Bs Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Okay, so I decided to import this idea from the Songs And Releases thread on the album. Let's face it, the last few years have seen this board give the band a lot of shit for their live performances for various reasons, more than any other group of fans I've ever known to be honest, but I thought with the current cycle of touring less than a fortnight away from ending, it might be a good time to try and reflect on some positive points. Personally, I think the stage designs this tour have been great. The towers in the arena shows and the pyramid for the stadiums were both great and pushed new boundaries in what the band have attempted in their live shows as a spectacle. I also thought the visuals were better than ever, specifically in Exo Pt 1 on the towers, and also I think TIRO (whichever one had the water rising up the towers with the person trying to swim to the top), and a few others. I also think the band are much better technically as musicians than they ever have been before and you can pick up on that live. We've also actually seen quite a wide variety of songs played (shocking when you think about it) over the course of the tour. All of TR except Exo 2 and 3 which were only soundchecked, All of OOS in a week or so, Sunburn, Cave, Unintended, Butterflies, Ruled By Secrecy, Take A Bow, Soldier's Poem and obviously all the well known singles. Obviously I know the constant debate about how such a small minority of people have anything other than the staple TR tour setlist has been covered, but I thought that was an interesting point to mention anyway. Anyway, with enough moaning about song choices, short shows, etc, to fill several books, what have you actually enjoyed about shows in the last few years? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gohenko Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 The stage designs were (usually) great. I loved the guitar tones of the tour. (expect some, like Hysteria at Glasto '10) Some new songs sounded massive live. (for example, Uprising) The band's weird costumes gave us lots of lols. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hat Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 1. Matt's vocals. Great stuff. 2. CE, sounds massive. 3. Piano Cave, mmm <3 4. Unnatural Selection, another live beast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hat Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Sunburn, Cave, Unintended, Butterflies, Ruled By Secrecy, Take A Bow, Soldier's Poem and obviously all the well known singles. Do you really consider that a wide variety from a band with 140 songs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clunge Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 The overall sound of the shows is better than on the BH&R tour. The Resistance has given birth to a number of fantastic live songs - Uprising, Unnatural Selection and MK Ultra. The stage designs have, indeed, been much cleaner and crisper than the BH&R tour. I loved the towers, stadium and festival setups. Teignmouth. Cave. Unfortunately, for me, there are an equivalent number of downsides that has detracted from these points - MK Ultra and Unnatural Selection have almost disappeared between late last year and this year, certain gigs were hugely unbalanced compared with those preceding and succeeding them, the setups restricted movement and spontenaity, too many riffs and jams, GUIDING LIGHT, setlists not even being varied in terms of order, let alone actual songs, some older songs have lacked punch (Hysteria and Stockholm come to mind), Matt's not playing the New Born intro, they use click tracks for almost every song which makes every performance almost identical and feel less 'live', setlists haven't been appropriately tailored to circumstances (LA Rising), I Belong To You was played only about 3/4 times across the whole tour, the band failed to reproduce Exogenesis live, headline and festival gigs have become one and the same, the band largely ignored last summer's setlist poll, etc etc etc. Sorry, but it's just true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bs Posted August 16, 2011 Author Share Posted August 16, 2011 Do you really consider that a wide variety from a band with 140 songs? I make it about 100 from Showbiz onwards (99 as I don't count Intro and Interlude but 101 if you do). Out of those 99, 57 are album tracks, and they have, or will have, played 35 of them. Fair enough on those grounds really. 1. Sunburn 2. Cave 3. Unintended 4. New Born 5. Bliss 6. Space Dementia 7. Hyper Music 8. Plug In Baby 9. Citizen Erased 10. Micro Cuts 11. Screenager 12. Darkshines 13. Feeling Good 14. Megalomania 15. Time Is Running Out 16. Stockholm Syndrome 17. Hysteria 18. Butterflies And Hurricanes 19. Ruled By Secrecy 20. Take A Bow 21. Starlight 22. Supermassive Black Hole 23. Map Of The Problematique 24. Soldier's Poem 25. Knights Of Cydonia 26. Uprising 27. Resistance 28. Undisclosed Desires 29. United States Of Eurasia 30. Guiding Light 31. Unnatural Selection 32. MK Ultra 33. I Belong To You 34. Exogenesis Overture 35. Neutron Star Collision Not including Interlude, Nishe, House Of The Rising Sun intro instrumental, or the possibility of Dead Star at Reading or Leeds... I think if that list had been shown at the start of the tour, everyone would have said "fair enough, that's not too bad really"...The problem has been the unfair distrubition of said songs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
