Twenty One Pilots play mash-up of ‘Stranger Things’ theme and ‘Heathens’

Twenty One Pilots have shared a mash-up of the Stranger Things theme tune and their 2016 song ‘Heathens’ – check out the performance below.

The Ohio duo – comprising Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun – were playing a headline set at the Electric Castle festival in Romania last Friday (July 15) when they paid homage to the Netflix sci-fi series.

To introduce their 19-track set, the band aired a montage of pivotal scenes from Stranger Things 4 on the big screen behind the stage. It showed Max (portrayed by Sadie Sink) being tormented by the sinister villain Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower).

The video was soundtracked by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein’s official theme tune for the show. After walking out, Twenty One Pilots incorporated the iconic synthy instrumental into a live airing of ‘Heathens’ from the Suicide Squad soundtrack.

Dramatic moments from Stranger Things‘ fourth season continued to play out as the pair performed.

Responding to the footage on the group’s official Twitter feed, the official Stranger Things account tweeted the message: “This performance could save me from Vecna any day of the week.”

You can see that post and watch the footage of the special set opener below.

this performance could save me from vecna any day of the week

— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) July 22, 2022

Speaking to NME earlier this month, Twenty One Pilots said that they now feel like they “belong” at the top of festival line-ups.

“Coming to Europe and playing festivals; there’s a certain vibe and atmosphere that feels familiar, which is really wild to say and feels like home,” Dun explained. “It’s a good feeling – when we started out, everything felt really foreign.”

The band, who released their sixth album ‘Scaled & Icy’ in May, also performed at Mad Cool 2022 in Madrid recently. Reviewing that set, NME wrote: “The show is well thought out and a visual treat, a triumph for both the band, and a gift to the fans who’ve waited several years for this.”

Meanwhile, Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers have confirmed that have gone back and re-edited past episodes of the series.