Mumford & Sons: Tiny Desk Concert

Robin Hilton | March 25, 2026
Sometimes we have to reschedule Tiny Desks. And sometimes it can take a while to get a band back on our calendar. In the case of Mumford & Sons, it took 13 years. Back when the band was touring its sop****re full-length, Babel, the trio from London was set to play the Desk in NPR's old (and long-since-demolished) building, but had to cancel at the last minute.

Now that we finally got them here, you'll see and hear it was worth the wait. The band's sixth and latest album, Prizefighter, ranks among its best, with world-weary anthems to growing older, weathering the innumerable blows of life and coming out on the other side, hopefully a little wiser.

Marcus Mumford's voice sounds extraordinary in this space, backed by the sweet harmonies of pianist Ben Lovett and bassist Ted Dwane. They're joined by a stirring string quartet and Matt Menefee on banjo as they open with "I'll Tell You Everything," from Prizefighter, followed by "White Blank Page," from the band's 2009 debut Sigh No More. They close with two more cuts from Prizefighter, including "Badlands," a song they say they had never played live for anyone before, and the album's first single, "Rubber Band Man."

SET LIST
"I'll Tell You Everything"
"White Blank Page"
"Badlands"
"Rubber Band Man"

MUSICIANS
Marcus Mumford: vocals, guitar
Ben Lovett: piano, background vocals
Ted Dwane: bass, background vocals
Matt Menefee: banjo
Rob Moose: violin
Christina Courtin: violin
Miranda Sielaff: viola
Christine Lamprea: cello

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Robin Hilton
Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant
Audio Director/Mix: Josh Newell
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Maia Stern, Kara Frame, Mitra I. Arthur
Audio Engineer: Josephine Nyounai
Production Assistant: Dhanika Pineda
Photographer: Bronson Arcuri
Tiny Desk Team: Ashley Pointer, Felix Contreras
Series Editor: Lars Gotrich
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Executive Director: Sonali Mehta
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton

#nprmusic #tinydesk #mumfordandsons

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