Mumford & Sons delivered a set full of covers at the Newport Folk Festival over the weekend, performing tracks by the likes of Radiohead, The Band, Maggie Rogers, and more.
Just last week, we passed the 53rd anniversary of Bob Dylan’s iconic appearance at the Newport Folk Festival, where the musical icon decided to shake things up and play his electric guitar instead of his famed acoustic. Now, over half a century later, bands are still shaking up the status quo, with Mumford & Sons throwing a number of covers into their set over the weekend.
Performing at the iconic festival on Saturday as an unannounced headliner, Mumford & Sons played a 15-song set which of course featured a number of their biggest tracks.
However, one third of their setlist was made up of unexpected cover versions, with the group tackling tracks by the likes of Simon & Garfunkel, and even The New Basement Tapes, a supergroup that features Marcus Mumford and performs tunes based around newly-discovered lyrics by Bob Dylan.
After kicking off their set with a performance of ‘Awake My Soul’ with Brandi Carlile, Maggie Rogers, and Jerry Douglas, fans might have thought that the surprises were all over. However, just seven songs later, the group welcomed Phoebe Bridgers to the stage to perform a stunning recreation of Radiohead’s ‘All I Need’.
Soon after, the group welcomed Belinda Carlile back to the stage to help them perform Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘The Boxer’, before jumping into The New Basement Tapes’ ‘Kansas City’. After throwing down ‘Dust Bowl Dance’, Mumford & Sons again welcomed a special guest onto the stage, bringing Maggie Rogers back out to perform a cover of the US musician’s 2016 hit ‘Alaska’.
Before long, the group closed out their set with a cover of The Band’s ‘The Weight’, which seemed to be a rather fitting nod to Bob Dylan’s legendary influence on the annual festival.
While there’s no word yet as to when Mumford & Sons might be coming back to Aussie shores, we certainly wouldn’t complain if they decide to bust out a setlist as brilliant as this when they do.
Check out more of Mumford & Sons’ covers from the Newport Folk Festival:
Mumford & Sons @ Newport Folk Festival, USA 28/07/2018 Setlist
‘Awake My Soul’ (with Brandi Carlile, Maggie Rogers, & Jerry Douglas)
‘Broad-Shouldered Beasts’
‘The Cave’
‘Little Lion Man’
‘White Blank Page’
‘Lover Of The Light’
‘Tompkins Square Park’
‘All I Need’ (Radiohead cover) (with Phoebe Bridgers)
‘Ghosts That We Knew’
‘The Boxer’ (Simon & Garfunkel cover) (with Brandi Carlile)
‘Kansas City’ (The New Basement Tapes cover) (with Brandi Carlile)
‘Dust Bowl Dance’
‘Alaska’ (Maggie Rogers cover) (with Maggie Rogers)
‘I Will Wait’
‘The Weight’ (The Band cover) (With Mavis Staples, Brandi Carlile, Maggie Rogers, Phoebe Bridgers, Phil Cook, & MC Taylor)
