Fucking blown away.
I've had that kind of experience at a concert only once before -- in the hallowed halls of Tool's domain. That's high, high praise.
Muse are fucking AWESOME. Easily one of the best bands touring at the moment. They write the kind of music that can sound like many tracks of overdubbing and engineering wizardry. But they pull it off live not only flawlessly, but they manage to the rare, rare thing of being more incredible live than on a five-star CD.
Compliments all around. Obviously, the singer is a genius rock frontman. He explodes with energy and intensity and absolutely captivates the audience; his insanely versatile voice (aided by various effects loops) certainly contributes to that. The guitars absolutely rocked out (so rare from the UK) and his keyboard playing was fantastic. I assume it was him triggering the arpeggiators with a foot-MIDI organ; regardless, I've always liked their tasty use of the arpeggiator and it still worked live.
The bass player's a real unsung hero in the band though. Again, a rare talent in that he does far more than just hold down the bottom end. His solid, huge sound allows the singer/guitars/piano to run off on fabulous tangents and tributaries while maintaining the intensity (and let me tell you, from lots of time in a rock band that's really hard to do).
I've liked Muse's drumming from the start but always in a quaint, simple kind of way. He's not showy or overbearing, and sometimes impatience mistakes that for lack of creativity. (When it's just as easy to lean the other way, when drumming is too busy and often fills the creative void with just a lot of notes.) But he's rock solid, full of energy, and quite creative. Wicked.
But as it is with the best bands, the group is far more than the total of their parts. As it is with Tool, I can appreciate every member's contribution qualitatively and quantitatively -- that is, both in terms of importance and aesthetics. The some total -- of both bands--, though, is sublime. There are moments when you can do nothing but vibrate your being with the wavelength of the art being created in front of you. You have no choice but to lean your head back, eyes closed, and absorb and live in the moment. That's the je ne sais quois of good Art. Someone said that "music is the augmentation of a split second of time": well, the good stuff is. It takes you away, into a Platonic realm of possibilities, yet not tied down by the rigid structuralism of language. Someone also said that "music is God's gift to man, the only art of Heaven given to earth, and the only art of earth we take to Heaven". If there's such thing as an objective reality and that knowledge of it is synonymous with knowledge of God (for God is totality), music takes away our linguistically founded subjectivity and allows us a brief glimpse of this Heaven.
It's a nice thing to think about. It's nicer, naturally, to feel it. Thanks, Muse. When are you coming back?
I've had that kind of experience at a concert only once before -- in the hallowed halls of Tool's domain. That's high, high praise.
Muse are fucking AWESOME. Easily one of the best bands touring at the moment. They write the kind of music that can sound like many tracks of overdubbing and engineering wizardry. But they pull it off live not only flawlessly, but they manage to the rare, rare thing of being more incredible live than on a five-star CD.
Compliments all around. Obviously, the singer is a genius rock frontman. He explodes with energy and intensity and absolutely captivates the audience; his insanely versatile voice (aided by various effects loops) certainly contributes to that. The guitars absolutely rocked out (so rare from the UK) and his keyboard playing was fantastic. I assume it was him triggering the arpeggiators with a foot-MIDI organ; regardless, I've always liked their tasty use of the arpeggiator and it still worked live.
The bass player's a real unsung hero in the band though. Again, a rare talent in that he does far more than just hold down the bottom end. His solid, huge sound allows the singer/guitars/piano to run off on fabulous tangents and tributaries while maintaining the intensity (and let me tell you, from lots of time in a rock band that's really hard to do).
I've liked Muse's drumming from the start but always in a quaint, simple kind of way. He's not showy or overbearing, and sometimes impatience mistakes that for lack of creativity. (When it's just as easy to lean the other way, when drumming is too busy and often fills the creative void with just a lot of notes.) But he's rock solid, full of energy, and quite creative. Wicked.
But as it is with the best bands, the group is far more than the total of their parts. As it is with Tool, I can appreciate every member's contribution qualitatively and quantitatively -- that is, both in terms of importance and aesthetics. The some total -- of both bands--, though, is sublime. There are moments when you can do nothing but vibrate your being with the wavelength of the art being created in front of you. You have no choice but to lean your head back, eyes closed, and absorb and live in the moment. That's the je ne sais quois of good Art. Someone said that "music is the augmentation of a split second of time": well, the good stuff is. It takes you away, into a Platonic realm of possibilities, yet not tied down by the rigid structuralism of language. Someone also said that "music is God's gift to man, the only art of Heaven given to earth, and the only art of earth we take to Heaven". If there's such thing as an objective reality and that knowledge of it is synonymous with knowledge of God (for God is totality), music takes away our linguistically founded subjectivity and allows us a brief glimpse of this Heaven.
It's a nice thing to think about. It's nicer, naturally, to feel it. Thanks, Muse. When are you coming back?
And now in the words of Pelle Almqvist:
"HATE TO SAY I TOLD YOU SO, ALRIGHT!!"
Glad you enjoyed the show mate.. I'm desperate to see them again soon, but I think I'm going to have to wait until the summer at least...