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not sure how well an interval would work at standing gigs though?

 

It's just like having an encore early.

 

These gigs could have been something like:

 

Act 1 - 'Drones story'

Act 2 - Prologue/Epilogue

Act 3 - Hits and stuff

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Kasabian did that at their iTunes festival show 18 months ago.

Tom Meighan still sounded fresh after 25 songs.

 

Kasabian is a fantastic live band. Tom Meighan is a natural front-man and performer in a way that I don't think Bellamy is or can be. He swaggers all over the place and really works the crowd. I always come away from a Kasabian gig drenched in sweat.

But then that's Tom's only role on stage, singing and swagger. And he ambles around the back or goes off when Serge wants to sing and get a share of the limelight. Different set up from Muse altogether.

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Kasabian did that at their iTunes festival show 18 months ago.

Tom Meighan still sounded fresh after 25 songs.

Yeah Kasabian is fantastic live with more mosh pit than with Muse.

But for the itunes festival they've made a break in the middle of the gig.

They were their own support band.

 

First half : they played they first album in full (as muse with OoS) (50min)

--- break --- (25min)

Second half : rest of the gig (01h15)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTrLT_38fMQ

Edited by titoufou17
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I think it's a bit far to suggest that playing longer sets and touring shortens the lifespan of musicians... It's got more to do with the fact that "sex drugs and rock and roll" isn't an exaggeration, and it's a really, REALLY destructive environment that they operate within.

 

Yeah for sure. However stress and long/erratic hours are risk factors for drug abuse, you can't disconnect them. How do you maintain a sane life on tour? Must be difficult.

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Yeah for sure. However stress and long/erratic hours are risk factors for drug abuse, you can't disconnect them. How do you maintain a sane life on tour? Must be difficult.

 

Its still just the ease of availability of drugs versus people who don't work in an industry that glamorizes it.

 

There are millions of people who work long erratic hours, jobs that are extremely stressful mentally and physically, and have the added bonus of not paying enough to make ends meet, adding more stress and strain on health.

 

However, no one bats an eye at a rock star on drugs, while a construction worker would be fired and likely jailed.

They don't have the access, money, and permissions for it that celebrities do, and that accounts for the higher potential death rate.

I don't really believe they work harder than working class folk, therefor aren't naturally at a higher drug use risk without the other factors.

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Its still just the ease of availability of drugs versus people who don't work in an industry that glamorizes it.

 

There are millions of people who work long erratic hours, jobs that are extremely stressful mentally and physically, and have the added bonus of not paying enough to make ends meet, adding more stress and strain on health.

 

However, no one bats an eye at a rock star on drugs, while a construction worker would be fired and likely jailed.

They don't have the access, money, and permissions for it that celebrities do, and that accounts for the higher potential death rate.

I don't really believe they work harder than working class folk, therefor aren't naturally at a higher drug use risk without the other factors.

 

Avialability is both pre-condition and risk factor, how could it be otherwise, and I didn't say it wasn't. And whatever class you are, stress and long/erratic hours become risk factors.

 

Whether performing and touring is stressful compared with other jobs what do I know? I'm just guessing it ranks high on the stressometer.

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The discussion presented in that article, though, is that musicians die earlier than everyone else.

So, if we're to say that the stress of the job is a factor (along with drugs, or not,) we would have to be saying that the stress of being a musician is on average, more stressful than other types of work. Which is utterly false.

I'm not saying it's NOT stressful, just that it's not unduly so when put up against many, MANY other jobs. I doubt it's above average. We tend to glamorize the idea of the "starving artist" or "tortured musician," is all.

So, since the job isn't more stressful as a whole, the other factor is the availability of drugs, how enmeshed they are in that culture, and how permissive society is of musicians behaving badly.

 

We post pictures of drunk and high celebs all the time and still talk about how cool they are, while the same behavior from a "normal" person would be more likely to be derided and frowned upon.

Even people who don't look favorably on the drug and alcohol culture of musicians often just shrug it off as "well, I guess that's just the way it is. It's a different world."

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So, if we're to say that the stress of the job is a factor (along with drugs, or not,) we would have to be saying that the stress of being a musician is on average, more stressful than other types of work. Which is utterly false.

"

 

the first sentence is logical. The second sentence is an assertion based on a debatable opinion not fact. Therefore your logical argument falters.

We'll have to agree to differ therefore, on a matter of opinion of how stressful it is performing/touring.

 

Lets move on. It's past my bedtime, going for my hot milk ;)

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There are actually quite a few studies, varying in believability (but then, I have my doubts about the musicians die early one's "methods,") that talk about stress levels at jobs.

So, there is factual basis. At least as factual as the original topic article.

 

Anyways, tying back to the original topic, I don't think Muse is at a point where playing a little longer of a set would be stressful to the point of impacting their personal longevity.

I think they're just kinda lazy about it, and know they can easily get away with it and people will still defend it.

Edited by SerpentSatellite
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So...I went to see Mumford and Sons in Indianapolis the other night, the last date on their current US tour. It was the first concert I've seen since Muse's Drones show a few months ago. I'm only mentioning it to dispel the notion about American concert audiences being inherently lame and lifeless.

