The General Stadium/Festival Tour Discussion Thread

[seregon]

Agreed. And Cure gigs are an exercise in sheer stamina, for the crowd anyway, 3.5 hours and 41 songs when I saw them last - they overran the curfew and people were leaving before the end to get their last train home. I know it's easier for them as their show isn't as energetic and they do shorter tours, but still, 3.5 hrs is what I call value for money.

 

I would see Green Day if I could tolerate their music slightly better haha. Holiday is a tune though. But The Cure, over three fucking hours. Fuck me. They're all hitting their 50s too!

[Pip]

Oh I'd love a longer set from Muse! Yes!

 

One thing I would hate them to do though is to interact with the crowd more. I hate all that bollocks! It's generally completely contrived and leaves me cold.

[bILLOO]

Oh I'd love a longer set from Muse! Yes!

 

One thing I would hate them to do though is to interact with the crowd more. I hate all that bollocks! It's generally completely contrived and leaves me cold.

 

I do agree with you there, Pip. Bands that talk for ages make zZzZz (Gaga was an exception, though... she said some <3 stuff!).

 

With regards to a longer set... I don't think that is what we're unhappy about. I'd rather have a really good set of 20 songs than a bit of a zZzZz setlist with 25 songs.

[Pip]

I do agree with you there, Pip. Bands that talk for ages make zZzZz (Gaga was an exception, though... she said some <3 stuff!).

 

With regards to a longer set... I don't think that is what we're unhappy about. I'd rather have a really good set of 20 songs than a bit of a zZzZz setlist with 25 songs.

 

Well it's something I'm less than happy about, the set length. I've not been too disappointed with the last couple of setlists but I'm easy to please!

[bILLOO]

Well it's something I'm less than happy about, the set length. I've not been too disappointed with the last couple of setlists but I'm easy to please!

 

Do the stadium sets seem short when you're there?

 

Nothing can ever be as bad as the Liverpool set... damn that seemed to last for 15 minutes!!!

[Mozza]

I do agree with you there, Pip. Bands that talk for ages make zZzZz (Gaga was an exception, though... she said some <3 stuff!).

 

With regards to a longer set... I don't think that is what we're unhappy about. I'd rather have a really good set of 20 songs than a bit of a zZzZz setlist with 25 songs.

 

It's when you get a 18 song set that is still a bit of a zZzZz that it's an issue Festival sets recently have been about right, 15-16 songs is fair game with a lot of the slow crap cut out so it's intense rock-outs for the most part

 

I do think Muse's arena gigs should be pushing 2 hours by now, with 20 songs, and the Stadium shows maybe up to 24. Just sort of gives a bit more value for money? 30+ would be way too much personally, Muse have some really long songs.

[agenthal]

It's when you get a 18 song set that is still a bit of a zZzZz that it's an issue Festival sets recently have been about right, 15-16 songs is fair game with a lot of the slow crap cut out so it's intense rock-outs for the most part

 

I do think Muse's arena gigs should be pushing 2 hours by now, with 20 songs, and the Stadium shows maybe up to 24. Just sort of gives a bit more value for money? 30+ would be way too much personally, Muse have some really long songs.

 

Agreed. Would make the shows even better.

[Pip]

Do the stadium sets seem short when you're there?

 

 

Erm, not sure actually! It's more after the event that I think 'Wow, that wasn't as long as I was hoping for'.

 

I still love seeing them live but yes, as ever I still think they aren't giving a long enough performance at either the arenas or the stadium gigs.

[Phil2211]

to be fair i think the stadium setlists are perfect length but my only beef is the lack of variety. I mean for example would it kill them to even vary nishe. they could easily put that on rotation with the gallery or forced in.

 

theyve never going to be able to have a different set everything with that stage. but i think a 20 song core of the single and the resistance material with 4-5 rotation songs is perfectly reasonable...

 

I wouldnt want anymore or expect them to play for longer. lets be honest even though theyre not as mad as they were their shows are still pretty damned energetic.

[Pip]

to be fair i think the stadium setlists are perfect length but my only beef is the lack of variety. I mean for example would it kill them to even vary nishe. they could easily put that on rotation with the gallery or forced in.

