Mumford & Sons Enlist Andrew Barr As Touring Drummer

Mumford & Sons kicked off their first headlining tour since 2019 on Wednesday night with a concert at the famed Melkweg in Amsterdam. The Barr Brothers/The Slip drummer Andrew Barr was behind the kit for portions of the show.

The Melkweg concert was the official start of the Tour Before The Tour, a run of intimate shows throughout the month of March featuring stops in Europe, the UK, Australia and North America. The British trio — Marcus Mumford, Ted Dwane and Ben Lovett — return to the road in support of their first new album in seven years, Rushmere, which is set for release on March 28 via Glassnote.

Mumford, Dwane and Lovett took the stage as a trio to begin the show with unplugged performances of classics “Sigh No More” and “Ditmas.” Then, five musicians emerged to back Mumford & Sons: Barr, Matt Menefee (banjo, electric & resonator guitar), Laura Bibbs (trumpet), Darius Christian (trombone) and Kyle Resnick (trumpet).

Andrew Barr wasn’t kept too busy over the course of the 16-song concert with Mumford & Sons devoting multiple segments to trio performances, going without a drummer for a few other tunes and Marcus hoping behind the kit on “Lover Of The Light.” Barr made his debut with the band on the title track to the forthcoming LP, one of three cuts from Rushmere played at the Melkweg, after the initial unplugged sequence. He’d return several times over the remainder of the evening.

Watch fan-captured clips of Mumford & Songs featuring Andrew Barr on drums below:

Mumford & Sons brings the Tour Before The Tour to Paris’ Elysee Montmartre on Friday. Scroll below for the complete list of dates for the sold-out jaunt.