Drones General Tour Discussion Thread

[01FromFinland]

It seems to me they currently aren't having any family issues...

 

Doesn't have to be that, maybe they're just getting tired and it's starting to stress them out? Maybe they're just in need of a longer break? I mean, they've been basically touring or recording for god knows how long now?

[MartianSpaghettiRider]

Doesn't have to be that, maybe they're just getting tired and it's starting to stress them out? Maybe they're just in need of a longer break? I mean, they've been basically touring or recording for god knows how long now?

 

It could just be that case, actually. To think they even aren't going to tour Oceania this time (and that's a jerky move towards Aussies and New-Zealanders) and they could use the anticipated hiatus to get more rest...

[serpentsatellite]

I can't be the only one who thinks the band seems... I don't know restless, I guess, on the stage? Personal life issues on someone, maybe? I don't know if it's just me, but during the show in Helsinki, it wasn't just the crappy setlist, but there was just something wrong. Like they didn't enjoy doing the show, or like I said, stress from some issues in personal life. Could be just me, but that's how I feel.

 

EDIT: And I'm saying this because maybe it is the thing behind these 'issues'.

 

Doesn't have to be that, maybe they're just getting tired and it's starting to stress them out? Maybe they're just in need of a longer break? I mean, they've been basically touring or recording for god knows how long now?

 

This seems like it wasn't consistent, thank god, but it was a big problem at more than a few gigs.

I'd expected it to just be the US, knowing how they feel about us here, but seeing that it affected more than a couple European gigs made me really take notice.

Philly was one of the most lackluster performances I've seen from any band, period. I felt alternately bored and depressed during the gig, and ultimately left downright angry. And I'd expected the bad setlist, and not to like the stage. Wasn't expecting the performance.

 

I want to say "it's just the stage; Matt in particular had to spend too much time remembering where to be and walking around in a circle, and it cut into his performance."

But if I'm being honest, that's not what it felt like when I saw it.

 

I'm more afraid they're just bored of what they're doing (and at this point taking too long of a break cuts the life of the band's future down,) and going through the motions so they can go partying, or something, afterwards.

Or maybe it's tied to Matt's unwillingness to play damn near everything, and he's gone full neurotic about crowd reaction, which was his own dumb idea with that round stage, and well... his audience is quickly getting both older and more casual.

[Gemsy]

Looks like 3-4, more 3's than 4's. But point taken.

 

Newborn was NOT played a ton (in the U.S.) in T2L tour. The roulette wheel hit SS probably 2 out of 3 or 3 out of 4 times, and even in The Resistance Tour, it was getting dropped. I also wonder why. I love that song.

 

 

01. Stockholm Shelldome

02 .Supermassive Life Span

03. Map of the Galapagos

04. Plod in Baby

05. Terrapins & Herbivores

06. The Pet Handler

07. The Groove (On My Back)

08. Wind Resistance

09. Sing for Abshellution

10. (Desert) Animals

11. Time Is Crawling Out

12. Knights of Shelldonia

 

It's only half a set because it would be played at half speed.

 

*massive applause*

[Alexander DeLarge]

Can't say I have sympathy if they're "getting bored with touring" when they've been playing the same set of songs every night for 5-10 years without doing anything to mitigate the effects of that.

 

Bring back dealer's choice where someone in the band picks a random song every night. Dom/Chris obviously has some interesting choices. They could even involve crew because some of those guys are the biggest fanboys ever.

 

At this point in their careers, they should be able to play the shows and sets they enjoy playing (and it's obvious which kind of gigs those are) without being a slave to every hit they've ever had.

[serpentsatellite]

Even if they're bored of playing in general, it's not even two hours every couple of nights, with time off every two weeks.

Just fake it, ffs, you're entertainers.

Think of the audience as your fat bank account, and crack a smile or two.

 

Matt's got one of those engaging little boy smiles, could go a long way towards making us at least think he might be enjoying himself up there a tiny bit.

 

I feel like this conversation was had during the US TR leg, too, and people were saying Matt wasn't focused on the gigs and just wanted to go hang with his new girl friend, no?

I remember people speculating that's why they were SO short compared to the European ones, but that's not really very likely.

 

And if they don't like the fanbase they're currently experiencing... FIX IT.

[01FromFinland]

Even if they're bored of playing in general, it's not even two hours every couple of nights, with time off every two weeks.

 

The thing is, touring life is still much more taxing than 'normal' life. Even outside the sets, the venues and stuff. I often like to refer to it as 'the poker player syndrome'. The same hotel beds, same food, same fan meetings, same interviews and to top it off, same(ish) setlists every night. I've done a little of that as a crew member of a much smaller band and I can till, it really isn't glorious. I enjoyed it, no question, but it's not for everyone. I can sure understand Matt getting bored of it, when I think of his personality. Dom and Chris maybe not as much.