 

theyve never going to be able to have a different set everything with that stage. but i think a 20 song core of the single and the resistance material with 4-5 rotation songs is perfectly reasonable...

 

I wouldnt want anymore or expect them to play for longer. lets be honest even though theyre not as mad as they were their shows are still pretty damned energetic.

 

True. Maybe I'm just being greedy!;)

[Phil2211]

actually i lie.... the variation is not my only beef....... i forgot to mention guiding light......

[jack259]

the lack of common sense and unreasonable people around here... *shrug*

 

i wouldnt be able to handle 3 hours of muse, that's for sure. or at least, the muse i like.

3 hours of muse means they'd need longer, slower sections and that would probably get a bit boring tbh. for me a muse gig is all about the injection of energy, so i find the length of their gigs fine. im always exhausted by the end as it is. i dont know what you lot do when you see muse (do you moan about the setlists while you're there too? ) , but for me it's non stop singing and jumping and moving.

 

plus, considering how much the band tours - and all the time they've been on the road since they got signed, really - they would soon be dead if they didnt impose limits to how long they play per show (yeah, i know it's easy to say 'just one more!' but they have to stop somewhere). they're not superhuman and surely they also have their own physical limitations.

i already find it a wonder how matt has never (knocks on wood!) been injured or cancelled gigs because of problems with his voice. and pray that if unfrotunately it DOES happen one day, it wont be at a gig you're at

 

people whined because the european tour last year had less shows; people whine when they don't visit certain countries.

you cant have it all. if you want them to go everywhere, as they obviously try to, and more than once per album, then you cant demand 3 hour shows for them night after night. if they did that, then you'd probably see the band taking 2 or 3 years off between albums.

and THAT would bring a lot of whining too

 

as for the comparison to green day - i've never been to a green day concert (i simply dont care enough about their music to go see them) but from what i've seen on dvds and whatever, they talk a bit too much for my taste and their songs are much shorter, so it's not surprising they fit more songs per show than muse. and 'more' has never, and will never be = to 'better'.

 

to me, the way muse interact (as in, talking to the crowd) is my favorite. whenever artists talk between songs - even those who are good at it - i always find myself going 'just get on with it'.

 

so yeah. go muse. even crazier to see them again after RIR. been 3 weeks today!

 

you're missing the point. they're playing there crappy poppy sounding songs, and not playing none singles other from TR. We're paying £50+ for 23 songs, and they're not playing that longer sets.

Green Day have been relentless since 1989. Moreso since 1994 (or was it 1993) when they signed to a major label. Billie Joe is over 40 years old and plays for hours on end. Heck, after a Green Day show they sometimes travel across the city and do another show with the Foxboro Hot Tubs. And Green Day seem fine to me, they do more tour dates than Muse. And yes, their songs are shorter and simpler, but ultimately, they play for longer, even excluding the pissing around they do.

[Kazza3]

you're missing the point. they're playing there crappy poppy sounding songs, and not playing none singles other from TR. We're paying £50+ for 23 songs, and they're not playing that longer sets.

Green Day have been relentless since 1989. Moreso since 1994 (or was it 1993) when they signed to a major label. Billie Joe is over 40 years old and plays for hours on end. Heck, after a Green Day show they sometimes travel across the city and do another show with the Foxboro Hot Tubs. And Green Day seem fine to me, they do more tour dates than Muse. And yes, their songs are shorter and simpler, but ultimately, they play for longer, even excluding the pissing around they do.

 

 

no, apart from the setlist beef, you're missing the point. what Green Day does or doesn't do is irrelevant. it's not fair to Muse to be expected to tour relentlessly in every country and city with 3 hour sets. they're human, give them a break. and whatever they do now, someone will whine about it.

 

if muse's live shows are not exactly how you desire them, no ones forcing you to go.

 

thanks to mjartrod for sanity.

[mjartrod]

you're missing the point. they're playing there crappy poppy sounding songs, and not playing none singles other from TR.

dont you just love when people reply to you with 'you're missing the point', and then they proceed to show how THEY are the ones who look like they didnt even read what you wrote? lol

 

dude, i didn't say a thing about what songs they play or dont do (and im NOT getting dragged into that inane discussion). my post came after the discussion about gig length, green day and number of songs played.