futurellama Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Do you really consider that a wide variety from a band with 140 songs? They don't have anywhere near 140 songs About 103 or so. But your point is still extremely valid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hat Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 I make it about 100 from Showbiz onwards (99 as I don't count Intro and Interlude but 101 if you do). Out of those 99, 57 are album tracks, and they have, or will have, played 35 of them. Fair enough on those grounds really. 1. Sunburn 2. Cave 3. Unintended 4. New Born 5. Bliss 6. Space Dementia 7. Hyper Music 8. Plug In Baby 9. Citizen Erased 10. Micro Cuts 11. Screenager 12. Darkshines 13. Feeling Good 14. Megalomania 15. Time Is Running Out 16. Stockholm Syndrome 17. Hysteria 18. Butterflies And Hurricanes 19. Ruled By Secrecy 20. Take A Bow 21. Starlight 22. Supermassive Black Hole 23. Map Of The Problematique 24. Soldier's Poem 25. Knights Of Cydonia 26. Uprising 27. Resistance 28. Undisclosed Desires 29. United States Of Eurasia 30. Guiding Light 31. Unnatural Selection 32. MK Ultra 33. I Belong To You 34. Exogenesis Overture 35. Neutron Star Collision Not including Interlude, Nishe, House Of The Rising Sun intro instrumental, or the possibility of Dead Star at Reading or Leeds... I think if that list had been shown at the start of the tour, everyone would have said "fair enough, that's not too bad really"...The problem has been the unfair distrubition of said songs. And about 10 of those has been played 1-4 times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bs Posted August 16, 2011 Author Share Posted August 16, 2011 That's why I said "the problem has been the unfair distribution of those songs"...I'm not defending that side of it that we've all talked about at length with things like that...I just thought it was an interesting point to make that they've actually played 35 of 57 album tracks over the course of the tour. The problem is that 99% of shows have had the same 17, give or take. I realised I missed Dead Star off the list even though they played it in Japan too, but as it's not an album track, it doesn't change the figure really...But yeah...35 or 36 different songs over a tour. What do you think most bands do? Most bands don't play their b-sides. Most bands play their most well known songs and a mix of new album stuff and a handful of older songs to go with it, and that's basically what Muse have done. I'm not saying it's right, or that I don't want Muse to be as great as we all do, but it's just a point worth making. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musedan Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Favourite moment was Unnatural selection live, along with the beef created by this past tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaanGiggity Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Something positive? It's finally over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hat Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 That's why I said "the problem has been the unfair distribution of those songs"...I'm not defending that side of it that we've all talked about at length with things like that...I just thought it was an interesting point to make that they've actually played 35 of 57 album tracks over the course of the tour. The problem is that 99% of shows have had the same 17, give or take. I realised I missed Dead Star off the list even though they played it in Japan too, but as it's not an album track, it doesn't change the figure really...But yeah...35 or 36 different songs over a tour. What do you think most bands do? Most bands don't play their b-sides. Most bands play their most well known songs and a mix of new album stuff and a handful of older songs to go with it, and that's basically what Muse have done. I'm not saying it's right, or that I don't want Muse to be as great as we all do, but it's just a point worth making. 34, NSC isn't an album track I have been to lots of gigs where rarities and B-sides where played. Not that it proves anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
futurellama Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 http://www.setlist.fm/stats/muse-53d6ebd5.html?tour=Resistance+North+American+Arena+Tour http://www.setlist.fm/stats/average-setlist/muse-53d6ebd5.html?tour=The+Resistance+World+Tour Damning. Really though, it was a clusterfuck of a tour. Incredibly poorly booked and managed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bs Posted August 16, 2011 Author Share Posted August 16, 2011 That reminds me that I missed We Are The Universe out of my first post. Loved that intro. 34, NSC isn't an album track I have been to lots of gigs where rarities and B-sides where played. Not that it proves anything. Haha, touché, I only threw that one in at the end as I remembered it... But yeah, I guess it's just worth considering how much shit people here give the band for basically doing what every other band does. I don't know any other band where the fans follow the setlist on twitter, etc, and I guess that's led to equally more moaning than any other band I've known either. While I agree that I want songs to be more evenly distributed and have a fairer mix of songs between old and knew, light and heavy, popular and rareties, the amount of moaning about the same things over and over is just tiring now. It's their band, and they can do what they want, and play the songs they like. Their logic, or lack of, baffles me as much as anyone at times, but I thought it was worth pointing at that as much as the hoards of obsessive musers might want the band to suit their own needs, they're basically just doing what almost every other band does in terms of setlist choices, and I think it's got to the point that people need to, frankly, stop caring so much about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom//P Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Had the best versions of SS, Bliss, CE, KoC and Plug in Baby in my opinion. All benefiting because of Matt's more powerful vocals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan. Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 First thing off the top of my head....I seen them live for the first time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
