Drowned in Sound

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muse andrew future
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by Andrew Future
For anyone but Muse, scud-hugging aircraft hangars like Earls Court would ruin the show; thinning the atmosphere swallowing the sound and usurping the magic. Lest we forget though that this is positively small fry when you’ve spent the year headlining some of the biggest festivals in the world. And they fxcking know it.

As you’d expect, everything’s turned up to infinitum, squared and pointed directly at the sun. Matt Bellamy has become a torturous soldier of Satan – commanding the underworld in a masterfully long red cloak. Out are the pixie spikes and body suits. The scissor-hands guitar solos, church-bell stomping arpeggios and train crash basslines remain.

And while for some it’s all now rather familiar that simply increases the pleasure. It’s the way the wonderful ‘Sunburn’ continues to evolve, its sand-strewn piano riff classically sprinkled atop minimally spluttering rhythms with a few new beats for good measure. The handclaps and paranoia death disco of ‘Time Is Running Out’ follow the monstrous 'Plug In Baby' and the ecstatic ‘Bliss’ as the pit bounces is one great wall of pleasure. This is centre point of the gig and it is amazing. I have truly never witnessed this kind of euphoria at a concert before.

When a magnum bursting opus like 'Butterflies and Hurricanes’ isn’t the best single on your album, something’s not right. And the beauty of Bellamy is you actually expect him to be singing, while playing guitar and piano and conducting the rest of the band. All at once. And he does of course, many, many times.

It isn’t just that ‘Apocalypse Please’ pisses all over every album opener since ‘I Wanna Be Adored’, it’s that it really is timeless. In grave robbing from Bach, Rachmaninov and chums and molesting their legacies with the kind of technical musicianship that makes the OK Computer look like a Von Bondies album, this otherworldly demonic phenomenon can only gain greater momentum. They are positively playing out of their skins tonight. With the next Muse record you’ll be able to kiss goodbye to popular music as you know it. Like Stockholm Syndrome itself, being saved isn’t even a desire any more.

DiScuss: What's been your Muse moment of 2004?

  • Muse 10 / 10
Words: Andrew Future

Muse

Christ, sounds amazing. One question Andrew, was Absolution your fav record of the year? (or was it 2003, i can never remember. If so, was it your 2003roty?)

Muse

Mmm, it was a rather good night. They sounded fabulous, and the visuals were amazing - love the strip-screens and the giant balloons :)
I discovered confetti in my pants later on. I have no idea how that got there...

Muse

sob. i had to move to the other side of the world the week before they started touring absolution and won't be able to see them playing live for ages. it's not fair...

Muse

Muse are horrid

Muse

they need to tour (or atleast play Manchester) in 2005!

Muse

It was amazing the most amazing thing that i have ever seen in my life. It was my first gig and what a gig. Matt looked stunning in a beautiful red coat absolutely amazing the setlist was fantastic so cool and varied and Matt threw his guitar into the audience which was amazing
The Setlist was:
Intro riff
Hysteria
B & H
Newborn
S4A
New one (not DES)
Muscle Museum
Citizen Erased
Ruled by Secrecy
Piano Interlude (like at Glastonbury)
Sunburn
TOADA
TSP
Heartbreaker riff
TIRO
Plug in Baby
Bliss
-------
Dead Star
Microcuts
-----
Apocalypse Please
Stockholm Syndrome + short outro

It was just amazing i recommend anyone who doesnt have tickets listens to it tonight www.xfm.co.uk from 9 o'clock. Thanks Muse absolutely out of this world!!!

Oh and Matt did this whole Camera thing at the begining it was just PURE CLASS!!!! :-D

Muse

I went to see this gig last night, and am re-living the glory by listening on XFM as we speak.

I went to see muse last november and they were brilliant, but we we had seating tickets,this time me and my friends managed to get standing tickets.

The zutons supporting were brilliant, i had already seen them live on theyre own headlining show, and they were brilliant last night.

first of all id like to say how bloody gorgeous matt looked in his full length red coat, next id like to say how no matter how much you have seen of muse, or how much you are expecting, when you get into that arena you are blown away every time, this is one of the things i love about the band.

i absolutley loved the new song, it was a beautifull piano masterpiece!

The show i am listening to tonight has a different set list, but its still bloody gud, omg, space dementia just came on, i love this song, anyway, sorry lol.

errm, yes, where was i, all in all, one chuffin gud band on cd, one undescribably gud band live.