[serpentsatellite]

The thing is, touring life is still much more taxing than 'normal' life. Even outside the sets, the venues and stuff. I often like to refer to it as 'the poker player syndrome'. The same hotel beds, same food, same fan meetings, same interviews and to top it off, same(ish) setlists every night. I've done a little of that as a crew member of a much smaller band and I can till, it really isn't glorious. I enjoyed it, no question, but it's not for everyone. I can sure understand Matt getting bored of it, when I think of his personality. Dom and Chris maybe not as much.

 

While I'm fully aware that there's more to touring than the gigs, what you're saying is a gross oversimplification... and honestly outright untrue. Part of the pedestal we put celebrities on, isn't it?

(Of course, smaller bands don't have the rewards that Muse does, but we're specifically talking about Muse here. Especially since most small bands I've seen have done a much better job of putting effort and energy into their performances, likely because they haven't cemented a fanbase and need to "sell themselves"...)

 

My boyfriend and I live the "normal" life; he's working 10 hours a day, 5-6 days a week, outside at hard labor when there's an extreme heat advisory.

I work 8-10 hours a day alternating between heavy labor and extreme repetitious boredom, and am constantly afraid of being strung up by my boss if they're having a bad day.

And our idea of a good night is having a drink, being in the AC, and hopefully getting 6 hours of sleep. We can't exactly afford foam parties in Ibiza, or boat rides in Greece...

And at the end of the day, we're better off than over 50% of the "normal" people in this country.

 

So taxing? Sure. More taxing than a "normal" life? Hardly.

Worth the rewards? I would very much assume so, when you're at Muse levels.

 

My point being, of course, we spend our hard earned money from our taxing jobs to have a band entertain us, if we're lucky enough to afford it, so I don't like the "being bored" excuse.

Edited July 22, 2016 by SerpentSatellite

[01FromFinland]

While I'm fully aware that there's more to touring than the gigs, what you're saying is a gross oversimplification... and honestly outright untrue. Part of the pedestal we put celebrities on, honestly.

(Of course, smaller bands don't have the rewards that Muse does, but we're specifically talking about Muse here. Especially since most small bands I've seen have done a much better job of putting effort and energy into their performances, likely because they haven't cemented a fanbase and need to "sell themselves"...)

 

My boyfriend and I live the "normal" life; he's working 10 hours a day, 5-6 days a week, outside at hard labor when there's an extreme heat advisory.

I work 8-10 hours a day alternating between heavy labor and extreme repetitious boredom, and am constantly afraid of being strung up by my boss if they're having a bad day.

And our idea of a good night is having a drink, being in the AC, and hopefully getting 6 hours of sleep. We can't exactly afford foam parties in Ibiza, or boat rides in Greece...

And at the end of the day, we're better off than over 50% of the "normal" people in this country.

 

So taxing? Sure. More taxing than a "normal" life? Hardly.

Worth the rewards? I would very much assume so, when you're at Muse levels.

 

 

Then again, on things like this, it all depends so heavily on the person. As an example, one of the things which lead to the conflicts inside Nightwish bad enough that they kicked out Anette Olzon, was the fact Anette was getting burned out. No, I'm not saying that alone was the reason, but from the documents I've seen, it really was bad.

[serpentsatellite]

Then again, on things like this, it all depends so heavily on the person. As an example, one of the things which lead to the conflicts inside Nightwish bad enough that they kicked out Anette Olzon, was the fact Anette was getting burned out. No, I'm not saying that alone was the reason, but from the documents I've seen, it really was bad.

 

I'm not saying it doesn't happen. It happens all the time.

I just don't think it's fair to correlate it with "normal" lifestyles like that.

I'm pretty fucking burned out on my job, I'll tell you that.

 

If they're burned out, as much as I hate to say it, they need to take a break instead of letting it show in their work.

If they don't want to lose the income, then, imo, they should be making extra effort to not let their personal problems affect their work.

That's a requirement of people with boring "normal" jobs, too, not just people who entertain for a wage.

 

Maybe it would be a good idea for them to take their normal 2 year break, and then spend the next cycle just putting out random songs after all without touring.

Would suck a little since they're not exactly young, but maybe everyone would be more energized if they hadn't seen/played Starlight a zillion times the prior year.

 

I don't believe Australia had anything to do with them being burned out, however. Simply that someone showed them the expense breakdown of getting the gear there, and they opted for festivals (that didn't exist.)

