Muse are an English band I fell in love with in highschool, lead by the charismatic and vocally extravagant Matthew Bellamy and his chums Dominic Howard and that guy on bass (Chris Wolstenholme). Their first 3 albums are very fine works, combining catchy, driving, almost "hard rock" riffs with a bit of glam and spacey- electronic influences. Those three albums, Showbiz, Origin of Symmetry and Absolution (my favorite) had some pretty creative epic soundscapes going on, but it wasn't over the top.. the songs were just restrained enough to not be ridiculous.
But then they released Black Holes and Revelations... And later, The Resistance.
To be fair, Black Holes is not awful; if you've had a chronological Muse marathon, it sort of presents as a logical progression from proggy/ glammy (Queen-y?) to proggier/glammier. But stand back and listen outside of that scope, and feel as your face goes in the shape of a bunched up rag. It is the sound of a band trying to be so epic and camp that it's rather alienating. I have not purchased The Resistance, but the songs I've heard from it are telling me not to.
But then they released Black Holes and Revelations... And later, The Resistance.
To be fair, Black Holes is not awful; if you've had a chronological Muse marathon, it sort of presents as a logical progression from proggy/ glammy (Queen-y?) to proggier/glammier. But stand back and listen outside of that scope, and feel as your face goes in the shape of a bunched up rag. It is the sound of a band trying to be so epic and camp that it's rather alienating. I have not purchased The Resistance, but the songs I've heard from it are telling me not to.
So sets the scene for my expectations of their concert Monday night. I took my sister, a bigger fan that I was, and her two best girls, for her birthday, (conveniently that day)- a few of the only teenagers in the world who did not get into them through Twilight. I was expecting lots of the last two albums, lots of annoying teens, and a cringey face.
I got some, but not all of this.
The entertainment centre should be banned from having music concerts there for its terrible organization, stupid location, dumb rules (I can still throw a cup of water on the stage!!, and how the hell am I going to hit anyone from allllllll the way back here!!) and general overpricedness (everything). Despite this, getting into the GA section was fairly easy (we won't talk about getting out), and us girls settled in for a good spot. An hour or so later I was reminded how much teenage boys stink, but for the girls' first mosh experience, they coped pretty well.
Dead Letter Circus were a pretty average support band, trying to appease to the 'hard rock' aspect of the music taste of Muse fans, without doing it particularly well or interesting. I'm getting a bit over the blah blah screech of guitars under a whiny unintelligible wail that seems to be dominating the airwaves in multiple forms of late. Live, it was long one long stream of screech and wail without any rhyme, reason or creativity. Luckily it was only 30 minutes of this before the 30 minute wait for Muse began.
As the lights finally dimmed, it was clear that the extravagant proportions of Muse's music would be completely translated live. Three "skyscrapers" (well that's what I'm calling them!) which had been set up onstage prior, came to life with lights and projections of windows gradually lighting up, signalling the entrance of the band. Each skyscraper split in the middle by one of the sheets covering them dropping down, to reveal a Muse member standing in each, decked out in glitz, kicking off with 'Uprising' (from The Resistance). 'Uprising' is a terribly cringey camp spacerock anti-government anthem, which meant it was a perfect opener for such over the top presentation. Heck, if you're a band with over the top kinda sounds, why not complement it with over the top kinda visuals?? It really was the only way, and somehow it worked.
I'd heard they weren't very talkative onstage, so wasn't expecting much chatter. Unfortunately for that tradition, technical difficulties on Matt's skyscraper straight after the first song, meant that Dom was forced to say hi and explain the hold up. A badly timed, awkward few minutes ensued which threatened to break the momentum. Luckily it was their only hiccup and they got on with each song without much fuss.
They continued with a lot of new stuff, which suit the style, but I was beginning to tire of it. They at least mixed up the performance by changing from standing up on the skyscrapers, to the floor, and back again. A nice moment involved Chris jamming on Dom's skyscraper with him, reminding the crowd that he's actually a pretty good bassist. Their later catalogue finally began to make an appearance, starting with 'Butterflies and Hurricanes', which was easily a highlight amongst 'Bliss', 'Citizen Erased', 'Sunburn' (my sister and I jumping like turds as the teens around us stood still in stupor) and 'Plug In Baby' (thank god they played 'Plug In Baby'!). It was pretty great seeing Matt play the (neon) piano in 'Butterflies' and 'Sunburn', which he did effortlessly.