 

but if you want to hear it again - i dont judge the quality of a gig, or how much i pay for the ticket - by the number of songs played. that's just ridiculous but when you want to bitch, anything serves as excuse

 

they're human, give them a break.

oh but you cant give them a break. doesnt matter if they are trying to give the fans their best - it's not enough! dont you know that people who buy tickets are consumers who want their money's value? (or whatever you say it in english lol) i love it when people say this and then a) whine about the industry and corporate shit b) call themselves fans what are you? consumer or a fan? are you in it because you love music and the gigs or because you're looking at your wallet and doing maths to see how much you 'pay' per song at a gig? *facepalm*

[mattarena88]

no, apart from the setlist beef, you're missing the point. what Green Day does or doesn't do is irrelevant. it's not fair to Muse to be expected to tour relentlessly in every country and city with 3 hour sets. they're human, give them a break. and whatever they do now, someone will whine about it.

 

if muse's live shows are not exactly how you desire them, no ones forcing you to go.

thanks to mjartrod for sanity.

 

Yes but many (myself included) feel that the shows can be so much better with some rather small changes. It's unfair to dismiss someone's opinion by saying "well just don't go". Just bc someone's being critical of the band doesn't mean their argument is invalid, which is essentially what you're doing when you say stuff like "no one's forcing you to go."

 

It's frustrating to see them ignore songs like Dead Star, Fury, Space Dementia, etc. when we know how amazing they are live.

[MattXXI]

Yes but many (myself included) feel that the shows can be so much better with some rather small changes. It's unfair to dismiss someone's opinion by saying "well just don't go". Just bc someone's being critical of the band doesn't mean their argument is invalid.

 

It's frustrating to see them ignore songs like Dead Star, Fury, Space Dementia, etc. when we know how amazing they are live.

 

True, but do you really expect them to just fling out Fury or Dead Star now in the middle of The Resistance stadium tour? They are called rarities for a reason. If they ever do play them it'll probably be incredibly random like at an obscure festival or something. I could see them pulling one of them out at Glastonbury.

[L.]

My disappointment so far is toward the setlist poll so far it seems that it is just CE, Bliss and IBTY and moving forward I am afraid it is only gonna be those 3 being rotated which really makes the whole exercise a bit pointless when the first 2 were pretty much givens anyway.

 

Tbh the setlist in Paris on the 11th was pretty much all the songs they played during The Resistance tour in Europe + TaB and swapping Cave for IBTY. It was nice to see BH and SP appear on the 12th (and I don't like SP) but at this stage I will take any changes!!

[mattarena88]

True, but do you really expect them to just fling out Fury or Dead Star now in the middle of The Resistance stadium tour? They are called rarities for a reason. If they ever do play them it'll probably be incredibly random like at an obscure festival or something. I could see them pulling one of them out at Glastonbury.

 

Well yes. I don't think it's unreasonable for them to play one song for the hardcore fans. Not even a rarity, but something that were regulars in the past (Showbiz, Space Dementia, TSP, Assassin, etc.). One slot for the hardcores would dissuade a lot of the moaning. Especially since they do what they did in Japan and play tons of fan fav rarities, then suddenly drop them. It's confusing and frustrating.

 

Is it really that hard to throw in a non-single song from before TR?

[MattXXI]

Well yes. I don't think it's unreasonable for them to play one song for the hardcore fans. Not even a rarity, but something that were regulars in the past (Showbiz, Space Dementia, TSP, Assassin,etc.). One slot for the hardcores would dissuade a lot of the moaning. Especially since they do what they did in Japan and play tons of fan fav rarities, then suddenly drop them. It's confusing and frustrating.

 

Is it really that hard to throw in a non-single song from before TR?

 

Apparently so. Like you said, we've seen them throw them out before but the general feel of the other shows is just to play the norm. So it'll probably just be random shows, like how Seattle randomly got RBS and one Canadian gig got Bliss too, right?

[mattarena88]

Apparently so. Like you said, we've seen them throw them out before but the general feel of the other shows is just to play the norm. So it'll probably just be random shows, like how Seattle randomly got RBS and one Canadian gig got Bliss too, right?

 

Yeah and it would have been amazing to catch either one of those songs. I was at Boston and MSG this spring and doing both Newark and Nassau this fall and I'll be a little letdown if I get the same gig song-for-song. I've only caught them live on this tour so I feel that even thought they are playing rigid setlists, it's still better than pretty much anything else out there. But there's another side of me that looks at for instance the Earl's Court setlists and I know I (and everyone else in the arena) would be fucking speechless if they played a set remotely close to that.

[serious14]

One thing I would hate them to do though is to interact with the crowd more. I hate all that bollocks! It's generally completely contrived and leaves me cold.

 

"We thought they knew how to rock in Shelbyville...... *BOOOOOOOOOOO* But nobody rocks like.... *flips guitar over* SPRINGFIELD!!!"

 

 

Re: the concerns/complaints about playing the older songs - I recall an interview with Matt once where he said that they had no plans to ever play Uno again 'cause it didn't represent his mindset any more, and Dom chimed in with the fact that he was sick of playing it out of a boredom factor.... perhaps this needs to be taken into consideration??

 

Songs like Showbiz, Muscle Museum, Bliss and the like - in all honesty, how many times do you think they've played them at promotional things, gigs, practising and all the rest of it. Quite possibly over a thousand. Maybe, just maybe, they don't feel that they can bring the same passion to these songs as they used to, and thus do not wish to short change the fans by churning out a substandard performance?? I know that I'd rather see an insanely epic ear-bursting Unnatural Selection (as per Paris on the 12th) than a half hearted Muscle Museum/insert desired "rarity" here.

[Matty987]

So back in the early days, Muse will have played songs like Uno continuously, meaning that yeah, they would get bored. There doing the same on this tour with songs like UD and GL, so there also going to get bored of them, which is why changing things around abit, like playing such and such every now and again is a good thing. As a band, they want the longevity of songs to be as long as they possibly can - which isn't going to happen at this rate.

[trogette]

I don't think anyone can say what muse, as a band, want but muse themselves

[mattarena88]

 

Re: the concerns/complaints about playing the older songs - I recall an interview with Matt once where he said that they had no plans to ever play Uno again 'cause it didn't represent his mindset any more, and Dom chimed in with the fact that he was sick of playing it out of a boredom factor.... perhaps this needs to be taken into consideration??

 

Songs like Showbiz, Muscle Museum, Bliss and the like - in all honesty, how many times do you think they've played them at promotional things, gigs, practising and all the rest of it. Quite possibly over a thousand. Maybe, just maybe, they don't feel that they can bring the same passion to these songs as they used to, and thus do not wish to short change the fans by churning out a substandard performance?? I know that I'd rather see an insanely epic ear-bursting Unnatural Selection (as per Paris on the 12th) than a half hearted Muscle Museum/insert desired "rarity" here.

 

The same logic can be applied to Plug in Baby, New Born, Hysteria, TiRO, and SS. Plug in Baby (in early forms) has been around since Showbiz days yet they aren't sick of it? It's their most played song. Showbiz hasn't been played in 4 years and MM hasn't been played in 3 years. I'm actually kind of surprised the band doesn't miss them. I mean Uno hasn't been played in 7 years. That's crazy.

[Mystery]

On a note of getting bored of songs, Feeling Good has been a staple in setlists for 7 of the last 10 years, and a regular for 2 of the other three. How the fuck are they not bored of that? Sorry, you can't give me the "bored of songs" excuse because they'd be bored of that, along with New Born and Plug In Baby which have been staples for a full 10 years now, too, and they're not.

 

Hysteria, TIRO and SS have bee staples for seven years. Hell, Starlight, SMBH and KoC staples for four now. Yet they were bored of songs like Hyper Music after two years? I don't get it. Out of a setlist of 21/22 songs, however many it is, why do they ALL have to appeal to generic fans? Fucks sake, an arena tour is 18/19 songs. Give THAT many generic songs and 2 or so ones for the proper fans, it's not difficult! I know how to play almost every last Muse song on guitar and could perform them on request. Surely it can't be hard to do if you're actually rehearsing them too?!

 

Anyways, that's my rant. I'm still looking forward to the gigs more than anything, but the lack of rotation is just confusing to me.