web feature Muse on Fasterlouder.com.au

[Wondervale]

The Devon-upon-Entire Universe trio Muse have been coming here for years, and though they’ve been progressively growing in stature and nipping at U2’s heels in the So Big It’s Ridiculous Stakes, their performances have never been anything less than amazing.

 

The band will be back in the antipodes with their mind-bending, visually arresting and American-conquering Resistance tour in the next month. Drummer and occasional

Dominic Howard phoned in from New York to tell fans what to expect this time around, why rotating 360-degree risers aren’t as fun as they look and how recording bass drum sounds in a swimming pool is a totally legitimate thing to do, even when said pool is full.

 

“Well, you know, arenas, not stadiums. Like what they play basketball in and stuff.” There is, apparently a difference. Howard, humble rock star that he is, would like to point out that Muse are currently playing an arena, rather than a stadium tour across the US of A. Not that it makes much difference when you consider the kind of set-up the band has going at the moment. For Howard and bandmates Matt Bellamy and Chris Wolstenholme to put their current show on the road, they need no less than eighty crew members travelling with a custom-made stage. “Sometimes you can turn up and the stage is already there,” Dom jokes, “but that doesn’t work for us.” That might have something to do with the ridiculous set-up the boys have going at the moment, which includes purpose-built skyscrapers for each player, enough lights to blind an entire invading alien army and, you know, a giant UFO with an acrobat inside it.

 

The Devon-upon-Entire Universe trio Muse have been coming here for years, and though they’ve been progressively growing in stature and nipping at U2’s heels in the So Big It’s Ridiculous Stakes, their performances have never been anything less than amazing.

The band will be back in the antipodes with their mind-bending, visually arresting and American-conquering Resistance tour in the next month. Drummer and occasional

Dominic Howard phoned in from New York to tell fans what to expect this time around, why rotating 360-degree risers aren’t as fun as they look and how recording bass drum sounds in a swimming pool is a totally legitimate thing to do, even when said pool is full.

“Well, you know, arenas, not stadiums. Like what they play basketball in and stuff.” There is, apparently a difference. Howard, humble rock star that he is, would like to point out that Muse are currently playing an arena, rather than a stadium tour across the US of A. Not that it makes much difference when you consider the kind of set-up the band has going at the moment. For Howard and bandmates Matt Bellamy and Chris Wolstenholme to put their current show on the road, they need no less than eighty crew members travelling with a custom-made stage. “Sometimes you can turn up and the stage is already there,” Dom jokes, “but that doesn’t work for us.” That might have something to do with the ridiculous set-up the boys have going at the moment, which includes purpose-built skyscrapers for each player, enough lights to blind an entire invading alien army and, you know, a giant UFO with an acrobat inside it.

 

 

“So it’s actually a massive helium sphere,” explains Dom, “which is controlled by two guys with ropes because naturally it just wants to float off back into space. It looks so cool and it looks good for us, too, because we have something to get distracted with given that nobody’s looking at us at that point in the song!” The subtle difference between a stadium and an arena tour, then, “is the amount of crazy shit we get to pull off. Like in Europe, we had this massive spaceship docking on the stage and we’d walk out of it.” Howard is nevertheless wary about the prospect of bringing the UFO to Australia, “We are doing one outdoor gig in Perth, though, so they might get lucky.” The rest of the bells and whistles, however, are on their way over, including the best ‘party trick’ of all, the skyscrapers.

 

 

 

Nobody has it worse (or better, depending on your ability to deal with heights and motion sickness) than Howard, whose drum riser not only propels up to five metres off the ground, but also spins around, while he’s playing. “When they stop [at the top] they kind of shake and wobble…it was slightly nauseating,” he says, “The whole drum riser also rotates around 360, so I can face the entire audience who are behind the stage; to be honest, that’s a bit weird. Looks cool, but it really puts me off a bit. Most times I just try to close my eyes, try and remember where the drums are!”

The interests of their fans, who plainly are the kind of people buying seats behind the stage, have really always been Muse’s priority. It’s the reason that they’ve got a massive website with over 300,000 members that’s growing every day, their own Wiki which is constantly being updated with everything from the type of guitar Bellamy plays through to Dom’s brief fling with pink pants and a forum full of diehards, many of whom follow the band across the Continent whenever they embark on another tour. “Oh yeah,” Dom laughs, “we get lots of travellers. There are those people who will come to a huge bunch of gigs. It’s great, sometimes you see them again and you get to say hello, and if they’re cool, you can hang out and meet them properly. We do get that sort of… reaction. Our fans are either diehard passionate or they hate us, but we don’t get a lot of middle ground.”

In case you haven’t heard The Resistance, Space Dementia or perhaps their latest polarising opus, Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever), Muse don’t do a lot of middle ground recording, either. Fans have famously retold the story of how the band cut Absolution opener Apocalypse Please underwater, and Howard is on hand to confirm the rumour. “We were in this studio in Ireland and really isolated,” he says, “and we were just trying out all the different rooms for sound, as you do. The hotel’s swimming pool was great, though, because it supplied this massive reverb. I set up some bass drums and got in the pool to play them, ‘cause that was the most comfortable thing to do.” Its kind of what you’d expect from a band that cut a three-part symphony on their latest record. “We do a lot of experiments with old and rusty things and we hit them to see what happens,” Howard admits, “a lot of the time, nothing happens.”

 

 

 

America is strange place for Muse, having only recently warmed to the group properly, in light of their involvement in the Twilight films. Dom admits it’s strange playing songs like Plug-In Baby, New Born and Feeling Good that weren’t even released in the States the first time around. Unlike Australian audiences, who Howard believes he could play Muscle Museum to and they’d know most of the words, most Yanks only own the band’s last two albums, so they’re being re-taught the back catalogue. That being said, the band’s most recent accolades, including Best Riff of The Past Decade and Best Cover of All Time certainly haven’t hindered the recognition of their more classic cuts. But Howard still believes in the power of the tunes themselves: “ Plug-In Baby is juts one of those songs that when you hear it, it’s just so upbeat and positive in its vibe, that you don’t really need to know it to kind of understand what we’re doing. You don’t need much training for that one!”

Australian fans of Muse will also be interested to note that this may be the last time they’ll see the band for a while; after almost ten years without either touring or writing, Dom reveals they’re hoping to take a bit of siesta next year. “Generally we’re going to take it easy I think, and maybe think about some new stuff towards the end of the year,” he says, “We might play a few gigs in places we haven’t been to in ages, like South America or Eastern Europe, but other than that, maybe just kick back and reflect.” And that’s a good thing, because really, there’s no worse a place to kick back and reflect than on a twirling drum riser, five metres above the Earth.

 

 

 

Original link: http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/features/26402/Muse

[deborafraga]

“We might play a few gigs in places we haven’t been to in ages, like South America or Eastern Europe, but other than that, maybe just kick back and reflect.”

:awesome:

 

Thanks for posting

[chudenk]

Fake frontman

[Tofu]

Hahaha, I love this. Especially the "fake frontman" bit.

 

oh, and

Unlike Australian audiences, who Howard believes he could play Muscle Museum to and they’d know most of the words, most Yanks only own the band’s last two albums, so they’re being re-taught the back catalogue.

:fear: :fear:

[Mimmi]

“Generally we’re going to take it easy I think, and maybe think about some new stuff towards the end of the year"

 

Ouch :S it's gonna be ridiculously long, before the new album. What ever happened to "we'll probably start working on the new album in London next summer."? Don't get me wrong; I think they need a break and they certainly deserve it! It's just that I have an addiction here that needs to be fed

[eyduh]

Our fans are either diehard passionate or they hate us, but we don’t get a lot of middle ground

 

 

So true.

[Super Sammy!]

Dom's bloody determined to get Muscle Museum played, isn't he?

[beeSides]

Dom admits it’s strange playing songs like Plug-In Baby, New Born and Feeling Good that weren’t even released in the States the first time around. Unlike Australian audiences, who Howard believes he could play Muscle Museum to and they’d know most of the words, most Yanks only own the band’s last two albums, so they’re being re-taught the back catalogue.

 

i realize there are a lot of new "fans" in america.

 

but it's not true...far from fair and i fucking resent this perception from the tips of my toe nails

[Dee3Dee]

The comment about Muscle Museum etc. goes to show how dangerous their way of thinking is. All the beef could have been easily avoided, by the looks of it. Not that I expected anything else.

[Furygirl]

i realize there are a lot of new "fans" in america.

 

but it's not true...far from fair and i fucking resent this perception from the tips of my toe nails

 

I see what you're saying, and for most of the "yanks" on here, it's obviously not true that we only have the 2 most recent albums. But perhaps he's just referring to "fans" as being anyone who would attend an arena gig here. I don't think it's accurate to say "most" of those people have their entire back catalog. I think there are probably lot of casual fans and new fans that attend those gigs that unfortunately aren't familiar w/ a lot of the older stuff. We just don't associate with them.

 

I think they do know there are some hardcore fans in the U.S., but obviously that is not who they are catering to. And yeah, that sucks.

[beeSides]

I see what you're saying, and for most of the "yanks" on here, it's obviously not true that we only have the 2 most recent albums. But perhaps he's just referring to "fans" as being anyone who would attend an arena gig here. I don't think it's accurate to say "most" of those people have their entire back catalog. I think there are probably lot of casual fans and new fans that attend those gigs that unfortunately aren't familiar w/ a lot of the older stuff. We just don't associate with them.

 

I think they do know there are some hardcore fans in the U.S., but obviously that is not who they are catering to. And yeah, that sucks.

 

i'm sorry i believe they underestimate u.s. fans. even in new mexico where they hadn't played in what six years? kids in queue were out listening to b-sides rarities and showbiz more than the new stuff.

 

[Dee3Dee]

i'm sorry i believe they underestimate u.s. fans. even in new mexico where they hadn't played in what six years? kids in queue were out listening to b-sides rarities and showbiz more than the new stuff.

 

 

Welcome to the party.

[Tofu]

i'm sorry i believe they underestimate u.s. fans. even in new mexico where they hadn't played in what six years? kids in queue were out listening to b-sides rarities and showbiz more than the new stuff.

 

 

+111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

 

I actually know more people that only own Absolution and prior than people that own BHaR and TR.

[beeSides]

+111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

 

I actually know more people that only own Absolution and prior than people that own BHaR and TR.

 

well if they ever wonder why they have fans that grumble there's a reason behind it.

 

muse. made of and all at once.

 

[Furygirl]

i'm sorry i believe they underestimate u.s. fans. even in new mexico where they hadn't played in what six years? kids in queue were out listening to b-sides rarities and showbiz more than the new stuff.

 

 

Well, people that queue are generally the hardcore fans I was referring to.

[beeSides]

Well, people that queue are generally the hardcore fans I was referring to.

 

an hour before the show there were people playing eternally missed and fury in queue. this wasn't the people who were there at 1pm. and considering that there was more floor than seated tickets at that gig the queue was quite full when doors opened.

 

stop trying to bat down my beef. i'm grumpy about how they generalize american fans. and i have good reason for it.

 

it's not just twilighters and people who only know starlight in this country.

 

hardcore muse fans

 

everyone i've introduced muse to that has liked them at all have a.) wanted as much muse as possible and have

b.) preferred origin and abso over the last two albums (although the resistance seems to lose those people actually)

[dagreatone123190]

All I know is that if they bust out MM in Australia I'm going to rage, and Doris will be dead for weeks

[Dee3Dee]

All I know is that if they bust out MM in Australia I'm going to rage, and Doris will be dead for weeks

 

I said this a while ago in some other thread, but I'll say it again:

 

I will not be surprised at all if Matt has magically found his lost pedal in time for the Australian tour. How very convenient.

[shelbmuse09]

Muse are just getting on my last straw with this whole "catering to the newer fans" bs. I seriously believe that if they were to play rarer songs such as MM and Cave and what not in the states, they'd most likely get a huge reaction to it. How hard is it to switch out one of their lame songs such as GL or NSC or anything from Resistance at that fact and put in like, Showbiz, Micro Cuts, MM, or Dead Star? It seems like Muse are "babying" the US and are only wanting to make good impressions by playing the same setlist over and over and over again. What reason? I don't know. But it's rather ridiculous. I attended the 4 Southern California shows and got RBS, Bliss, 8 minutes of riffs (including Dead Star and Agitated) and MotP. I was one satisfied bitch, just by hearing each of those songs at least one night. That's all they have to do. Play ONE rare song each night and I think everyone would leave happy. I mean, they don't even play one song off of Showbiz anymore. It's sad. Australia, I hope that you guys get great setlists. I'm sure you will. Dead Star anyone?

[Tesseract]

If they're worried about Americans not knowing their older catalog, why don't they try, I dunno, PLAYING some of the stuff during their shows? That way it introduces newer fans to their older music and will make them want to go out and buy the older albums. Or am I completely wrong here?

[dagreatone123190]

If they're worried about Americans not knowing their older catalog, why don't they try, I dunno, PLAYING some of the stuff during their shows? That way it introduces newer fans to their older music and will make them want to go out and buy the older albums. Or am I completely wrong here?

 

They did. They played Bliss in LA and CE in NJ and Nola

 

 

 

[Dee3Dee]

If they're worried about Americans not knowing their older catalog, why don't they try, I dunno, PLAYING some of the stuff during their shows? That way it introduces newer fans to their older music and will make them want to go out and buy the older albums. Or am I completely wrong here?

 

Logic says that if you don't play your songs, most people won't know them.

 

Muse say that since there is a chance some people might not know the songs, they should not be played at all....except everywhere that isn't Europe or the U.S.

[shelbmuse09]

They did. They played Bliss in LA and CE in NJ and Nola

 

 

 

 

Yeah, but they only played 2 songs that they kept in rotation for the UK stadium tour for only 3 shows in the US. And they played around 20 some odd shows here. 3 out of 20 is just....bad.

[dagreatone123190]

Yeah, but they only played 2 songs that they kept in rotation for the UK stadium tour for only 3 shows in the US. And they played around 20 some odd shows here. 3 out of 20 is just....bad.

 

I was joking. The point is you can't even make the argument that they played "rare" songs here at all. Bliss + CE are not rarities anywhere else but the U.S.

[beeSides]

They did. They played Bliss in LA and CE in NJ and Nola

 

 

 

 

three times out of how many shows in the states? it's appalling