Watch Mumford & Sons, Mark Hoppus Cover Eurythmics’ ‘Sweet Dreams’
Sonically, Mumford & Sons, Mark Hoppus and Eurythmics have probably never belonged in the same sentence – let alone on the same stage. But that changed during the Mumfords’ Tuesday night gig at the Forum in Inglewood, California, when the Blink-182 bassist and tour openers the Vaccines and Jack Garratt joined the band for a dynamic cover of the 1983 synth-pop staple “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).”
The fan-shot footage shows a crowded stage: The Mumfords and Vaccines layer synths and electric guitars, with Hoppus handling bass and Garratt adding an electronic edge with digital drum pads. The Blink-182 co-frontman adds backing vocals to the “Hold your head up” section before the song climaxes in a storm of guitar squall.
Mumford & Sons debuted their Eurythmics cover during a July BBC Radio 2 session at Maida Vale, and the band have slipped the track into recent set lists for their ongoing North American tour behind this year’s Wilder Mind. The quartet’s next date is a “Gentlemen of the Road” stopover date in Salida, Colorado on Saturday, August 22nd. The two-night event, which begins on Friday, will also feature the Flaming Lips, Dawes, Garratt, the Vaccines, Jenny Lewis, and Tune-Yards, among other acts.
While Wilder Mind finds the folk-rock band expanding their sound with electric instruments, the Mumfords told actor Jason Sudeikis in a recent interview that the evolution feels organic.
“We grew up playing electric guitars and drum kits, electric basses and keyboards, so these are like our first instruments,” Marcus Mumford said. “I think we want to just keep trying different things, because if you just do the same thing again and again, it gets a bit boring. Amongst the four of us, and especially because we’re all songwriters and all play different instruments, we want to keep changing things up. So, it’s whether or not people come with us for that; but if they don’t, I think we’ll still do it.”