 

They played to a sold-out, packed-to-the-rafters crowd at the NBA arena in downtown Indy that Muse have never ever bothered to visit. The tickets were actually pretty difficult to secure because they were mostly gone after a couple pre-sales and the first few hours of availability to the public. Muse and Mumford obviously don't sound a lot alike but they likely appeal to a fairly similar demographic. Both are essentially modern rock format bands with some pop crossover appeal.

 

Let's just say that the crowd stood up the moment that Mumford came on stage and really didn't sit down for the rest of the night. Everybody seemed to be bouncing, clapping, stomping and singing along to just about every song. They played in a modest, end-stage set-up with the usual lights, few lasers and a couple video screens flanking the band. They sang 2 light, acoustic numbers on a B-stage during their first encore. Otherwise, it was gimmick-free. No prerecorded playback. No video segments. No UFO's (unreliable flying objects). No confetti cannons. No lengthy breaks between songs except for a little, charming banter here and there. The set list didn't seem to disappoint anyone even though they left out songs like Roll Away Your Stone and Babel. In total, they performed 21 songs in about an hour and 45 minutes.

 

If the band raised the roof with crowd-pleasers like The Cave, Little Lion Man and I Will Wait, then they totally blew the lid off when they pulled some guy from the audience to sing lead on a cover of You Shook Me All Night Long during the encore. It seemed pretty spontaneous because I don't think it happened at their other shows. Mumford and Sons came across as energetic, passionate and having a great time...and the crowd responded similarly.

 

I wish that Muse could do that.

Edited by Nigel_Tufnel
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I think they appeal to the same demographic, but Mumford is way, way bigger here in the US than Muse is.

I've always said that Muse's ability to play US arenas at all (with an endstage) is proof enough that a significant portion of that crowd is showing up based on word of mouth on how great the stage show is.

So I mean, yeah, of course they have a lot of tourists there.

 

The other thing about Mumford (and a LOT of similar demographic bands...) is that they're consistent.

There's not a lot of big surprises with their material, so even if you're not familiar with more than the singles, the other songs are relatable.

Whereas people familiar with Starlight and Madness quite possibly would be put off by Reapers, Citizen, or a lot of the songs we're clamoring for, sadly.

Possibly Muse's diversity of music has been their downfall for that sort of thing... I mean, considering they want to push themselves to the Coldplay crowd.

 

Muse COULD do that here. And they have. Recently.

They'd just need to play to a crowd size that actually supports their actual popularity here, and it's not arenas...

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I think they appeal to the same demographic, but Mumford is way, way bigger here in the US than Muse is.

I've always said that Muse's ability to play US arenas at all (with an endstage) is proof enough that a significant portion of that crowd is showing up based on word of mouth on how great the stage show is.

So I mean, yeah, of course they have a lot of tourists there.

 

The other thing about Mumford (and a LOT of similar demographic bands...) is that they're consistent.

There's not a lot of big surprises with their material, so even if you're not familiar with more than the singles, the other songs are relatable.

Whereas people familiar with Starlight and Madness quite possibly would be put off by Reapers, Citizen, or a lot of the songs we're clamoring for, sadly.

Possibly Muse's diversity of music has been their downfall for that sort of thing... I mean, considering they want to push themselves to the Coldplay crowd.

 

Muse COULD do that here. And they have. Recently.

They'd just need to play to a crowd size that actually supports their actual popularity here, and it's not arenas...

 

Many good points there.

 

When I say that I wish Muse could do that, I not trying to suggest that they don't try to do it or that it's entirely their fault that it doesn't happen.

 

I just wish that they had the popularity to pull off a concert like that one over here...or maybe anywhere else. As I mentioned, the Mumford show sold out right away while the Drones concert was about half full in a comparable venue.

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They know they can get those sorts of crowds in small venues, but the bigger ones are likely just more profitable, and on top of that, keep the band in the public eye with all the hype surrounding being a crazy, ott live act.

 

And they used to get those crowds easily in many areas in Europe.

Must have been quite a shock starting the 360 world tour.

I wonder if the crowds would go back to being crazy again for an end stage, or if the band's gig-goers have really changed that much.

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They know they can get those sorts of crowds in small venues, but the bigger ones are likely just more profitable, and on top of that, keep the band in the public eye with all the hype surrounding being a crazy, ott live act.

 

And they used to get those crowds easily in many areas in Europe.

Must have been quite a shock starting the 360 world tour.

I wonder if the crowds would go back to being crazy again for an end stage, or if the band's gig-goers have really changed that much.

 

Ultimately I blame it on the phones (ban them on the floor) and the sort of audience they've been playing to but certainly the VIP nonsense and front rows of a traditional end stage design being spread across a 360 stage barrier didn't help.

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What stopped the Mumford fans from minimizing energy due to cell phones, though? I still see a lot of people filming and taking pics at their gigs. I mean, we're not talking about mosh pits, here.

If people didn't film at Muse gigs I'd be pretty depressed anyways, since I'd almost never see one damn decent song...

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