Speculation on future gigs/tours

[FearAndPanic]

I'd love to see the reaction if Muse turned up at something like Sonisphere and played 'a collection of hits'

 

He did it to RATM fans.

 

Soundcheck Micro Cuts, play Undisclosed Desires.

[Jobby]

Do you mean the UFO's or something else?

 

The UFO's, the spaceman suit, the LED suit, the tin foil suit, the mini UFO they played UD on...

 

I preferred it back when they weren't trying so hard. People and critics have labelled them as sci-fi and now I think they feel they need to fit that image as much as possible. But they've taken it too far in my opinion, some of it is just laughable.

[MartinSM]

They do it because they can. They're big enough and have the money to do it.

 

I don't think they should stop it at stadiums, it's part of what makes Muse who they are. They should probably tone it down in arenas and at festivals, but I think they can still go even further with the stadium stuff. The UFO, floating stage and all that makes it feel like a bigger, more special event.

 

For most gigs, something like the Reading stage would be fantastic, but when they get the opportunity to put on a massive production, I still think they should go for it.

[Jobby]

They do it because they can. They're big enough and have the money to do it.

 

I don't think they should stop it at stadiums, it's part of what makes Muse who they are. They should probably tone it down in arenas and at festivals, but I think they can still go even further with the stadium stuff. The UFO, floating stage and all that makes it feel like a bigger, more special event.

 

For most gigs, something like the Reading stage would be fantastic, but when they get the opportunity to put on a massive production, I still think they should go for it.

 

Or they could make it feel like a special gig by making decent, varied setlists and give a great, energetic performace without needing to show the crowd pretty lights and UFO's to get them to enjoy themselves.

 

See the Absolution Tour if you don't get what I mean.

[mjartrod]

they obviously like the big tricks and so do many of the people who attend the gigs.

 

in regards to the stages, they've done a great job in the TR era of doing the big stages with the tricks and doing the simple stages as well. i saw all productions except teignmouth and they were all fantastic.

i dont see why they should limit themselves to 'simple' stages if they have the resources and the will to go for something more complex. im sure many other bands and artists would do the same if they could.

 

(and seeing as you mentioned the absolution tour - overall, not the best example to talk about varied setlists or spontaneity on stage lol..)

[Jobby]

(and seeing as you mentioned the absolution tour - overall, not the best example to talk about varied setlists or spontaneity on stage lol..)

 

Compared to the Resistance tour? I'd say they were pretty spontaneous.

[mjartrod]

oh come on. like you couldnt tell the exact moment when matt was going to sit on dom's bass drum or what the next song would be based on the little intro.. and if you want to talk about varied setlists, BH&R era was much better in that aspect. funnily enough, i dont see anyone mentioning this... maybe it's still too recent for people to 'miss it' LOL

 

fwiw, none of that is that important to me. i had as much fun watching muse in 2004 on matt's b-day as i had last year at wembley or at reading this year.

[MartinSM]

Because Matt pulling the amp to the front of the stage and jumping all over it at the end of Stockholm Syndrome was really spontaneous and unpredictable. Alright, compared to most of The Resitance Tour it was spontaneous and unpredictable, but it wasn't all it's made out to be either.

 

There always needs to be that one band willing to take things further and make live performances bigger and more spectacular. What if Pink Floyd had said after the In The Flesh tour that instead of doing The Wall, they wanted to do a plain, simple stage?

[kueller]

The Origin stage I'd say was simple in design, but pretty much everyone who was there was massively impressed with the design.

And no, the Absolution Tour isn't as varied and spontaneous as everyone makes it out to be, but there was a lot more energy going into those gigs. And even the BH&R tour had more variation in setlists (on some gigs) than the Resistance Tour. Point is they can still have their big stage productions and not have to have everything feel tightly rehearsed.

[dontask]

Pointless though.

 

Big stage design =/= bad setlists.

Simple stage design =/= good setlists.

 

They are pleasing the majority, even now any backlash is confined to the hardcore fans. Hardcore fans do make up a larger majority of Muses fanbase than with most bands, but the majority are still casuals, who will still go to one show. These people are going home pleased. I dont like it though.

