of the crowd, for an acoustic interlude elevated by a cover of Simon & Garfunkel's “The Boxer” (though some would have preferred “Cowboy Like Me”, which wasn't played tonight). Then it's back to the main stage to close out with “Rushmere”, “The Banjo Song” and the driving “I Will Wait”. There would be plenty to say about how far Rock In Roma still lags behind the best European festivals - between an endless queue for a kebab (in the end we gave up and went for a hot dog with no line instead) and ground so dusty you wouldn't even find its like at a small-town country fair anymore. We're sure the Rock In Roma organisers will take note and improve on a few things going forward: music fans have high expectations of a festival that's now been running for many years, and all it would take is to properly borrow a page from all the wonderful music festivals found across every corner of Europe. But the Mumford & Sons concert managed to make us forget even these minor mishaps.

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