Mumford & Sons: 'We forget lyrics at big gigs'

Mumford & Sons have revealed that they often get nervous before big live shows, which causes them to forget the lyrics to their own songs.

Lead singer Marcus Mumford told Q that performing in front of large crowds, such as Glastonbury's Other Stage last Friday, can put pressure on the band to not make any mistakes.

Mumford said: "Forgetting words is the worst. It happens a lot, especially when we do live television.

"Of course we get nervous, [and there's a lot of] shaking, panic attacks, sweating a lot, crying a little bit, a desperate need for the toilet."

Mumford added that he prefers to focus his attention away from the front of the stage in order to cope with nerves and put on a good show.

"With these giant shows I always feel the first few rows aren't real. There's an ecstasy that happens when you're in the front rows of a gig, it doesn't matter who's on stage, it's always a frenzy and you're squashed and you're probably quite drunk so that's not the reality," he added.

"So if you can engage the furthest person back, then you can get everyone else to engage."

Mumford & Sons will support Arcade Fire at Hyde Park on Thursday, June 30.

The band are scheduled to record the follow-up to 2009's Sigh No More this year.

Watch the video for Mumford & Son's 'Winter Winds' below: