Jump to content
Muse Forum Shutdown ×
Muse
Muse Forum Shutdown

Best Live Performance of any one song

Alistair Hay

By Alistair Hay
in Songs & Releases

 Share

Recommended Posts

Spectrum IV Escapee

Spectrum IV

Posted
Posted
I'm starting to believe that Take a Bow at Wembley 2 is the best performance of that song I've heard, or at least one of the best. It was just really epic that night.

 

It was alright. The vocals always drag TaB down a few notches live, IMO. Wembley's (2010) were probably the best I've heard... which is disappointing because they were crap. :LOL:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tom//P Escapee

Tom//P

Posted
Posted

I dunno, I quite like the versions from 2008 (V-fest, RAH...) where he used the kaoss pad on his guitar for the bit between synth and guitar - sounded pretty sweet. Thought his vocals were marginally better as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Spectrum IV Escapee

Spectrum IV

Posted
Posted
Listened to the 2nd night and it was definitely not crap.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2g82p3z9Fo

 

Watch from 4:25 to 5:19. Pay attention to the signs of bad technique:

 

- He is extremely flat.

- He is constantly holding his head up, and his larynx is way too high.

- He is disregarding the song's rhythm, common for singers who are in pain.

- He is using some classic forcing techniques, but this is hard to explain.

- At times you can hear the irritation in his voice (Burn in hell, yeah you'll burn in hell... etc.)

 

I just don't get why they keep playing this song live. Maybe it doesn't hurt, but it is definitely unhealthy, and sounds crap IMO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Hat Collaborator

Hat

Posted
Posted
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2g82p3z9Fo

 

Watch from 4:25 to 5:19. Pay attention to the signs of bad technique:

 

- He is extremely flat.

- He is constantly holding his head up, and his larynx is way too high.

- He is disregarding the song's rhythm, common for singers who are in pain.

- He is using some classic forcing techniques, but this is hard to explain.

- At times you can hear the irritation in his voice (Burn in hell, yeah you'll burn in hell... etc.)

 

I just don't get why they keep playing this song live. Maybe it doesn't hurt, but it is definitely unhealthy, and sounds crap IMO.

And that is why I love you :happy:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ryoma-kun Escapee

Ryoma-kun

Posted
Posted

I think the first part of the song sounded good really. Alot of substance in the low parts and holds the notes well. He always holds his head high and leans backwards for more difficult notes to strain his voice as little as possible. But I do agree with you, TaB should at best be a rarity seeing he struggles quite a bit with it, though I still think he did a decent job on this one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
JimmyP117 New Born

JimmyP117

Posted
Posted

I thought it was a good performance. Considering it was so late on in the setlist and also as part of a back to back gigs, he coped quite well. It was far better than the performance on the Austrailian tour (Brisbaine i think?) where he really had trouble. I wonder why they haven't considered dropping it half a step though? Matt must surely know how much of a strain it is for him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Hat Collaborator

Hat

Posted
Posted
That seems like a song that could be used to be dropped half step. For some reason that's what they did to Starlight, and I don't really see why that was necessary.

So that they can play if every night ofc!

 

Even a little bit of strain can cause damage if it's repeated every night. And it's important that it still sounds good half a step down.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Spectrum IV Escapee

Spectrum IV

Posted
Posted
And that is why I love you :happy:

 

Thanks. I am very much in love with myself, too.

 

He always holds his head high and leans backwards for more difficult notes to strain his voice as little as possible.

 

That's different. The larynx rises naturally as you ascend in range. Singers who tilt their head back are doing so because their neck is constricted, and there is no space for their larynx to rise, so they need to create space.

 

Holding his head high (not back) and leaning backwards is just good posture for breath support.

 

I wonder why they haven't considered dropping it half a step though?

 

Probably because it goes through so many key changes that transposing the entire song would be too confusing (read: laziness, again). That's just a guess, though. :p

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Banksy. Escapee

Banksy.

Posted
Posted
That seems like a song that could be used to be dropped half step. For some reason that's what they did to Starlight, and I don't really see why that was necessary.

 

Yeah, I see what you mean. I mean, I can sing Starlight in it's entirety without much bother, and I'm not much of a singer. Judging by songs like Uprising, it's not like it's too high for his chest voice to reach, and I know his falsetto/head voice/whatever wouldn't struggle with it normally, so I don't see why they drop that down at all. Unless it's for Chris' backing...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Hat Collaborator

Hat

Posted
Posted (edited)
Yeah, I see what you mean. I mean, I can sing Starlight in it's entirety without much bother, and I'm not much of a singer. Judging by songs like Uprising, it's not like it's too high for his chest voice to reach, and I know his falsetto/head voice/whatever wouldn't struggle with it normally, so I don't see why they drop that down at all. Unless it's for Chris' backing...

