Some random Muse things...
I've stumbled across some cool things while doing my Muse "research" this week.
First up: Back in 2009, Muse was asked to play "Uprising" on this Italian talk show. The catch? They were forced to use a playback for the "live" TV performance (i.e. fake playing their instruments and lip syncing to a pre-recorded track). They ended up rebelling against this bullshit in the best possible way -- by switching band roles and trolling everybody on the show. Dom "sang" lead and played bass, Chris played keys and guitar, and Matt did his best (worst?) Ringo Starr impression on the drums (I laughed so freakin' hard). And everyone, including the host, thought this was normal. Dom even got the interview at the end, instead of "[their] drummer Matt". This whole thing is just too hilarious and made my respect for the band go up yet another notch, as if that's even possible.
Muse Lip Sync's On Italian TV by videobash
For a more serious contrast... Here they are performing "Uprising" on the 2011 Grammy Awards. This was the first time in their career that they received any Grammy nominations, and the first and (so far) only time they have ever performed live on the show. It's entirely possible they haven't been invited back due to their performance causing a tiny bit of a controversy over Matt flashing the Illuminati symbol (finger triangle over his eye at 1:39). It was obviously meant to be anti-Illuminati ("they will not control us") but still. Mwahaha. But they DID win the Grammy that year for best rock album for The Resistance, and went on to receive a nom in the same category for The 2nd Law, and then won again for Drones in 2016, so... I guess the Grammys still appreciate them. *shrug*
Anyway, I totally remember watching this when it aired and just thinking, man... Muse got theatrical?! I had no idea at the time what they were even doing on their arena tours. Because I didn't go see them live. Because I was dumb.
Muse - Uprising: 2011 Grammy's by Viperous_Fox
---
Next up: Muse performing "Supremacy" live on the 2013 Brit Awards (their Grammys). With a full orchestra.
Muse live @ the BRIT Awards 2013 from Laurie Vi on Vimeo.
So epic. How is that voice even real.
---
Next up: Muse performing their theme song to the 2012 London Olympics. At the actual Olympics opening ceremony.
Never saw this until now either. I still suffer from second hand embarrassment whenever I listen to "Survival", but um. This performance is excellent. The pyro helps. The knee dives too. Matt is still a cheeseball.
Oh, and it appears the vocals are live here, but the instruments are playback? Because Bellamy is definitely not "playing" that guitar in time with the song. lol
---
Next up: Muse performing "Dig Down" at the CW Upfronts on 5/18/17. I missed this and finally found a video of it now. I think this was the same day the song was actually released too? So first public live performance even. That's also the same silver jacket he wore in Atlanta three weeks later. <3
"Dig Down" Muse Live 2017 from Bauer Danov on Vimeo.
I assume they landed this gig because the CW is owned by Warner Bros., which is also their record label. But kinda cool nevertheless, considering CW is the home of Supernatural (and most of DC on TV). Speaking of which, about a week after my Atlanta show, I happened to see this promo utilizing "Dig Down" on the CW (yes, while watching a Supernatural S12 rerun) and it made me happy:
Supernatural is barely in it though. *eye roll*
---
Next up: Random Bellamy with fucking SLASH. Because how awesome is that? (Minus the smoking, of course. Man, I hope it's not a habit any more. That voice of his needs protection.)
This was from the NME Awards in 2010 where Slash presented Muse with the Best British Band award and admitted to being a Muse fan (yay):
Hey, I love Bellamy's weird jacket too. lol
Ahhh I missed the UFOs? Also: Such dorks. How in the heck were they both nominated for sexiest male? xD I mean, are either of them even sexy? Have I missed something?
Hold on, here's an even better NME interview from the following year when they won again:
This features... a very drunk Bellamy? Dear lord. Dom's trying to give a proper interview but Matt is all, "FUCK OFF YOU C*NT. Yeah, you. Fuck you." All said quite lovingly though, may I add. And it gets even better from there... The "psycho girlfriend" analogy is pure gold (his masochism is showing). And they bring up the UFOs again. "It could have been bigger, let's be honest." And he keeps going on and on about the goddamn UFOs... I love it. lol (Oh, and hi random Gee. I see your poster lurking in the background there.)
---
Next up: Bellamy with David fucking Grohl (and some dude from Stereophonics). This is just a weird little clip. Judging by Grohl's haircut, this had to have been from around 1999 or 2000, which was when my teenage self first got into the Foo thanks to an album called There Is Nothing Left To Lose. I did a little further research and found out that back in this period, when Muse was still a baby band promoting Showbiz, they actually were a support act for both Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chili Peppers. I had no idea. Too awesome.
The Marilyn Manson background music is choice. And no, I have no idea what Matt's wearing here. '90s fashion? Plus he was such an anorexic skeleton back then. Sheesh. There's nothing on him to even tickle.
---
And lastly: I never saw this film but it seems vaguely familiar. The International was a 2009 thriller starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts. And the closing credits were partially composed by... *drum roll*... Mr. Bellamy!
When asked about who composed the song, Matt said that the film composers sent him "pad like chords morphing across a 10 minute or so piece", Matt: "I pulled out a bit that had some structure and made it repeat, added other layers/textures, rhythm and the string melodies". (Source)
Beautiful, but still not enough. Need him to score an entire movie. Will keep waiting.
---
Bonus: This is a sign that I've perhaps gone too far down the rabbit hole, but I was kind of curious as to what this "Belldom" business was about that kept popping up in my Youtube recs.
As my interest in Muse has renewed and exploded this summer thanks to my live experience, for really the first time, I've actually been watching band interviews and learning how they all interact with one another. I never really did this back in my early days of knowing the band. I kinda just steadfastly followed their music releases, collected a few bootlegs here and there, and that was it. Now it is SO much easier thanks to Youtube, etc. to learn more about any band. It was harder back then, especially when said band is from another country. Now I can watch years worth of interviews with just the click of a button. I'm having fun catching up.
Anyway, it's normally Matt and Dom that do these interviews. And it's hard not to notice the pure affection between them. The way in particular that Dom often watches Matt just while he's talking is pretty endearing. I'd say yup, the love is obvious. But I had absolutely no idea it got this ridiculous:
Matt is such a cheeky fucking asshole, too. That's another thing... I don't think I ever fully realized this side of him existed either and it's really quite amusing to me now. Of course, I was well aware of his tendency to hurl guitars and/or himself into Dom's drumkit back in the early days and other such crazy onstage affairs, but it seems he just genuinely enjoys getting a rise out of his friend any way he can. (Boys will be boys...) But all three of them have such a great friendship, especially after all these years together, it's too precious for words. And there is definitely something special between Dom and Matt. It shows in these clips. BFFs for life.
Gotta say, Chris just sitting back and laughing his ass off at their antics may have been the real highlight of this video. lol
Edit: Just ran across this IG Stories clip below from their current U.S. tour. Bellamy's girlfriend is both privy and supportive? Ha.
First up: Back in 2009, Muse was asked to play "Uprising" on this Italian talk show. The catch? They were forced to use a playback for the "live" TV performance (i.e. fake playing their instruments and lip syncing to a pre-recorded track). They ended up rebelling against this bullshit in the best possible way -- by switching band roles and trolling everybody on the show. Dom "sang" lead and played bass, Chris played keys and guitar, and Matt did his best (worst?) Ringo Starr impression on the drums (I laughed so freakin' hard). And everyone, including the host, thought this was normal. Dom even got the interview at the end, instead of "[their] drummer Matt". This whole thing is just too hilarious and made my respect for the band go up yet another notch, as if that's even possible.
Muse Lip Sync's On Italian TV by videobash
For a more serious contrast... Here they are performing "Uprising" on the 2011 Grammy Awards. This was the first time in their career that they received any Grammy nominations, and the first and (so far) only time they have ever performed live on the show. It's entirely possible they haven't been invited back due to their performance causing a tiny bit of a controversy over Matt flashing the Illuminati symbol (finger triangle over his eye at 1:39). It was obviously meant to be anti-Illuminati ("they will not control us") but still. Mwahaha. But they DID win the Grammy that year for best rock album for The Resistance, and went on to receive a nom in the same category for The 2nd Law, and then won again for Drones in 2016, so... I guess the Grammys still appreciate them. *shrug*
Anyway, I totally remember watching this when it aired and just thinking, man... Muse got theatrical?! I had no idea at the time what they were even doing on their arena tours. Because I didn't go see them live. Because I was dumb.
Muse - Uprising: 2011 Grammy's by Viperous_Fox
---
Next up: Muse performing "Supremacy" live on the 2013 Brit Awards (their Grammys). With a full orchestra.
You can watch this video on www.livejournal.com
Muse live @ the BRIT Awards 2013 from Laurie Vi on Vimeo.
So epic. How is that voice even real.
---
Next up: Muse performing their theme song to the 2012 London Olympics. At the actual Olympics opening ceremony.
Click to viewNever saw this until now either. I still suffer from second hand embarrassment whenever I listen to "Survival", but um. This performance is excellent. The pyro helps. The knee dives too. Matt is still a cheeseball.
