Live Report: Mumford & Sons illuminate Malahide Castle with unending buoyancy

It might not be sunny on this Friday evening at Malahide Castle, but with Mumford & Sons’ glistening tunes resonating through the North Dublin venue, you would think you are in the midst of one of the warmest nights of the year.

Kicking off with the boisterous classics ‘Babel’ and ‘I Will Wait’, it is clear from the second the band steps on the stage that we are in for a gigantic party. The crowd is already singing back each chorus like a brightly illuminated choir, and red confettis cover the grounds in a delightful, star-like cloud.

Mumford & Sons at Malahide Castle on July 4th, 2025. Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

Track after track, Mumford & Sons' big, maximalist folk sounds, complete with effervescent banjo riffs and larger-than-life, uproarious trumpet solos, are like bursts of laughter stuck in the throat. Up on the stage, the band offers joyful dancing and beaming smiles, visibly conscious of the euphoria their sounds inspire amongst their audience.

Over the course of their career, it is fair to say that Mumford & Sons have gotten the formula down for dazzling and powerful tunes that hit right through the heart, both incredibly moving and deeply joyous. One of these recipes are slow-building instrumentals, tinted with more and more strings with each new section, before exploding in exuberant, colossal choruses, such as ‘Lover Of The Light’ or ‘Little Lion Man’.

Mumford & Sons at Malahide Castle on July 4th, 2025. Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

Applying this maximalist attitude to other genres, the band dip their toes in occasional rock flavours with ‘Truth’, a riotous, pyrotechnics-accompanied number which allows a healthy amount of shredding on the guitar and for Marcus Mumford to use the full potential of his raspy voice.

“Some of the biggest influences on world music,” Marcus Mumford offers to his Dublin crowd, “and on me personally, are this country – and this artist, specifically,” he introduces as tonight’s opener, Lisa Hannigan, walks onto the stage for a duet version of their 2009 classic ‘Awake My Soul’. With her delicate vocals, Hannigan is the perfect accompaniment to this emotional and transporting track, adding both softness and buoyancy to the richly textured soundscapes.

Mumford & Sons at Malahide Castle on July 4th, 2025. Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

Arguably, though, it is at their most stripped back that Mumford & Sons shine the brightest. On ‘Ghosts That We Knew’ or ‘Dust Bowl Dance’, as larger-than-life arrangements leave place to gentle pianos and slowed-down tempos, Marcus Mumford’s vocals and poignant melodies are shiver-inducing, heart-warming and unendingly bright.

This fact is hammered home as the three original members of the band reunite around a singular microphone for an incredibly sentimental acoustic section, which kicks off with ‘Timshel’ and ‘Reminder’ – before offering a special cover of The Dubliner’s ‘The Auld Triangle’, where the entirety of the crowd sings back, imbuing the grounds of Malahide Castle with an indisputable air of magic.

Mumford & Sons at Malahide Castle on July 4th, 2025. Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

Within these euphoria-filled soundscapes, Mumford & Sons are also masters when it comes to darker, heavier tunes – which appear that much more dramatic when clashing against their usual major-chord forward tracks. This is most visible on the mysterious and thrilling ‘White Blank Page’, where heavy choruses are lined with breathless, almost dissonant harmonies, giving the song an almost fantastical feel.

Mumford & Sons at Malahide Castle on July 4th, 2025. Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

Closing the night with the exhilarating ‘The Cave’, Mumford & Sons are treated to one last display of pure, unaltered fervour from their audience as the crowd erupts into waltzes, jigs and incredible bursts of laughter. It is with jubilant stars in their eyes that tonight’s attendees walk away from Malahide Castle, unexpected and yet incredibly appropriate fireworks going off above the larger-than-life stage.