 

What MartinSM said about them going bigger with stadiums but sticking with something like the Reading/Leeds stage for arenas is very true. I dont think energy has been an issue for Muse live, they've had many brilliant performances with the static setlists.

 

The thing that annoys me is the length of the sets. They fit in the necessary hits, but if they added 3 slots (bringing arenas to 19-22 approx) they could make every set infinitely better and keep the hits.

[kueller]

Pointless though.

The thing that annoys me is the length of the sets. They fit in the necessary hits, but if they added 3 slots (bringing arenas to 19-22 approx) they could make every set infinitely better and keep the hits.

 

This definitely. Their setlist length has gone down recently. A few more songs could make a huge difference.

[MartinSM]

Definately.

 

They were so close up until the BDO tour.

 

Playing 20+ songs most nights, including CE, Bliss, B&H semi-regularly, MK Ultra every other gig and Asia got Dead Star. Plus some gigs even got Unintended after the piano section. They had it more or less right. The setlist was pretty static, but they were playing a bigger range of songs, so although at certain points you'd know what was coming, Uprising opening, followed by Resistance, Starlight into Plug In Baby and so on, there were still points where you could end up with B&H or Bliss or something. The length was good and the standardisation of the structure meant no one got treated too unfairly. Why they couldn't do this in the US and festival/stadium legs, I have no idea.

 

It just stopped and they started playing like 18 songs, dropping the rarities, and generally getting worse and worse setlists with even less variation until they randomly decided to start opening with Exogenesis and ending with Take A Bow twice, making us all think they've switched on, and then going back to normal again.

[Dockertae]

Definately.

 

They were so close up until the BDO tour.

 

Playing 20+ songs most nights, including CE, Bliss, B&H semi-regularly, MK Ultra every other gig and Asia got Dead Star. Plus some gigs even got Unintended after the piano section. They had it more or less right. The setlist was pretty static, but they were playing a bigger range of songs, so although at certain points you'd know what was coming, Uprising opening, followed by Resistance, Starlight into Plug In Baby and so on, there were still points where you could end up with B&H or Bliss or something. The length was good and the standardisation of the structure meant no one got treated too unfairly. Why they couldn't do this in the US and festival/stadium legs, I have no idea.

 

It just stopped and they started playing like 18 songs, dropping the rarities, and generally getting worse and worse setlists with even less variation until they randomly decided to start opening with Exogenesis and ending with Take A Bow twice, making us all think they've switched on, and then going back to normal again.

 

Not trying to be a dick here but I think this is heavily romanticising the early stages of the tour. The longest arena gig on the whole tour was 19 songs in Turin, usually it was 16-18 songs, and before BDO they had played Butterflies & Hurricanes twice and Citizen Erased and Bliss once each so they were hardly played "semi-regularly".

[MartinSM]

Pretty sure they were played more than once, but If you've just trawled through the wiki then I can't argue with that, but when they did start playing the rarer songs, it was as they got towards the end of the leg, which is my main point. They started bringing in more songs, and then stopped as soon as they got to BDO, when the setlists started to get shorter pretty quickly.

[Dockertae]

Pretty sure they were played more than once, but If you've just trawled through the wiki then I can't argue with that, but when they did start playing the rarer songs, it was as they got towards the end of the leg, which is my main point. They started bringing in more songs, and then stopped as soon as they got to BDO, when the setlists started to get shorter pretty quickly.

 

Yeah I agree with your general point, the first leg in the USA was the worst variation in a row of gigs they've probably ever done. However, I'm 100% sure about the number of times the songs were played - I've checked on musewiki/setlist.fm. Sorry, I'm just being a pedantic nerd.

[Zolic]

Yeah I agree with your general point, the first leg in the USA was the worst variation in a row of gigs they've probably ever done. However, I'm 100% sure about the number of times the songs were played - I've checked on musewiki/setlist.fm. Sorry, I'm just being a pedantic nerd.

 

I've found a friend

[Jobby]

Just read something about Elvis Costello doing gigs where the fans come up on stage and spin a giant wheel to choose the next song. Granted, this could lead to very bad flow at a Muse gig and casuals would use it for all the wrong reasons but it could be fantastic.

