Muse - How Well Are They Doing in the States? (200004 Melody Maker article)
This transcription may be inaccurate as we have not seen an original copy.
Muse - How well are they doing in The States?
The Maker canvassed American opinion on Muse and Stereophoniics. While Stereophonics are better know. Muse are rising fast after wowing audiences on the massive Red Hot Chili Peppers and Foo Fighters tour.
Muse are definitely creating a buzz in the USA, after just a few arena dates. But unlike other Brit bands, Muse have gone to the USA without any hype. Singer Matt explains: "We're just going to enjoy ourselves. A lot of people were saying, 'Ther're gonna be huge', and I thought maybe, but not with the first album. That would be dreadful time if we hit the big time at the age of 20, with the first album, because it'd be all downhill from there."
Alex Quigley, Program director of WPGU-FM, reviewed the Muse show at the Assembly Arena in Champaign, Illinois (march 28th) for us. He writes: "This show was the subject of much hype. The Chili Peppers...The Foo Fighters...and this new band, Muse. Our station has just started playing Muse's new single, 'Cave'. To give you some context, we're only just now playing Catatonia's 'Road Rage'. So when Muse started playing, not too many people in the Assembly Hall knew who they were. But they didn't seem to care and they ran through a short set with lots of energy. the way matt Bellamy jumped around the stage was especially cool. I haven't seen anybody play the guitar the way he did.
The problem with their set didn't so much come from the band, but the venue. Assembly Hall is notorious for sucking the life out of shows, and the fact that Muse had to step around both the Foos and Peppers' stuff didn't help. They also waited until their next-to-last song before saying who they were. In future, guys, say it early, say it often! But they showed that they know how to rock. And that's really all that matters.
A similar reaction has been happening at other gigs,. Muse manager Dennis Smith told The Maker: "They played their own headline show at Chicago's Double Door, which went really well. For the Chili Peppers shows, the smallest has been 10.000 fans and there's a 24.000 gig coming up. They have all been almost full by the end for Muse and we've had lots of moshing too. The band are really enjoying their time out here. they will be playing their own US club dates on the East and West coasts after this.
[ setlist ]
sunburn
muscle museum
agitated
cave
plug in baby
minimum
showbiz
Carol Clerk & Robin Bresnark
See also
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