futurellama Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 First thing off the top of my head....I seen them live for the first time SAW. SAW THEM LIVE. Their Dublin gig was my first gig ever. There was no support act as they wouldn't have had time to set up their stuff, which sums up the entire tour really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom//P Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Thought the towers were genius. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beibi Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 I realised I missed Dead Star off the list even though they played it in Japan too They also played Can't Take My Eyes Off You That reminds me that I missed We Are The Universe out of my first post. Loved that intro. Haha, touché, I only threw that one in at the end as I remembered it... But yeah, I guess it's just worth considering how much shit people here give the band for basically doing what every other band does. I don't know any other band where the fans follow the setlist on twitter, etc, and I guess that's led to equally more moaning than any other band I've known either. While I agree that I want songs to be more evenly distributed and have a fairer mix of songs between old and knew, light and heavy, popular and rareties, the amount of moaning about the same things over and over is just tiring now. It's their band, and they can do what they want, and play the songs they like. Their logic, or lack of, baffles me as much as anyone at times, but I thought it was worth pointing at that as much as the hoards of obsessive musers might want the band to suit their own needs, they're basically just doing what almost every other band does in terms of setlist choices, and I think it's got to the point that people need to, frankly, stop caring so much about it. Agree. This is basically what I've been saying the whole tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrebleRose689 Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 -Awesome visuals and stage set up -IMO, Matt's voice has never sounded better -Uprising and USoE live are awesome -I've heard Unnatural Selection & MKU were also awesome (Too bad I never got to hear them... Okay, okay. Staying positive!) -Dom fangirls got a better view whenever they played UD And, for me personally, it was the first time I got to see them live, after waiting for 4 long years! (I will be forever kicking myself for not trying harder to find a way to see them sooner... ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forevermusic Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Personally it being my first ever Muse show was a fun touch (would've gone to V Festival 2008 but didnt look hard enough for a ticket). Elsewhere the bands stage designs were amazing - very few acts have created something that cool in the last few years. The visuals were also incredible and the use of lights were inventive. Also the guitars, bass and vocals all sounded much improved on the Black Holes Tour and seemed to sound better the further the tour progressed. Of the actual songs Overture has been an unexpected highlight while Uprising, MK Ultra and Unnatural Selection have all sounded fantastic live. Resistance has also sounded much better live than one was expecting. Of the oldies Map of the Problematique has sounded consistently incredible, Hysteria has become a better track and Bliss is still a real knockout. There have been downsides of course (bad setlist variety, some chaotic organisation, short performances, over-reliance on a core of 13 songs) but its hardly been the worst tour any band in history has ever been on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan. Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 SAW. SAW THEM LIVE. Their Dublin gig was my first gig ever. There was no support act as they wouldn't have had time to set up their stuff, which sums up the entire tour really. I didn't even catch that, sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xX_deadstar_Xx Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 The Stage designs were amazing. Towers, Hexagons, Stadium pyramid...loved them all I hadn't seen Muse before this tour so cant really compare them to previous stages, but they more than lived up to what i was expecting Some songs have been performed incredibly, such as New Born on the towers with the lasers (ignoring the whole not playing piano thing), and generally all the songs they bothered playing have sounded really good. Vocals probably as good as i've heard from Matt and thought Chris's bass has been sounding pretty awesome lately as well, not what it used to be for songs like Hysteria but still sounding great. Also MK Ultra was mind blowing live! Oh and one last thing, i know opinions on The Resistance are a bit divided, but it's been good seeing them consistently selling out huge arena shows in the US aswell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnintendedFan Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Incredible stage sets! It would save them a lot of money not to have to lug around the towers but they did and they were genius! The tour won them a lot more US fans so they will come back more often! Dom played with everything he's got (no matter what he's wearing.) Chris - rock solid bass, and awesome to see him getting healthier and healhier through the tour. Matt - so much wonderful vocals, and thanks for MKU, US, and even NSC & IBTU I got CE last weekend, though not strictly through TR tour, but indirectly through TR's success. Happy. Sacramento a faint memory after the awesome OSL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hat Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 The tour won them a lot more US fans so they will come back more often! ...They're not touring the US enough? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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