I know that was a bit OTT but there u go, ive spilled my guts and now u can all say how much of a wanker i am, hahahaha.

MUSE RULE THE WORLD

Muse

oh yeh, and i totally agree wiv u pluginbabydoll, the camera bit at the beggining was genius, do you think they are gonna make a dvd? cos they were filming us in the pit, and they filmed the set, and also the zutons set, i hope they do as that wud b fan dabby dozey.


Muse

oh yeh, and i totally agree wiv u pluginbabydoll, the camera bit at the beggining was genius, do you think they are gonna make a dvd? cos they were filming us in the pit, and they filmed the set, and also the zutons set, i hope they do as that wud b fan dabby dozey.


Re: Muse

I really hope they do make a DVD out of it people think that they may the whole thing was filmed i think and it would be such a bloody waste of an awesome gig if they don't.

Muse

sorry didnt mean to post that twice, lol, and i'm probably annoying ppl now, but when the zutons were on sum1 shouted "the sax is shite" and i think that person is a wanker. i needed to get that off my chest, im done now, byeeee, happy reading xx

Muse

come waste your millions here, secretly she says

Muse

I'd like to buy the person who said the sax is shite a very big drink.

Re: Muse

agreed. the zutons are good, in a kind of coral-but-with-tunes way, but that sax player is utterly pointless. just bury her in some cement, someone.

Muse

zutons = pretty good
muse = rather good

sounds like an awesome show ... still dont like the 2nd album though...


...the best is yet to come ?

Muse

One of the best gigs I've ever seen. The 'camera bit', for those who don't know, involved Matt walking through the backstage area holding a camera and making the devil horns sign in the direction of the stage, before finally reaching the stage itself and swapping the camera for his guitar with the cameraman. At least that's what it looked like. I'm easily impressed. But then, even if I was hard to impress I doubt they could have failed.

Soulwax were great supporting too, although the sound for them was dreadful.

Muse

i personally was a little dissapointed, it was good and all but the atmouphere was a bit crap and the crowd were a nasty bunch of fucks....

Muse

My god I wish I'd been there. I actaully saw Morrissey on Saturday at Eals Court which was super, but due to being poor we couldn't afford another night in london and I couldn't get hold of any tickets anyway. :( In all honesty, I really love Muse!

Muse

bACH and Rachmaninov my arse.

Muse

"molesting their legacies with the kind of technical musicianship that makes the OK Computer look like a Von Bondies album".

Correctly summed up by my good friend carrot_ram,

My fucking arse. I really hope that Radiohead comment was a sarcastic joke. If it wasn't, I fear for the future of human judgement.

I have no problem with Muse really. But what a purile, asslicking review of a live show.

Love, Mark

Re: Muse

I don't know if the above review fairly represented the show - but what I do know is that it was one of the best I've ever seen.

Re: Muse

Yes it was a totally asslicking review. But, from seeing both bands play live many times:

Muse have better a better piano player and bassist and than Radiohead. Hence the 'technical musician' comment.
And they clearly rip off both Bath and Rachmaninov. If you've not heard 'Plug In Baby', maybe you should.
You don't have to agree with me, but some things are pretty damn obvious.
Quite how it makes the review 'puerile' (spell it right) is beyond me. You have a friend called 'carrot_ram' for fuck's sake. Is he a horny fellow with ginger hair, perhaps?

Re: Muse

I've heard plug-in baby. It's hardly the Brandenberg Fucking Concertos, is it? Okay so it was obviously inspired by baroque music, but the point is, I dislike the fact that it's just a lame, pretentious, stylised join-the-dots reference. It's shit.

Also, what's the point in picking on someone's spelling? This is a messageboard not a smegging legal document.


Re: Muse

Which is it then? A prententious reference or a join the dots one?

You're a fucking idiot.

Re: Muse

Yessss! A nice slab of vitriol to offset all this wretched goodwill. Punish me baby!

Re: Muse

And you're a rude idiot.
Who's keeping score?

Re: Muse

;~)

Muse

my saxophone-playing little sis went and said that the zutons were v dissaopointing due to having pretty rubbish sound. apparently muse rocked tho.

as for the classical music influences, anyone thats heard origon of symmetry knows theyres some flagrant baroque and classical inspiration (altho if you've actually listened to a decent amount of classical music it helps) and if thats not enough, matt bellamy has actually said in interviews how much he loves rachmaninov et al.

