Speculation on future gigs/tours

[heyjackk]

I think Muse do over the top well with their stage shows but there's always a limit, I really like T2L arena tour setup and i've always liked their use of lasers and stuff but hopefully they don't take it too far on this tour

 

like someone up there ^ said coulda sworn Matt said he was thinking of stripping back the live shows??

[gemini6369]

If done right, I think a 360 stage would be pretty awesome.

 

Muse would rock the shit out of the place no matter what the stage looks like, honestly. I'd feel grateful to be at a show no matter how it looked; live is live to me, and I haven't been to many shows at all.

[Alexander DeLarge]

I just wish they'd do something a little less flashy, but still do something innovative. Look at Radiohead's In Rainbows/King of Limbs tour. Look at Nine Inch Nails during their recent tours.

 

That's the ultimate irony here, I enjoyed a couple screens more than the upside down pyramid that closes around the band as a production.

 

Hell, even Nine Inch Nails' festival production was impressive

[halo eighteen]

I had tickets behind the stage to see The Police when they reunited some time back. It wasn't really awful. Yes, they definitely catered mostly to the front. But there were video screens and speakers pointed out way, and a circular walkway that allowed Sting/Andy to come over to our side whenever they felt the need.

 

I realize it's not exactly ideal, but that's when one has to be a little strategic when buying tickets. Then again, that wasn't an "in the round" so much as it was a typical end stage set up that just had every seating section opened. I'm not sure what it would be like to have a stage smack dab in the center of the arena. I'd truly hope Muse would be mindful of things like sight lines and concert experience regardless of ticket location.

[serpentsatellite]

Muse definitely has an issue with their ott getting in the way too often, both in the music and the stage show, so I guess it fits...

 

TR, through a series of work related problems, ended up being my first Muse gig, and I left way more disappointed than I was willing to admit.

The pillars and visuals were terribly exciting - for the intro. After that, I continuously felt like I was watching a really elaborate laser light show everytime they were on them. The band might as well not have been there at that point; couldn't see them, no interaction, etc.

 

T2L was flashy, but other than the end of the main set closer, the band was at least visible the entire time, and unlike TR the visuals didn't obscure it from feeling like a CONCERT versus a visual spectacle. Although much of that performance was still overly choreographed, much due to the visuals.

It wasn't easy to get a good scope of the visuals and the band from closer to the front, which was an issue, but not a big one for me, really.

 

Like I said, I feel like they're often too focused on making a massive scale spectacle, and forget about what actually makes a good performance.

Maybe there's people out there who want to pay to see something like that, but I personally feel Muse is too strong of a performing band to keep delivering gigs that aren't about, well, the performing.

[serpentsatellite]

I had tickets behind the stage to see The Police when they reunited some time back. It wasn't really awful. Yes, they definitely catered mostly to the front. But there were video screens and speakers pointed out way, and a circular walkway that allowed Sting/Andy to come over to our side whenever they felt the need.

 

I realize it's not exactly ideal, but that's when one has to be a little strategic when buying tickets. Then again, that wasn't an "in the round" so much as it was a typical end stage set up that just had every seating section opened. I'm not sure what it would be like to have a stage smack dab in the center of the arena. I'd truly hope Muse would be mindful of things like sight lines and concert experience regardless of ticket location.

 

I've been behind the stage at some gigs (usually I paid the lowest ticket price, at least, not the highest) and I always wished I hadn't.

I know I'm not everyone, but I'm not there to watch the band on video screens, or see them partially obscured or from the back.

 

As for getting tickets strategically, unless I'm not seeing it, the Palacio ticket seating chart didn't indicate a "front" - so hopefully there is something rotating, even though that still makes 1/2-3/4 of the gig crummy viewing for everyone, at least it shares the misery.

[gemini6369]

There will be drones. and an illusion of them flying.

 

Hologram drones.

Holograms creep me out...

 

Also fwiw,

I like the visuals and all that goes with the shows. I see it as part of how they express themselves with the music. I'd be just as happy without the extra visuals, too, though.

[serpentsatellite]

I'm not asking for a Muse gig without extravagant visuals, as much as I'd actually be okay with that.

I'm asking for extravagant visuals that don't obscure my view of the band actually performing, which is what I truly want to see.

With a bonus given to ones that actually allow for some spontaneity instead of the band members just having to choreograph their motions and be "on mark" all the time.

[Dee3Dee]

Leeds and Reading had the best stage design I've seen them do. A giant fucking screen, badass visuals based on the album concept art and just a couple of props. No big deal, but goddamn awesome.

[serpentsatellite]

Yeah...

 

...but instead, we're going to stare at the underside of the center stage, or the back of the drum kit for half the gig, while actors dressed in army uniforms march around the rest of the stage, and a blimp shaped like a drone craps out an acrobat (stadium only)... :'(

[AdamsUprising]

Yeah...

 

...but instead, we're going to stare at the underside of the center stage, or the back of the drum kit for half the gig, while actors dressed in army uniforms march around the rest of the stage, and a blimp shaped like a drone craps out an acrobat (stadium only)... :'(

 

IMO the only use of actors that was executed effectively was during the Riot intros during the 2010 stadium tour. Everything past that just seemed kinda meh.

[Alexander DeLarge]

Leeds and Reading had the best stage design I've seen them do. A giant fucking screen, badass visuals based on the album concept art and just a couple of props. No big deal, but goddamn awesome.

 

Even T2L's festival setup was pretty great. Just a giant screen the tiny curved ones they used around the stage during the arena tour.

[serpentsatellite]

So, they've said jan/feb for the U.S. AND France now?

 

Getting pretty anxious to find out what is when.

[FabriPav]

Source?

[forevermusic]

I think the satellites production from V 2008 was a decent halfway point - enormous bombast, but doesn't look overpowering (except maybe the Space Odyssey intro).

 

The 2nd Law arena pyramid too did have the feeling of bombast without overpowering, although I found the acoustics from my sideways seat at the O2 gig a disappointment during the main set. Went earplugless for the encore and found it better.

 

I'm watching Hullabaloo atm and I don't feel the production there distracts from the staging, but only because the production is completely nonsensical.

[frozenbanana]

I think the satellites production from V 2008 was a decent halfway point - enormous bombast, but doesn't look overpowering (except maybe the Space Odyssey intro).

 

Absolutely loved all of that setup Reading is still the best in terms of stage production though

[Mattestro]

Leeds and Reading had the best stage design I've seen them do. A giant fucking screen, badass visuals based on the album concept art and just a couple of props. No big deal, but goddamn awesome.

 

 

Aye, less is more

[kueller]

I thought the last tour had great stages.

[FabriPav]

Pyramid was amazing and pretty much perfect. Stadium was a bit excessive, but still looked great from a distance.

[serpentsatellite]

Source?

 

Fan met them a few days ago and Matt apparently said beginning of the year to France.

[forevermusic]

Absolutely loved all of that setup Reading is still the best in terms of stage production though

 

Yeah Reading looked awesome, particularly from the moshpit. Even if my main memory was adjusting to the mud and the boisterous crowd during the opening three songs before I could appreciate it.

[halo eighteen]

So, they've said jan/feb for the U.S. AND France now?

 

Getting pretty anxious to find out what is when.

 

Yikes, yeah this is getting a bit maddening trying to piece together a timeframe.

 

Hopefully it's something like Sept/Oct USA/Canada, Oct/Nov South/Central America, then Nov/Dec more USA/Canada. Then a full winter European tour.. or they could continue the USA/Canada tour in Jan/Feb (horrible time to be traveling) after the holidays before going straight to Europe.

 

Of course this is all depending on if they just want to do 20-ish USA shows at full(er) arenas instead of like 30-40 ish with thinner crowds.

 

You'd think some concrete plans would be announced relatively soon.

[serpentsatellite]

Nov/dec is a much worse time, imo, at least in the US. Everything is hectic and expensive, and trying to coordinate family things is a hassle.

 

Not to mention anyone in any kind of sales job would have a hell of a time.

I probably couldn't go to a hometown gig, for instance, as I'm basically on call the whole time.

[halo eighteen]

That's true yeah. With enough advance notice and if no one else gets their time off requests in before me, I could probably swing it. I just hate planning on driving anywhere around Michigan in winter. Could be 40 degrees and great or frigid and blizzards. A tour immediately following the Summer Festivals would be ideal, but have they said they'll definitely be playing Europe then?

[serpentsatellite]

I'm not sure they even know at this point and aren't just telling everyone "early next year."