Was listening to the new British Sea Power album last night. Think it came out back at the start of April, although I only picked it up a few weeks ago ... and issues with transferring music to my iPod means that I've only listened to it once or twice in my room.
Actually saw BSP at Shepherd's Bush Empire back in April. Think it must have been the fourth time I've seen them, after:
Glastonbury 2004, notable for people bringing tree branches for added 'crowd foliage' and Eamon (sadly long since departed) coming down into the crowd with his chest drum;
supporting the Manic Street Preachers at Manchester Apollo during their Autumn 2010 tour; and
Transmission 001 at Jodrell Bank in July 2011, notable for a dramatic improvement during the second half of the set and Ursine Ultra fighting a giant robot at the end.
It was pretty cool. They played a short acoustic-style set at the start of the gig. Support was provided by Toy, although I wasn't so keen on them. Then BSP played their headline set. Lot's of energy! Plus, Ursine Ultra had a fight with Bi-polar Bear!!
Highlights would probably include the crashing opening threesome of Remember Me, Apologies To Insect Life and K Hole. A great version of No Lucifer. Waving Flags and Machineries of Joy. And obviously, Carrion.
Going back to the album, Machineries of Joy is a great start and first single. Rather relaxing, yet extremely uplifting. It also has a really cool video!
Another early highlight is K Hole. Punky awesomeness in the vein of Stunde Null or Mongk II from Valhalla Dancehall. Definite future live highlight.
Probably need more time to digest the rest of the album properly. It definitely isn't as immediate as Valhalla Dancehall or as anthemic as Do You Like Rock Music. There are some great slices of mildly disconcerting pop music though, notably Loving Animals and What You Need The Most. And Monsters of Sunderland is pretty chaotic like some of the truly classic BSP tracks.
Full setlist from the Shepherd's Bush Empire gig, as taken from setlist.fm:
Back towards the start of June, I attended a special preview screening of Pixar's latest at the British Film Institute.
Let's be honest, Monsters Inc is a modern classic. I doubt anyone who saw that film will be unhappy about another chance to see those characters on the big screen. Whilst Monsters University doesn't come close to those heights, it's still a really entertaining film. I laughed. A lot.
If I were to be slightly critical, there's nowhere near enough Randall and it doesn't quite have the 'heart' of the original ... but seriously, just go and see it. You'll have a great time.
At the start of June. Well, actually. Backing up slightly further. Me and my sister had previously discussed whether we should go to see Muse at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester. [Slight tangent: I really hate that, the Etihad Stadium. Could just about accept Eastlands, but shouldn't it be referred to as the City of Manchester Stadium. It was built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, after all. I know Manchester council get a significant amount of money, but ... still. Sorry, slightly off topic.] As it turns out, my sister had to work. So I mentioned it to a couple of old school friends via text/facebook on the Monday evening before the gig who were all rather keen.
In the meantime, Muse had announced a free (via a mailing list code) gig to be held on Horse Guard's Parade. On Tuesday morning I bagged a couple of tickets to that. On Wednesday I got four tickets to the Manchester gig. As it was such a last minute decision, we decided to get cheap tickets. In the heavens. Or the third tier of the Colin Bell stand, as it's officially known.
On Saturday morning, I travelled up to Leek. Had some lunch. Then drove up to Manchester with two of my friends. [Second slight tangent: I say drove. Obviously I didn't drive. That would be massively illegal as I don't have a licence. Should probably do something about that.] We parked. Collected tickets. Met the fourth member of our group. And ascended to the heavens.
The seats weren't actually that bad. Considering they were £20 cheaper than standing and a whole £50 cheaper than the most expensive seats, I was pretty comfortable with where we ended up. The view was really good. And these days Muse are such a visual band.
Last time I saw Muse play their own gig (i.e. not a festival) was at Wembley Stadium in 2007. Support was provided by:
Shy Child, very good;
Biffy Clyro, excellent; and
My Chemical Romance, god-awful suicide music for emo-teenagers.
So, this time. Bastille, I could understand. They may not be the most exciting band, but they've got a couple of reasonably decent tunes and they were pretty energetic. Most of their songs are rather forgettable ... but I've been told to give them a chance, so will probably listen to their album on Spotify at some point.
And, then. Dizzee Rascal!? Obviously. Who else would be supporting Muse? Actually, he wasn't too bad. I even liked some of the songs. Bassline Junkie and Bonkers were particularly good. What annoyed me though is that he didn't really play to his audience. Families with fairly young children always go to big outdoor gigs. So why did he have to swear so much. I know it's a small thing, but ... it just got to me.
And so, onto the main attraction. Muse definitely started with a bang!
Or should that be explosion! It was pretty darn loud. I felt it. Even from the cheap seats. Found this video on YouTube that seems to give a decent impressive of the force that those by the barrier must have felt.