Oh, and it appears the vocals are live here, but the instruments are playback? Because Bellamy is definitely not "playing" that guitar in time with the song. lol
---
Next up: Muse performing "Dig Down" at the CW Upfronts on 5/18/17. I missed this and finally found a video of it now. I think this was the same day the song was actually released too? So first public live performance even. That's also the same silver jacket he wore in Atlanta three weeks later. <3
You can watch this video on www.livejournal.com
"Dig Down" Muse Live 2017 from Bauer Danov on Vimeo.
I assume they landed this gig because the CW is owned by Warner Bros., which is also their record label. But kinda cool nevertheless, considering CW is the home of Supernatural (and most of DC on TV). Speaking of which, about a week after my Atlanta show, I happened to see this promo utilizing "Dig Down" on the CW (yes, while watching a Supernatural S12 rerun) and it made me happy:
Supernatural is barely in it though. *eye roll*
---
Next up: Random Bellamy with fucking SLASH. Because how awesome is that? (Minus the smoking, of course. Man, I hope it's not a habit any more. That voice of his needs protection.)
This was from the NME Awards in 2010 where Slash presented Muse with the Best British Band award and admitted to being a Muse fan (yay):
Hey, I love Bellamy's weird jacket too. lol
Ahhh I missed the UFOs? Also: Such dorks. How in the heck were they both nominated for sexiest male? xD I mean, are either of them even sexy? Have I missed something?
Hold on, here's an even better NME interview from the following year when they won again:
This features... a very drunk Bellamy? Dear lord. Dom's trying to give a proper interview but Matt is all, "FUCK OFF YOU C*NT. Yeah, you. Fuck you." All said quite lovingly though, may I add. And it gets even better from there... The "psycho girlfriend" analogy is pure gold (his masochism is showing). And they bring up the UFOs again. "It could have been bigger, let's be honest." And he keeps going on and on about the goddamn UFOs... I love it. lol (Oh, and hi random Gee. I see your poster lurking in the background there.)
---
Next up: Bellamy with David fucking Grohl (and some dude from Stereophonics). This is just a weird little clip. Judging by Grohl's haircut, this had to have been from around 1999 or 2000, which was when my teenage self first got into the Foo thanks to an album called There Is Nothing Left To Lose. I did a little further research and found out that back in this period, when Muse was still a baby band promoting Showbiz, they actually were a support act for both Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chili Peppers. I had no idea. Too awesome.
The Marilyn Manson background music is choice. And no, I have no idea what Matt's wearing here. '90s fashion? Plus he was such an anorexic skeleton back then. Sheesh. There's nothing on him to even tickle.
---
And lastly: I never saw this film but it seems vaguely familiar. The International was a 2009 thriller starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts. And the closing credits were partially composed by... *drum roll*... Mr. Bellamy!
When asked about who composed the song, Matt said that the film composers sent him "pad like chords morphing across a 10 minute or so piece", Matt: "I pulled out a bit that had some structure and made it repeat, added other layers/textures, rhythm and the string melodies". (Source)
Beautiful, but still not enough. Need him to score an entire movie. Will keep waiting.
---
Bonus: This is a sign that I've perhaps gone too far down the rabbit hole, but I was kind of curious as to what this "Belldom" business was about that kept popping up in my Youtube recs.
As my interest in Muse has renewed and exploded this summer thanks to my live experience, for really the first time, I've actually been watching band interviews and learning how they all interact with one another. I never really did this back in my early days of knowing the band. I kinda just steadfastly followed their music releases, collected a few bootlegs here and there, and that was it. Now it is SO much easier thanks to Youtube, etc. to learn more about any band. It was harder back then, especially when said band is from another country. Now I can watch years worth of interviews with just the click of a button. I'm having fun catching up.
Anyway, it's normally Matt and Dom that do these interviews. And it's hard not to notice the pure affection between them. The way in particular that Dom often watches Matt just while he's talking is pretty endearing. I'd say yup, the love is obvious. But I had absolutely no idea it got this ridiculous:
Matt is such a cheeky fucking asshole, too. That's another thing... I don't think I ever fully realized this side of him existed either and it's really quite amusing to me now. Of course, I was well aware of his tendency to hurl guitars and/or himself into Dom's drumkit back in the early days and other such crazy onstage affairs, but it seems he just genuinely enjoys getting a rise out of his friend any way he can. (Boys will be boys...) But all three of them have such a great friendship, especially after all these years together, it's too precious for words. And there is definitely something special between Dom and Matt. It shows in these clips. BFFs for life.
Gotta say, Chris just sitting back and laughing his ass off at their antics may have been the real highlight of this video. lol
Edit: Just ran across this IG Stories clip below from their current U.S. tour. Bellamy's girlfriend is both privy and supportive? Ha.