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Monday, January 18, 2016

Muse in Concert: Drones World Tour 2015-2016






I saw Muse in concert and on a scale from 0 - Harry Potter, it was Harry Potter. Muse almost convinced me to be a musician--and I'm not even musical. I love, love, love concerts, so I've probably been to about 15, and I'm pretty sure this was THE best concert I've ever attended. (You can check out a "summary" of it in my Youtube video above.) Muse is crazy talented. The way Matt Bellamy sings "Mercy" will melt the souls of serial killers, and whenever I hear "Plug in Baby" live, it makes my mouth water. And that's only the beginning.

Honestly, my brother said it best: Muse is what other bands try to be.

They are the real deal. Seriously though. They've got cuh-razy talent in multiple instruments, the vocals are unbelievable, their stage-presence exceptional, and the songs they write--sweet heaven above--they've got that too!

Which has led me to this conclusion. These guys are real musicians. They aren't just a "face" and their songs aren't all just repeats of each other. They have songs that just about anyone could love and enjoy, and then they have these crazy songs where they blend things that you thought could never blend together--like western, and piano, and electronic, and hard rock, and falsetto vocals--and they completely own it.




Even their lyrics are real, poetry actually--none of this "baby, oh baby, baby," stuff. And thank heaven they aren't all singing about sex! I'm so sick of every song being about sex, sex, love, break-up, sex, sex again. Did you know that there are actually other things musicians can sing about? That can be important to talk about? Like revolution, war, mercy, politics, supporting one another?

And one of the best things about Muse? They sound better live than on the album. For real. And the shows they put on are totally killer. Their endurance is second to none. When I saw them in Las Vegas recently, their front man, Matt Bellamy, was running around on stage, rocking out on the guitar, and singing, and jumping around for basically two hours straight (like honestly, Muse doesn't even talk between songs)--and for world tours, he does this 2-3 time per week, for almost a year. When I looked up their tour dates recently, they have at least two shows a week from January through May. What are these guys on?

And they've been doing this for over 20 years! Most bands don't even make it to half that. Yeah, I was like in kindergarten when epic things were forming--and I didn't even know.



And so talented. And I thank heaven that they are sharing their talents with the world--that they are sharing their talents with me. And they are willing to put in the work and dedication and time and commitment to share their talent and aren't all just sitting at home drinking beer and binge-watching.

People tend to really glamorize the rockstar life . . . but I hear it's actually . . . not that great. Would you want to be away from your family, home, your own bed, to perform until your lungs gave out twice a week for a year? And then get back home to start composing more music? (Which you aren't really even making money off.) If you do, you must really love what you do, and I'm sure Muse does too. They have to. And they would because they are real musicians. Which is what makes this even more awesome--that they get to share their talents and what they love with millions who love it too. (Come on, their Facebook page alone has over 17 million fans on it.) Can you imagine what that must feel like? To give that to people and then connect with them on it?

I love "Starlight" on one of their live albums, because the crowd completely blasts back the lyrics at them at one part, and I like to imagine what that would feel like--having that energy and love for what you created and what you love too, blasted back at you. It's got to take you to cloud nine.


With that said, our Las Vegas audience kind of stunk. I don't know what it is about Vegas--maybe it's because they see killer shows whenever they want to so they've been desensitized to them--but the worst concert audiences I've seen have been in Vegas (they're dead inside). When I saw Maroon 5 on New Years Day, Adam Levine had to ask the audience to stand up--and some people were mad about it! Are you freaking kidding me?! The Muse audience was a little better, but in the row in front of us, someone was FaceTiming their kid--during the concert. Uh . . . really? The audience was the only thing that irked me about this Muse concert--because Muse was top-notch. When I saw them for their last world tour, I saw them in Salt Lake, and the audience rocked! Everyone was singing--words off their brand new album, to boot. With that said, I've always had lively audiences at the House of Blues in Las Vegas, maybe a little too lively for my taste (some mosh pits you run from).

And here's the thing, while the Las Vegas audience was lame--the tones of the music were perfection on wings. Truly it was the best sounding concert I've ever been to. When I saw Muse in Salt Lake last tour, it was in a basketball arena--not exactly musician friendly. But in Las Vegas we saw them at the Mandalay Bay and the sound was beautiful. Which reminds me why I really go to concerts--for the musicians. If I could have brought the Salt Lake audience to the Las Vegas concert, all would have been perfect, but you can't have everything. And it didn't stop Muse from putting on a killer show. I've been reliving the concert ever since it ended.

Note: To Those Who Know Nothing About Muse


Once in a while people find out how much I adore Muse, and they respond with, "I don't even really know who they are."

Trust me, you do. You just didn't realize those songs were done by Muse. Here are just some of their hits.






If someone came up to me and wanted to get to know Muse, the albums I'd recommend would be Absolution and The Resistance, but it probably depends on who I'm talking to. You know how I said their songs don't all sound the same? Their albums most definitely have their own sounds too--while still having Muse's signature on it.

For example, their album 2nd Law has a touch of electronic and dubstep, go back to older albums, and they can sound a little emo, in other albums they've got hard rock. In Drones, they have some retro sounds and some of it reminds me of Queen a bit--I've heard others say Sammy Hagar and AC/DC. Other songs will appeal to alternative and indie fans. So they have a little bit of just about everything.

I wish I had the time and means to just follow them to each of their concerts on this tour, but instead I'll have to be content with counting down the days until their next world tour and listening to their music for the thousandth time. These days, there are few things I would rather do than sit at home and write, but Muse was definitely worth taking the night off. It's been so long since I've had that much fun, that I forgot what it felt like.

Announcements:
Hey guys, I've got a few small announcements:

1. I restarted my Writing Tip vlog, and it looks a lot better than before. My latest video is here. Please be kind and subscribe.

2. If Youtube isn't your thing, you can find the audio on Sound Cloud. They have an app too, so you can listen wherever you go.

3. Got some good blog posts in the works. Next week I'll be talking about the "Show, don't Tell" rule and when to break it, then I've got one that I almost garantee will help you brainstorm better and faster, and then a few other odds and ends.

Goodbye, I'm off to marry Matt Bellamy's voice! <3



2 comments:

  1. I love to read while listening to Muse. I arrived to your blog yesterday, and I couldn't believe my eyes today when I saw you had a post about them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Heck yes--two posts actually ^_^ They truly are some of the most talented musicians of our day. Aah, I love them so much!

      Thanks for visiting my blog!

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