The banjos win at Mumford & Sons’ Reading 2015 set

Reading Festival will never be jollier than in the back-to-back blast of ‘I Will Wait’ and ‘Little Lion Man’, two songs that encapsulate the most loved and loathed sides of Mumford & Sons. Impassioned banjo-led brodowns are easy to diss on record. When it’s here, in the company of thousands, it’s impossible to resist. Ted Dwane - up there with Este Haim in the bass-face stakes (double bass-face?) - is having the time of his life, and it’s almost like third album ‘Wilder Mind’ never happened.

Things are brought back down to earth with a thud. Nothing tops Mumfords’ most-loved in their Friday night headline set in terms of sentiment or enthusiasm - this time round, the banjos win.

For the most part, the four-piece deliver their customary impassioned tricks with new tools. Winston Marshall is plugged in and sliding out stadium-sized guitar lines. ‘Believe’ brings a lighters-out moment to rival an opening ceremony, but there’s still something missing. Turns out Mumford & Sons work best when they’re in familiar territory. It becomes more clear than ever that their third LP was a risk that only occasionally pays off, like on the tightly-wound ‘Tompkins Square Park’ and thrashing closer ‘The Wolf’ - this album’s equivalent of the anthems that sold Mumfords millions.

A decade ago, banjo cuts might be met with bottles of piss at Reading. Here, they’re embraced like a long lost friend. “They’re fucking nothing like a British music festival,” says frontman Marcus Mumford mid-set. They’re still beasts this band are trying to master.