“We're Gonna Start Small and Intimate”: Mumford and Sons Announces First Tour Since 2018

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Mumford and Sons on the cover of their second album, 'Babel'

It's been a long time coming. Technically, it's been seven years. That's how long it's been since British folk rock band Mumford and Sons toured. The band last toured for their fourth studio album Delta from 2018 to 2020. In the years since, the band has announced the departure of original banjo player Winston Marshall and released the single "Good People" featuring Pharrell Williams. That single was the first music released by the band since Marshall's absence. Now, the band is announcing a new tour for their upcoming album RUSHMERE, set to release on March 28.

The band, led by Marcus Mumford, announced RUSHMERE back in January, with the title track and first single "Rushmere" dropping just two days later. The single is reminiscent of the band's older music on albums like Sigh No More and Babel, with yes, that distinct banjo sound still prominent within the song (notably absent from "Good People.") This week, Mumford told KROQ’s Klein/Ally Show in Los Angeles that "Surprise, surprise, our band's gonna play some shows." Mumford explains, "We're very relieved, and we're gonna start small and intimate, and we're calling it 'The Tour Before The Tour."

The tour will consist of nine stops across the globe from Los Angeles to Amsterdam to Sydney and more. Mumford says:

"We're gonna play theaters all over the place. We're gonna play the Palladium in Los Angeles…. and we're gonna play the Forum in London and these little spots, which is where we kind of cut our teeth. You know, these rooms that we haven't had the opportunity to play loads, and it felt like a good way to sort of warm ourselves up and play some of these new songs in an intimate setting before bigger ones later in the year."

"The Tour Before the Tour"

The smaller venues for this first round of dates are actually something Mumford says he's looking forward to. "The big ones, especially the outdoor big ones, can feel like a little more anonymous, especially if you're quite far away from the crowd." Mumford explains. "Like Glastonbury, you're like 50 meters away from the crowd, you know? But in these places… you can smell each other." Mumford is looking forward to this next chapter for the band. In 2022, Mumford released a solo album called Self-Titled but "was longing to get back" to the band. He explains the reunion "actually started for us two years ago, in Los Angeles. I was living here, and Ted [Dwane] and Ben [Lovett] both came out, and we just started by playing some instruments together in the room, and then these songs started coming."

"It was like, 'Let's just see how it feels. This is a choice… We don't have to do this, no one's forcing us to do this. Let's do it if it feels right,'" he says, "and these songs just started pouring out of us and it's been the like most prolific two years of my life."

Mumford & Sons 2025 "Tour Before the Tour" Dates and Locations

Date	Location	Venue
March 5	Amsterdam	Melkweg
March 7	Paris	Elysee Montmatre
March 9	Berlin	Metropol
March 11	London	O2 Forum Kentish Town
March 17	Sydney	Sydney Opera House
March 20	Los Angeles, CA	Hollywood Palladium
March 22	Chicago, IL	The Chicago Theatre
March 23	Toronto, ON	Allied Music Centre – Massey Hall
March 26	New York, NY	Brooklyn Paramount