Love that video. Part of me is glad I wasn't THAT close to the B-stage. The pyrotechnics were pretty impressive all night, but ... that first explosion was just crazy.
So the gig. Muse were really good. Always forget just how good they are live. It was a pretty extensive setlist. Obviously certain songs that I'd love to see (Sunburn, Citizen Erased, Space Dementia, etc), but ... guess I've seen all of them before, and you can't have everything.
They played some great songs though. I really like the 2nd Law as an album. Panic Station was funky. The visuals for that song was pretty cool too. Cartoon world leaders dancing. Follow Me, Liquid State (with Chris on vocals) and Survival were also pretty fantastic. Obviously, Bliss was awesome. Resistance worked really well live. A particular highlight for most people seemed to be Dead Star.
Seems fairly understandable. Such a great song. [Released as a Double A-Side with In Your World. Also a fantastic song.] Been working out how to play a decent sounding version of Dead Star on my acoustic guitar. Maybe I'll upload a video to YouTube I've done. Struggling with the verses a little at the moment. Would rather use proper chords, but they're going to be pretty obscure. Anyway. Will keep working at that.
One of the things that is quite cool about a big stadium gig in the summer is the transition from day to night. Seeing a band play outdoors at dusk is never a bad thing.
Of course, the fading light brings the light show even more into focus. This show was completely over the top, although all the fancy pyrotechnics and dazzling lights never really detracted from the music too much fortunately.
The multiple encores all worked pretty well.
Really enjoyed the slower songs on the B-Stage, accompanied by acrobatics courtesy of a girl who descended from the light bulb. Unintended was the only song played from Showbiz unfortunately. Blackout is cool. And I love Undisclosed Desires, a lot.
The appearance of Charles, the Giant Robot, was a lot of fun! Let's be honest, 13 foot tall robots are never going to make things worse.
Plug in Baby was suitably epic, as ever. And despite my reservations about that particular song, Starlight closed the set pretty well.
The 2nd Law: Unsustainable (First verse dialogue only, sound only)
Supremacy (Extended intro)
Supermassive Black Hole
Panic Station
Bliss (Extended outro)
Resistance
Animals
Knights of Cydonia (Man with a Harmonica intro)
Dracula Mountain (Lightning Bolt cover) (Drum and bass jam)
United States of Eurasia
Dead Star
Monty Jam
Feeling Good
Follow Me
Liquid State
Madness
Time Is Running Out (House of the Rising Sun intro)
Stockholm Syndrome (Rage Against the Machine's Freedom outro)
B-Stage
Unintended
Blackout
Guiding Light
Undisclosed Desires
Encore
The 2nd Law: Unsustainable (with Charles, the Robot)
Plug In Baby
Survival
Encore 2:
The 2nd Law: Isolated System (Extended version)
Uprising (Extended outro)
Starlight
Chop Suey! (System of a Down song) (Richard Cheese cover) (Sound only)
Have to say, I really enjoyed the Manchester gig. After arriving back in Leek at half past midnight, I even stayed up until four chatting to random strangers on twitter about the gig. Much fun.
So, after a few hours sleep ... had some lunch with my family on the Sunday and set off back for London. Arrived back at my flat around half five and set off for central London with a friend around six. Obviously we were towards the back of the queue when we arrived just before seven. Apparently 15,000 tickets were given away. Once we got inside, it was just a matter of waiting.
Could have lived without the repeated trailers for World War Z. It looks pretty bad.
Even so I'm kinda intrigued, the event was arranged to coincide with the Leicester Square premiere as Muse are on the soundtrack ... so it'll be interesting to see how the music is used. But whether that means I'll go to the cinema, I'm not sure. [Having subsequently read a couple of reviews, perhaps it won't be as bad as I originally feared. We shall see.] A glimpse of Brad Pitt didn't really mean too much to me either.
Finally, the music started around 9.30 pm.
To be honest, this gig didn't quite have the energy of the previous night in Manchester. Then again, Manchester crowds are generally better than London crowds. Not always. But generally. All the songs had been performed the previous evening, so perhaps that took away a little of the excitement for me too. Maybe the few hours of sleep could have been an issue too.
Saying that, it was still a lot of fun. The light show and the pyrotechnics were very impressive again. Especially when you consider that there probably wasn't as much time to set up on Horse Guard's Parade as for one of the stadium shows. Couldn't really fault any of the songs. And Time Is Running Out was probably better than the previous night. Great version of Knights of Cydonia too. Not my favourite song, but ... rather enjoyable nonetheless.
Special promotional event for World War Z. Free to fans via the mailing list.
Venue:
Horse Guards Parade, London
Date:
Sunday, 2 June 2013
So, two pretty epic gigs in two nights. My sixth and seventh times seeing Muse. Hopefully the next time will be fairly soon. If you've managed to read this entire post, please feel free to comment.
