"Sorry for the wait, we've been fucking around" says frontman Marcus Mumford to an intimate audience at Grimey's record store in Nashville. The store is one they've been visiting for a long time, and the comment refers to the fact the band has been laying low following their record-breaking success as a top act in a genre one might call 'modern folk/rock'.

This genre is, one might argue 'elevated pub music', one that works best in an intimate setting – at least in the opinion of band member Winston Marshall. Following their big successes, both on the charts and as a touring band, they've been grappling with how to maintain that atmosphere as ticket demand goes through the roof.

"We grew up as sort of a pub band and we always had the aim of trying to make these arenas as intimate as possible"

Winston says (here)

It's hard to make an arena feel intimate; to make every person in the audience feel special and seen. And what they do to capture this intimacy is really unique. Even at some of the world's biggest arenas, like London's O2 -- they place the stage in literally the middle of the arena.

Mumford adds: "we believe in the innate goodness of people and the innate beauty of people".

Their audience-as-community attitude goes beyond the positioning of the stage. At every show, there is an event-within-the-event if you will, known as the Agora event. Agora is the name of a Facebook group where like-minded Mumford & Sons enthusiasts converse, share photos, and organise said events.

The group (link) is now 12,337 members strong. It is mainly of the community, for the community – but the management and band are of course aware of it, and have administrative rights. Even the band members themselves dip in and out of conversations there.