Chicago was blessed with new tunes last Wednesday (10/8), when Mumford and Sons brought the Rushmere Tour to the United Center.
The affable lads opened the show with the live debut of “Run Together,” for the 20,000 fans at the 1990s arena that was built due to the popularity of Michael Jordan and his record breaking run with the Bulls.
They closed with the live debut of "A Conversation With My Son, Gangsters, and Angels." It was the kickoff of the fall leg of their world tour.
Marcus Mumford led the way on lead vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, and occasional banjo; Ben Lovett added to the heft on keyboards and backing vocals; and Ted Dwane slapped the bass.
Additional players included Matt Menefee on his own banjo, Ryan Richter on guitar and Kyle Resnick on horns.
The band is touring to support their new album Rushmere, which was released in March on Island Records. It is their first LP as a trio since Winston Marshall’s departure in 2021 who chose to leave the group after public backlash over a political tweet he made.
The record was produced by Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, Brandi Carlile) with the band, recorded at RCA Studio A in Nashville.
It feels like a welcome return to their roots and while some may ask for more cowbell, clearly the group listened to those who begged for more banjo.
On Thursday (10/9) in Minnesota the group performed "Feel the Tide" from their Love Your Ground EP for the first time in 15 years. It was their first trip to the Twin Cities in nearly a decade.
One song on the new album that has been curiously missing from the set the the one co-written and co-produced by Pharrell, "Good People." Lovett said working with The Neptunes producer was, "incredibly enlightening, because he is an absolute force of nature.
"We've been working with him on and off. You know, this is all part of the two year process," Lovette told Zach Sang this spring.
"It's all kind of, anyone who would take some time and make music with us, you know, we're kind of in a yes mode, and it's been great working with him, like we said that song, 'Good People' has come out of it," he said, but did it get lost somewhere or will it make its way into the set?
The band did something interesting with their live debuts in Chicago, placing one at the start of the show and another as the very last tune.
I've often said, a live debut at the top of the show is a great idea because people are still getting situated in their seats, and as the curtains part, everyone's taking in the stage production, checking out the band, the lights, and in this case the stars above the group. There's no need to burn a kickass favorite.
Then to have a brand new song as the show closer is also a good choice because you're rewarding everyone for staying and you're letting them waltz out into the parking lot with your new little baby in their ear. Well done, boys.
Mumford & Sons will be traveling around the world this fall with stops in Canada, the States, Scandinavia, Western Europe and the UK wrapping it all up at the O2 in London.
Grab your tickets on the Mumford & Sons website.
Rushmere Tour 2025 remaining dates
10/16 KeyBank Center, Buffalo, NY
10/17 Centre Bell, Montréal, QC, Canada
10/19 PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA
10/20 Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, MI
10/22 Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
10/24 Moody Center, Austin, TX
10/25 BOK Center, Tulsa, OK
10/26 CHI Health Center Arena, Omaha, NE
11/6 Avicii Arena, Stockholm, Sweden
11/8 Royal Arena, Copenhagen, Denmark
11/10 Uber Arena, Berlin, Germany
11/12 Lanxess Arena, Cologne, Germany
11/13 Sportpaleis, Antwerp, Belgium
11/14 Adidas Arena, Paris, France
11/16 Rockhal, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
11/17 Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam, Netherlands
11/19 Unipol Arena, Bologna, Italy
11/20 Hallenstadion, Zurich, Switzerland
11/21 Unipol Forum, Milan, Italy
11/23 Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain
11/25 Sagres Campo Pequeno, Lisbon, Portugal
11/29 Utilita Arena, Newcastle, U.K.
11/30 First Direct Arena, Leeds, U.K.
12/2 OVO Hydro, Glasgow, U.K.
12/3 Co-op Live, Manchester, U.K.
12/5 Utilita Arena, Sheffield, U.K.
12/7 Utilita Arena, Birmingham, U.K.
12/8 Utilita Arena, Cardiff, U.K.
12/10-12/11 The O2, London, U.K.