How easy songs like that come to depends on your voice type. I'm sure that any tenor would do it without much trouble. You don't have to be a singer to reach high or low notes.

 

I don't think the falsetto/head voice matters. As far as I'm aware, it's the chest notes that is the problem.

 

And also, it's not about being too high to reach. Matt can definitely go higher than the notes in Starlight. It is about being able to perform this every night without damaging the voice.

Edited by Tjet
Link to comment
Share on other sites
We Want The Cup Escapee

We Want The Cup

Posted
Posted

Hysteria, Britts 2004, pure epic performance:

 

KoC, Shepherds Bush... drumming sounds amazing, and that space dementia outro... i miss it:

 

KoC, MSG 2010 (my biased pick... i was there... but he nailed his bluesy outro better than i've seen elsewhere):

 

Supermassive Black Hole Shepherds Bush... EASY CHOICE for me... I wish they played it with this intensity these days, and Matt screaming needs to come back: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1upkp14drH0

 

Invincible... HAARP night 1 (cd version)... or Shepherds Bush (seeing a trend?)

 

Guiding Light... Nassau Coliseum (maybe I am biased, but I do believe this is the first time he sung the entire time during the solo like in the album... and it sounded awesome):

 

Citizen Erased: Wembley September 11 2010, NO DOUBT IN MY MIND. And I felt this way before I got to hear the official recording, but that confirmed it. Sounds brilliant in my car stereo, too.

 

Dead Star: V-Fest 2008. I love the guitar in this version, and the new synth kicks ass. It really made me want to hear it live.

 

MK Ultra @ Staples Center September 2010: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbu6HmZ4LIw

 

NSC... @Staples Center September 2010 (sounded WAY better than at Wembley... I actually liked it... a LOT.)

 

Bliss, Wembley 2010 (I really like the old versions of Bliss, yes, but this was a perfect performance, with extended intro AND outro, and flawlessly done in my mind.)

 

Starlight... Shepherds Bush again (sounds SO GOOD):

 

Muscle Museum... Glasto 2004

 

City of Delusion... Seattle 2007... pretty sure he is playing the trumpet part on guitar!:

(there is a FANTASTIC audio bootleg that does it more justice)

 

Apocalypse Please, Wembley 2007.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Banksy. Escapee

Banksy.

Posted
Posted
How easy songs like that come to depends on your voice type. I'm sure that any tenor would do it without much trouble. You don't have to be a singer to reach high or low notes.

 

I don't think the falsetto/head voice matters. As far as I'm aware, it's the chest notes that is the problem.

 

And also, it's not about being too high to reach. Matt can definitely go higher than the notes in Starlight. It is about being able to perform this every night without damaging the voice.

 

Yeah you're probably right, I guess it's completely different from person to person, and like you said, when you're performing as often as Muse tend to, the strain builds up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
L. Escapee

L.

Posted
Posted

 

MK Ultra @ Staples Center September 2010: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbu6HmZ4LIw

 

 

Personally best MK performance was at Casino de Paris... So much energy and one of the only time I think when they had extra riff after the song

 

Good audio but no outro:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFYfxj7ghpE

 

Poor audio quality but full song with outro riff:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI-Chq_CkzI

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Spectrum IV Escapee

Spectrum IV

Posted
Posted (edited)
And also, it's not about being too high to reach. Matt can definitely go higher than the notes in Starlight. It is about being able to perform this every night without damaging the voice.

 

It's more to do with sitting in a difficult range for a long period of time, which tends to cause a lot of muscular tension in the throat -- and that leads to forcing and damaging your voice. The hardest part of Starlight isn't the chorus, it's the second bridge onwards.

 

But anyway, this is pretty far off-topic now. :LOL:

Edited by Espectro Cuatro
Link to comment
Share on other sites
LyraSilvertongue Escapee

LyraSilvertongue

Posted
Posted
Personally best MK performance was at Casino de Paris... So much energy and one of the only time I think when they had extra riff after the song

 

Good audio but no outro:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFYfxj7ghpE

 

Poor audio quality but full song with outro riff:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI-Chq_CkzI

 

Thanks for that. It was such an amazing night :happy: I can't wait to see Liam's DVD.

 

It's more to do with sitting in a difficult range for a long period of time, which tends to cause a lot of muscular tension in the throat -- and that leads to forcing and damaging your voice.

 

But anyway, this is pretty far off-topic now. :LOL:

 

How are you so knowledgeable on this subject?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Hat Collaborator

Hat

Posted
Posted
It's more to do with sitting in a difficult range for a long period of time, which tends to cause a lot of muscular tension in the throat -- and that leads to forcing and damaging your voice.

 

But anyway, this is pretty far off-topic now. :LOL:

Isn't that what I said?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...