Re: Muse

I UNDERSTAND THAT. I JUST THINK IT'S DONE VERY BADLY. Sorry. I didn't mean to shout.

Muse

muse are very influenced by rachomaninoff , infact the piano solo section from butiflies and hurricanes is actualy taken from one of rachomaninoffs concertos.
Its not exactly ripping off the composer if they are given credit for it which muse have given them.

Muse

I'm not quite sure that Chris is a better bass player than Colin Greenwood.

Re: Muse

chris and colin have very different styles but i would say that colin greenwood is a better bass player because he is way more versatile and had a very melodic ear, he can do a lot more things. whereas everything chris does sounds like some RATM b-side. personally i think that matt bellamys guitar style owes a lot to jonny greenwood. of course they are different players but his use of pitchshift and delays can be linked directly to radiohead songs...jonny greenwood is a pioneer and has changed how people play the guitar. muse are just some teenage rock band for people that werent around when the bends and ok computer came out. muse's success is a testament to have radiohead have changed the musical landscape so that sort of music can be extremely popular. so please no more talk of muse being anywhere near as good as radiohead

Re: Muse

I honestly never thought I'd live to see the day when there was a genuine argument over which band had the better bass player.

Although, since you are asked, it was The Senseless Things.

Muse

more importantly for all who went..does anyone know of any good sites which could be posted with live pics/vids etc. would be great.

Re: Muse

www.VirtualFestivals.com, obviously.

Muse

what can I say, I'm still mesmorised by the whole experience, bloody fantastic, and I agree, the red coat, awesome! With platform crashing stomping and over zealous shout-singing, I cant wait till the next gig, bring it on!

Muse

Muse cite Radiohead as one of their biggest influences and you can obviously hear this in some of their weaker moments (Microcuts). However, having seen both live, Muse are the far better live band. Muse are far better musicians than Radiohead. Personally I think Colin Greenwood is shite.

Re: Muse

I'll weigh into this debate and say that Chris Wolstenholme is the better bass player. But then, I know his cousin so I'm biased.

Muse

I have to agree, I too think that review was a bit one sided and boring to read. Surely it would have been better to get someone else to review that as Andrew Future obviously seems to worship them? Surely that's just sending a convered critical reviewer to something he knows he'll love? Maybe it would've been better to send someone who isn't convinced by the band or is indifferent towards them?

Purely opinion of course.

Re: Muse

thing is, they rarely, if ever, "send" people anywhere.
Future reviewed it cos he went
and he went because he has something of an unhealthy fixation on a quite good band.

Muse

I see. Fair.

Muse

Sounds like it was godly. Must see Muse soon.

Muse

The day after this was better...they played 'Blackout'! I cried like a small girl!

Muse

muse-----radiohead. i cannot believe what i just read. muse are really good but radiohead are in a different league. its quite simple.

"However, having seen both live, Muse are the far better live band. Muse are far better musicians than Radiohead. Personally I think Colin Greenwood is shite."

wha ? muse are far better musicians than radiohead? do you have any concept of... anything? radiohead are pioneering music. muse are mixing classical and metal, not rocket science, very good and enjoyable, but not rocket science. the first gig i went to was muse, they were awesome. i can jump up and down to muse with a grin on my face, but to compare them to radiohead is ridiculous.

on the subject of musical skills, you can measure in terms of how fast a player can go up and down scales on a piano, or you can judge in terms of true originality, sheer aural beauty and the ability to break down a persons emotional wall with just a few notes.

"Personally I think Colin Greenwood is shite" ha ha ha......ahhh. and save.

Muse

didnt know what id think of this gig, seen them a few times b4, and the first was always teh best. but they did suprise me and i did enjoy it...

dnt really know wats gona happen nxt with them

i was in the feeling gd video :oD

Muse

I couldn't agree more about the lazy comparisons to Radiohead / assorted romantic composers. I concur in it being unabashedly overblown and self-indulgent. And much as they have an ear for a tune, and are exceptional technical players, their music on record is a little two-dimensional.

BUT, at the end of the day, they're one of the best live bands I've ever seen. And as this a live review, I guess that's the comment you should take notice of.

Muse

yes the review was OTT, but muse are the best live band around at the moment. IMHO by a long way, sorry if that upsets anyone!