 

I can see it now..."The Wheel Of B-Sides". Oh the joy of dreaming

[Zolic]

Just read something about Elvis Costello doing gigs where the fans come up on stage and spin a giant wheel to choose the next song. Granted, this could lead to very bad flow at a Muse gig and casuals would use it for all the wrong reasons but it could be fantastic.

 

I can see it now..."The Wheel Of B-Sides". Oh the joy of dreaming

 

There's been lot of jokes about that around here, what the Muse-wheel would look like etc ;P

[hyper_chondriac_muser]

Vanilla setlists are ze future!

 

Seriously, I think Reading and Leeds were the 'rare'-esque live songs, designed to shut the whining boardies up, so Muse can resume with their 'greatest hits' shows. With every album, they have to weave in about seven or eight new songs into the setlists, and I really don't see them increasing their performance time to accommodate more songs... so, unfortunately, the likes of New Born will take a back seat/won't be a staple (they might play here and there like B&H), and Muse gigs will be an almost exclusive parade of their biggest and most recent singles, lasting an hour-and-a-half to two TOPS.

 

Of course, I could be wrong, but pessimism has always agreed with me before .

[Jobby]

Vanilla setlists are ze future!

 

Seriously, I think Reading and Leeds were the 'rare'-esque live songs, designed to shut the whining boardies up, so Muse can resume with their 'greatest hits' shows. With every album, they have to weave in about seven or eight new songs into the setlists, and I really don't see them increasing their performance time to accommodate more songs... so, unfortunately, the likes of New Born will take a back seat/won't be a staple (they might play here and there like B&H), and Muse gigs will be an almost exclusive parade of their biggest and most recent singles, lasting an hour-and-a-half to two TOPS.

 

Of course, I could be wrong, but pessimism has always agreed with me before .

 

Quite a few people would like this, me included.

[MartinSM]

The way New Born was played at 99% of gigs on the last tour, I couldn't care less if it gets played less.

 

I accept older stuff won't get as much of a look in, but I can't see why they don't leave two slots in every setlist to rotate older songs. I just hope that we don't get a repeat of the MK Ultra/Unnatural Selection fiasco with they next tour.

[WutDaFucksy]

Difference is, songs like New Born can be tweaked in a few small ways to make them good again, songs like Resistance/Undisclosed Desires would sound awful live however many differences they make to them...

[Jobby]

Undisclosed Desires - Probably gone, surely even the band know it's shit/don't like it.

New Born - Played considerably less.

MK Ultra - I have a feeling it'll be played more often next tour.

Unnatural Selection - Will be played about the same amount as last tour.

Guiding Light - Gone. Maybe once or twice.

Uprising - Every gig.

Supermassive Black Hole - Every gig.

Hysteria - Every gig.

Stockholm Syndrome - I can see it getting played slightly less, not sure why.

Feeling Good - Most gigs.

Sunburn - Almost gone. Will only be played a few times.

Unintended - About the same amount as last tour.

Cave - Gone.

Dark Shines - May come back a little bit.

[MartinSM]

Unnatural Selection was a staple until the second US leg, then disapeared, so I'm not all that confident it will feature at all, same for MK, but I can hope.

 

I can't see Undisclosed going. He got two keytars just for that song, so unless they make another keytar song (please no!), I think it will still be played pretty regularly. I'm begging they prove me wrong, though.

 

Stockholm will stay, surely. It's a key part of the set, especially with the riffs and everything. Maybe dropped once or twice, like this tour, but they surely won't make a habbit of it,

 

If any Origin song comes back, it will probably be Screenager over Darkshines, considering how they feel about Dark Shines.

 

Guiding Light simply has to go away. If Invincible didn't return on the last tour, GL can't return on the next one, surely. It can take Resistance with it, too.

[Jobby]

I can't see Undisclosed going. He got two keytars just for that song, so unless they make another keytar song (please no!), I think it will still be played pretty regularly. I'm begging they prove me wrong, though.

 

He's rich, he's not gonna care if two go unused. Also a keytar song wouldn't be bad if they did it right. Undisclosed Desires wasn't that bad on the album, just couldn't transition to a live atmosphere.