Photos by Andy Argyrakis

In the seven years since Mumford & Sons released a record, the English band scaled down to a trio and tapped into its “Rushmere” roots, or rather, the spirit of the bar where buddies/vocalists Marcus Mumford (guitar, mandolin), Ted Dwane (guitar, bass), Ben Lovett (piano, keyboards, accordion) first met.

Though fellow original banjo/guitar player Winston Marshall is no longer by their side, several additional musicians populated the double-level stage at a sold out United Center, where it was nearly two-hours of foot-stomping folk decorated by the expanded textures of brass, acoustic and percussion instruments.

In fact, the entire troupe was completely fired up from the very first note of the forthcoming “Run Together,” which was an aura that only increased throughout every passing strum of “Babel,” “Rushmere” and “Little Lion Man.”

Newer tracks such as “Truth” and “Malibu” were worthy bookends to the many that came before, and as Mumford & Sons dug into the earliest “Sigh No More” album especially, it was apparent how frequent their fingerprints have rubbed off on practically all of this generation’s guys (and gals) wielding guitars.

These pioneers also managed to make the arena feel like a campfire during “Ghosts That We Knew,” “Caroline” and “Guiding Light,” thanks in part to being performed more or less unplugged on a second stage towards the rear of the ground floor.

Upon returning to the traditional location following a galvanizing lap around the stands by Mumford, everyone escalated the intensity and transformed into a gigantic yet still organic wall of sound for “Ditmas,” “The Cave,” “Roll Away Your Stone,” “Delta” and “The Wolf” as fire and sparks flew.

On the flip side, the encore started with members hovered around a single microphone, taking another low-key break from the otherwise enormous production to showcase the close-knit harmonies of “Timshel.”

The near end took Mumford & Sons back to the beginning and the signature “I Will Wait,” which once again charged full steam ahead, and much like the lengthy gap since previously coming to town, found those who were steadfast in their patience wholly reaping the reward.

For additional information on Mumford & Sons, visit MumfordAndSons.com.

For a list of upcoming Live Nation concerts, visit LiveNation.com.

Upcoming shows at the United Center include Laufey (Oct. 10); P1Harmony (Oct. 14); Brandy and Monica (Oct. 18); Adam Sandler (Oct. 20); Tate McRae (Oct. 21); Nate Bargatze (Oct. 23-24); Playboi Carti (Oct. 30); Tame Impala (Nov. 3); Kaytranada and Justice (Nov. 5); Jo Koy (Nov. 7); Druski (Nov. 8); Maroon 5 (Nov. 13); Paul McCartney (Nov. 24-25); Burna Boy (Dec. 1) and 107.5 WGCI Big Jam (Dec. 6). For additional details, visit UnitedCenter.com.

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