[01FromFinland]

I'm not saying it doesn't happen. It happens all the time.

I just don't think it's fair to correlate it with "normal" lifestyles like that.

I'm pretty fucking burned out on my job, I'll tell you that.

 

If they're burned out, as much as I hate to say it, they need to take a break instead of letting it show in their work.

If they don't want to lose the income, then, imo, they should be making extra effort to not let their personal problems affect their work.

That's a requirement of people with boring "normal" jobs, too, not just people who entertain for a wage.

 

Maybe it would be a good idea for them to take their normal 2 year break, and then spend the next cycle just putting out random songs after all without touring.

Would suck a little since they're not exactly young, but maybe everyone would be more energized if they hadn't seen/played Starlight a zillion times the prior year.

 

I don't believe Australia had anything to do with them being burned out, however. Simply that someone showed them the expense breakdown of getting the gear there, and they opted for festivals (that didn't exist.)

 

Yeah, well, when I'm talking about 'more taxing than normal life', I mean mentally even more than physically. Like, you know what I mean? Especially how repetative everything gets, it's uh... pretty damn incredible. I just think what they need to do is to take a break, a complete one this time, so no recording new stuff etc. Also, someone needs to hammer the idea of mixing up the setlists into Matt's head, I'm pretty sure Chris and Dom would have nothing against it. Maybe not play Starlight or Uprising every gig, like the forums have been screaming

[serpentsatellite]

I know what you mean, but I also have an entire staff that basically works an assembly line job 10 hours a day, so we're going to have to disagree, I think.

 

Have we been clamoring for them to remove Starlight and Uprising, though?

We've said we're sick to death of them, for sure, but I think any rational fan can agree they've got to be there. Forever.

 

It's just an issue of what they do with the rest of the gig when they're not banging out the hits.

I think the consensus has been we'd gladly forgive being bored in favor of the masses getting to do the tits clap to just see one single song that surprises us, and manages to make the rest of the set magical for us, still.

 

I'm a perfect example of the difference one song (and, tbf, not looking as much like the job was killing them during one of the two gigs) can be like.

The argument is simply WHY they won't do that for their dedicated fans, and insist we are satisfied with the exact same thing every tour...

[01FromFinland]

I know what you mean, but I also have an entire staff that basically works an assembly line job 10 hours a day, so we're going to have to disagree, I think.

 

Have we been clamoring for them to remove Starlight and Uprising, though?

We've said we're sick to death of them, for sure, but I think any rational fan can agree they've got to be there. Forever.

 

It's just an issue of what they do with the rest of the gig when they're not banging out the hits.

I think the consensus has been we'd gladly forgive being bored in favor of the masses getting to do the tits clap to just see one single song that surprises us, and manages to make the rest of the set magical for us, still.

 

I'm a perfect example of the difference one song (and, tbf, not looking as much like the job was killing them during one of the two gigs) can be like.

The argument is simply WHY they won't do that for their dedicated fans, and insist we are satisfied with the exact same thing every tour...

 

 

I know what you mean. And tbh, it's not just Uprising and Starlight. Plug in Baby, SMBH, Hysteria, TIRO... just why. Even a song that's not a real rarity would be so much better, stuff like BFaH or CE...

 

Btw, has any of the guys ever really explained what happened to songs like CoD, EP, Big Freeze and IBtY? Basically all of those are like made for live, but noooo...

[Corkscrewed]

And i might've suggested the tortoise picks the next setlist.

01. Stockholm Shelldome

02 .Supermassive Life Span

03. Map of the Galapagos

04. Plod in Baby

05. Terrapins & Herbivores

06. The Pet Handler

07. The Groove (On My Back)

08. Wind Resistance

09. Sing for Abshellution

10. (Desert) Animals

11. Time Is Crawling Out

12. Knights of Shelldonia

 

It's only half a set because it would be played at half speed.

*massive applause*

 

Thank you. I'm glad someone noticed. :LOL:

[Spectrum IV]

02 .Supermassive Life Span

 

[Bs]

Wind Resistance.

 

I like the sound of Terrapins and Herbivores to be honest, haha! Hats off to anyone who wants to put some lyrics together.

[Finn.]

01. Stockholm Shelldome

02 .Supermassive Life Span

03. Map of the Galapagos

04. Plod in Baby

05. Terrapins & Herbivores

06. The Pet Handler

07. The Groove (On My Back)

08. Wind Resistance

09. Sing for Abshellution

10. (Desert) Animals

11. Time Is Crawling Out

12. Knights of Shelldonia

 

[Alexander DeLarge]

Could Starlight be rotated with Mercy/Starlight?