A nicely timed encore ended with 'Take A Bow' off Black Holes, a better choice for their opener, I would have thought. But in a way it did fit as a closer, ensuring the audience was left with either a massive 'phwoar!!' or cringe imprinted in their mind. Almost as if to advise "DON'T FORGET US TWIHARDS, OR YOU'LL BURN IN HELL!!!!"
In the end, despite my dislike for the songs I knew they just had to play, they put on a great show, the only way they knew how, via extravagance. Similar to their recorded music, if I stood back and watched from a distant point of view, I would have cringed to the high heavens, but being in there immersed in the sound and mood, I didn't cringe once. They created the appropriate mood fitting for each song, thanks not only to the projections, lasers, neon lights and huge setup and venue, but also thanks to the fact that they are a pretty damn good band. A band that may have just lost their way in terms of songwriting. Let's all hope they find their way back again.
The entertainment centre should be banned from having music concerts there for its terrible organization, stupid location, dumb rules (I can still throw a cup of water on the stage!!, and how the hell am I going to hit anyone from allllllll the way back here!!) and general overpricedness (everything). Despite this, getting into the GA section was fairly easy (we won't talk about getting out), and us girls settled in for a good spot. An hour or so later I was reminded how much teenage boys stink, but for the girls' first mosh experience, they coped pretty well.
Dead Letter Circus were a pretty average support band, trying to appease to the 'hard rock' aspect of the music taste of Muse fans, without doing it particularly well or interesting. I'm getting a bit over the blah blah screech of guitars under a whiny unintelligible wail that seems to be dominating the airwaves in multiple forms of late. Live, it was long one long stream of screech and wail without any rhyme, reason or creativity. Luckily it was only 30 minutes of this before the 30 minute wait for Muse began.
As the lights finally dimmed, it was clear that the extravagant proportions of Muse's music would be completely translated live. Three "skyscrapers" (well that's what I'm calling them!) which had been set up onstage prior, came to life with lights and projections of windows gradually lighting up, signalling the entrance of the band. Each skyscraper split in the middle by one of the sheets covering them dropping down, to reveal a Muse member standing in each, decked out in glitz, kicking off with 'Uprising' (from The Resistance). 'Uprising' is a terribly cringey camp spacerock anti-government anthem, which meant it was a perfect opener for such over the top presentation. Heck, if you're a band with over the top kinda sounds, why not complement it with over the top kinda visuals?? It really was the only way, and somehow it worked.
I'd heard they weren't very talkative onstage, so wasn't expecting much chatter. Unfortunately for that tradition, technical difficulties on Matt's skyscraper straight after the first song, meant that Dom was forced to say hi and explain the hold up. A badly timed, awkward few minutes ensued which threatened to break the momentum. Luckily it was their only hiccup and they got on with each song without much fuss.
They continued with a lot of new stuff, which suit the style, but I was beginning to tire of it. They at least mixed up the performance by changing from standing up on the skyscrapers, to the floor, and back again. A nice moment involved Chris jamming on Dom's skyscraper with him, reminding the crowd that he's actually a pretty good bassist. Their later catalogue finally began to make an appearance, starting with 'Butterflies and Hurricanes', which was easily a highlight amongst 'Bliss', 'Citizen Erased', 'Sunburn' (my sister and I jumping like turds as the teens around us stood still in stupor) and 'Plug In Baby' (thank god they played 'Plug In Baby'!). It was pretty great seeing Matt play the (neon) piano in 'Butterflies' and 'Sunburn', which he did effortlessly.
A nicely timed encore ended with 'Take A Bow' off Black Holes, a better choice for their opener, I would have thought. But in a way it did fit as a closer, ensuring the audience was left with either a massive 'phwoar!!' or cringe imprinted in their mind. Almost as if to advise "DON'T FORGET US TWIHARDS, OR YOU'LL BURN IN HELL!!!!"
In the end, despite my dislike for the songs I knew they just had to play, they put on a great show, the only way they knew how, via extravagance. Similar to their recorded music, if I stood back and watched from a distant point of view, I would have cringed to the high heavens, but being in there immersed in the sound and mood, I didn't cringe once. They created the appropriate mood fitting for each song, thanks not only to the projections, lasers, neon lights and huge setup and venue, but also thanks to the fact that they are a pretty damn good band. A band that may have just lost their way in terms of songwriting. Let's all hope they find their way back again.
The Resistance is terrible terrible terrible. And I even liked Black Holes (a lot). I dunno if I could handle a Muse live show. G'job!
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