basquebromance Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 http://www.tv3.ie/xpose/article/entertainment-news/195681/Matt-Bellamy-explains-stage-silence Matt Bellamy doesn't interact with the audience during Muse gigs because he doesn't think it would fit with the songs. The frontman admits the dark themes of the songs would mean he had to become a ''hammy character'' if he were to chat away to his audience in order to fit in with the mood of the music. He said: ''That's the one stagecraft skill I've somehow avoided. I don't know how I've managed to get away with it. ''There's definitely a feeling when I've attempted to talk that I've broken the fourth wall. ''I look at great public speakers like Bono, Chris Martin, Bruce Springsteen and the character inbetween the songs is the same person you're getting in the songs, whereas if I was to talk in the way the songs are talking, it would probably be a little bit too hammy.'' However, the rocker also admitted he just isn't that great about opening up in public. He added: ''I think I'm making excuses because I'm not a great public speaker.'' Whereas Muse's recent albums have all been based around particular themes, Matt thinks his upcoming music will be different. He told Q magazine: ''My focus won't be a large body of work. For a number of years I'm not going to attempt to make a full collection of work that has a very clear theme. ''I feel like I've done that. I think the albums before 'Drones' were each trying to improve on that. I'd like to be a bit more sporadic and random.'' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serpentsatellite Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 ... was that in that last Q article...? I didn't bother buying it, and the scan were too tiny and fuzzy for my old eyes. But I'm reading this right? Matt Bellamy admits Muse is "hammy." I mean, I guess that was obvious, but I'd always hoped unintentional... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uccellino Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 I'm OK with the less chat thing, I can never tell what Matt says anyway. He talks too fast. I pay to hear music not to get lectured at, I'd find it pretty annoying to be at a U2 gig for that reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forevermusic Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Yeah it was in the Q article. I don't recall mentioning "hammy" but its been a while since I read it. I'm OK with the less chat thing, I can never tell what Matt says anyway. He talks too fast. I pay to hear music not to get lectured at, I'd find it pretty annoying to be at a U2 gig for that reason. I went to see U2 in London and I didn't think I was lectured that much. A few vignettes and silly lines, but nothing like the Vertigo Tour. Apparently at one gig, Bono spoke for 12 minutes about politics and the drummer fell asleep waiting for him to finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uccellino Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Yeah it was in the Q article. I don't recall mentioning "hammy" but its been a while since I read it. I went to see U2 in London and I didn't think I was lectured that much. A few vignettes and silly lines, but nothing like the Vertigo Tour. Apparently at one gig, Bono spoke for 12 minutes about politics and the drummer fell asleep waiting for him to finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serpentsatellite Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 I think Matt needs to explore ways to be engaging at this stage, even if it doesn't involve talking to the audience. Maybe it was the low, close stage, but it was incredibly alienating on this tour particularly, imo. Even cracking a smile once in a while, or doing something spontaneous possibly. I dunno really, it felt like the band was actually trying very hard to be aloof. And as for "hammy"... he's not afraid all the choreographed motions he goes through during the songs are hammy? I thought it was weird, though, because with little exception, I thought Drones was actually a pretty serious album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopix Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 That's perfectly acceptable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clunge Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Muse's stage patter was much better years ago when there was basically no interaction at all bar the odd 'cheers' or 'good evening'. Why? Because the music, the virtuoso moments, the shock and awe of the show and of the performance did the talking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartianSpaghettiRider Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Yeah it was in the Q article. I don't recall mentioning "hammy" but its been a while since I read it. I went to see U2 in London and I didn't think I was lectured that much. A few vignettes and silly lines, but nothing like the Vertigo Tour. Apparently at one gig, Bono spoke for 12 minutes about politics and the drummer fell asleep waiting for him to finish. Oh, dear... I guess Bono is a bit too much of a preacher, in fact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apoco123 Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Muse's stage patter was much better years ago when there was basically no interaction at all bar the odd 'cheers' or 'good evening'. Why? Because the music, the virtuoso moments, the shock and awe of the show and of the performance did the talking. This is pretty much spot on. I'm quite happy with the no interaction, its usually Dom that speaks for the band, but like you said, the performance pretty much does the talking. I find it more magical that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaicen Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Matt just shouldn't speak. I remember being shocked on the T2L tour when he was actually speaking to the audience, very disconcerting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueEyedFloozy Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Does Chris ever speak on stage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clunge Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 I think he's said 'cheers!' once or twice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueEyedFloozy Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Aw well done Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander DeLarge Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Muse's stage patter was much better years ago when there was basically no interaction at all bar the odd 'cheers' or 'good evening'. Why? Because the music, the virtuoso moments, the shock and awe of the show and of the performance did the talking. This. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Mamba Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 This is something I'm perfectly ok with. It could be worse, it could be Dave Grohl telling you how the gig you are at is special, that they are going to play all night and push the curfew, Rock n Roll and all that. Then you go look at the setlist and realise they've been doing the same thing every night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serpentsatellite Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Chatter or no, Muse isn't exactly a bastion of spontaneity... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clunge Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 They never have been, tbh. It's more that once they consciously started trying to interact with the audience more it became a bit forced/scripted (i.e. Matt had a 'chatter' script at Wembley in 2007 - although that said, it was their biggest gig ever so I can understand having prompts for nerves). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthijs Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 I think he's said 'cheers!' once or twice. 8:34 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clunge Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Boom! Fairly sure he gives Earls Court a cheers at the end of SS too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corkscrewed Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 It could be worse, it could be Dave Grohl telling you how the gig you are at is special, that they are going to play all night and push the curfew, Rock n Roll and all that. Then you go look at the setlist and realise they've been doing the same thing every night. Except Dave Grohl is funny and entertaining on the mic. I don't mind his talking at all and enjoy it. Besides, "same thing every night?" Yeah, they have a basic set of songs they rotate through, with variations here and there, but how many bands really REALLY mix things up? Like... Pearl Jam? The vast majority of bands do the same thing exactly or a mix of basically the same thing. It's pretty much logical--there's only so many songs you can have mastered and ready for live playback. To go back to the original topic, I agree that Muse should let their music do the talking. I'm ok with banter if it's good and non-preachy. Matt is naturally shy, so he shouldn't feel pressured to talk much. Just let the awesome music talk (as others have mentioned). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forevermusic Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Does Chris ever speak on stage? I think I remember a gig on The Resistance arena tour (Stockholm? Oslo?) where him and Matt were having a discussion through the mics about his out-of-tune bass before playing a song, and similar during the Assassin tease in Belfast last year. That and the occasional cheers, as said above. Speaking of others to Matt talking, I swear Dom's done less talking since the end of the Black Holes tour. To some degree, I think Matt still mainly keeps it to "thank you", "cheers", etc, with a few odd rock-star-cliche asides here and there. But yeah, some acts are good at public speaking - Frank Turner's usually good, for one example, while in a cliched way, so is Billie Joe Armstrong - while with Muse, I'm more alright with them saying the odd line but deploying a kick-ass show to do most of the talking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neigi Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 Ok, after reading all the comments I feel calmer They came to our country a week ago for the first time ever (it was also the first time I was seeing them live) and I couldn't stop thinking about how silent they were, so concentrated on their instruments as if they came here only to do their job as fast as they can and eventually go home. I was like "C'mon, guys, you're visiting us for the first friggin time ever, notice us!!" But as I understand they're always like that. Yes, Matt did say something like "Thank you, Kaunas" during the concert and at the end of it he and Dom (who did a lot more speaking but I couldn't understand a word he was saying) said a few words. Maybe I just didn't know what to expect and don't know them so well and so I've started to carp at them. As I see now, I should be (and hell I am) amazingly grateful to have had the opportunity to see such a band live Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanp16 Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 how many bands really REALLY mix things up? Like... Pearl Jam? The vast majority of bands do the same thing exactly or a mix of basically the same thing. There's a band whose name I can't remember right now, but they have such variation in their sets that every night is completely different, even moreso than someone like Bruce Springsteen. There's so much variation that because of this the band release sort of "season tickets" for fans, which let you go to something like any 5 gigs on the tour you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnStewart Posted September 19, 2017 Share Posted September 19, 2017 Hello! Many thanks for the explanations! I'm really concerned with Muse and their songs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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