The last time Mumford and Sons were in town — in April 2016, on the same day Prince died(!) — they were in their so-called experimental phase, when the London foursome began slathering slick stadium rock vibes over the earnest Appalachian folk that made them famous.

In the nearly decade that has passed, they released another rock album, took an extended break and lost banjo player Winston Marshall, who left the group due to his increasingly far-right politics. In March, they released their back-to-basics fifth album “Rushmere” and, Thursday night, headlined Grand Casino Arena, the downtown St. Paul hockey rink formerly known as Xcel Energy Center.

The time away clearly didn’t cost them any listeners, as more than 14,500 showed up to see the guys live. But “Rushmere” failed to generate mu

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