Could Madness be rotated with Dead Inside?

Could Uprising be rotated with Resistance?

Could Undisclosed Desires be dropped?

Could TiRO be rotated with Hysteria?

 

I mean, 10 years ago people were saying the same thing about Plug in Baby and Bliss, but look at them now. I mean, those are only a couple of examples, but that alone would free up 4-5 songs a night to play something else, almost a third of the set.

 

When I see Radiohead or Nine Inch Nails, I don't get the guarantee that I'll hear every hit. Sure, I'll get Hurt, March of the Pigs and Head Like a Hole every single gig but I've only heard Wish/Last/Sanctified/Closer/Starfuckers/Somewhat Damaged/The Wretched/Survivalism/1,000,000 a handful of times and those are definitely hits.

Edited July 22, 2016 by Alexander DeLarge

[Bs]

Could Starlight be rotated with Mercy/Starlight?

Could Madness be rotated with Dead Inside?

Could Uprising be rotated with Resistance?

Could Undisclosed Desires be dropped?

Could TiRO be rotated with Hysteria?

 

Pretty much what should have been happening for ages. No reason why they can't have a fair balance for everyone. You could very easily make a setlist with a 50/50 split on hits and songs for the old fans with a few rotations for each slot. Most other bands seem to manage, and Muse never used to have a problem with it. Even more than a decade ago, they had a reputation for being one of the best live acts around and the hits were in pretty short supply by comparison.

[kueller]

Fix

song

choice

before

worrying

about

rotations.

[Alexander DeLarge]

Fix

song

choice

before

worrying

about

rotations.

 

But the rotations fix the song choices because by doing 5-6 single rotations, that gives them more room than what we've had during the Drones tour where it's maybe one-two songs that aren't staples being played.

 

When they're not playing every hit they've ever had, that's when the shows they play become interesting. They select good material when they have the space or simply don't care about playing the hits.

Edited July 22, 2016 by Alexander DeLarge

[01FromFinland]

*Drones*

Psycho

Reapers

Plug in Baby/SMBH

Handler

MOTP/CE

AP/Resistance

Starlight/Mercy/Feeling Good

Munich Jam

Madness/Dead Inside

Hysteria/Assassin/JFK + Defector

TIRO/BaH/CoD

Stockholm Syndrome

Supremacy/Unsustainable/Dead Star

Uprising/TaB

Animals/New Born

Bliss/Fury/Agitated

Knights of Cydonia

 

Would this be too much to ask for?

[Bs]

Assuming they'd want to keep most of the hits, I'd settle for something like this.

 

Psycho

Reapers

Bliss/Plug In Baby

Supermassive Black Hole

Time Is Running Out/Interlude + Hysteria

Map Of The Problematique/Butterflies And Hurricanes

Futurism/Fury

The Handler

Citizen Erased

Apocalypse Please/Ruled By Secrecy

Madness/Dead Inside

Uprising/Resistance

Starlight/Mercy

The Globalist

--------------------

Micro Cuts/Dead Star

Stockholm Syndrome

Knights Of Cydonia

 

Done on my phone and off the top of my head, but it seems fair to me. I'd be damn happy with it as well

Edited July 22, 2016 by Bs

[LewisF]

I'd be more than happy with something like that. Rock Werchter 2015 is such a good example of getting it right with the hits and rarities

[Alexander DeLarge]

Assuming there isn't another 10 minute song to justify the decrease in set length, I'd like to see something like this LP8 tour

1.)*new song*

2.)*new song*

4.)Map/Plug in Baby/Bliss

5.)*new song*

6.)Knights/Take a Bow/Survival/B&H/Sing For Absolution/City of Delusion

*new jam*

7.)Sunburn/Falling Down/Space Dementia/Apocalypse Please/Megalomania/United States of Eurasia

8.)*new piano song*

9.)SMBH/Panic Station

10.)Madness/Dead Inside

11.)TiRO/Interlude+Hysteria

12.)JFK+The Handler/Defector/Revolt

13.)*new song*

14.)Uno/Muscle Museum/Ashamed/Darkshines/Micro Cuts/Futurism/Dead Star/The Small Print/Glorious

15.)Reapers/NB/Stockholm/Unnatural Selection/Assassin (truly random roulette)

 

Encore:

16.)Psycho

17.)Uprising/Resistance/Neutron Star Collision

18.)Sign o the Times/Lies/Lithium/Can't Take My Eyes Off You/Feeling Good/*new cover*

19.)Mercy/Starlight

20.)*new closer if they have something really cool otherwise move slot 6 down here*

Edited July 22, 2016 by Alexander DeLarge