Muse in a hanger
Last night I was granted an intimate audience with Muse at Newcastle Arena along with 11,249 other Muse enthusiasts. As always, they were explosive, incendiary, charged, ebullient, frenzied, fulminant, rampant, vehement and wild (I'll close the Thesaurus now). Anyway, very good.
But returning to the arena gig experience left alot to be desired. It's quite a while since I had to go to one, I think it must've been the Manics at Nottingham Arena in 2004. As good as Muse were last night I just found it difficult to be immersed in what was going on. Gone are the days when the sheer enthusiasm that comes with seeing a loved band, for perhaps only the first or second time, could carry you through. As I towered majestically above the dozens of rabid mid-teens surrounding me, all high-fiving each other as they recognised the opening bars of Stockholm Syndrome, I felt a bit out of place. A veritable gig veteran in some ways.
It was very enjoyable, not mindblowing - but it should've been. I think I'll have to stop going to arena gigs altogether unless it's something very special. Perhaps a Jeff Buckley comeback gig preceded by a Richey Edwards poetry reading once Bill Hicks has run through some of his latest material. That should do the trick.
But returning to the arena gig experience left alot to be desired. It's quite a while since I had to go to one, I think it must've been the Manics at Nottingham Arena in 2004. As good as Muse were last night I just found it difficult to be immersed in what was going on. Gone are the days when the sheer enthusiasm that comes with seeing a loved band, for perhaps only the first or second time, could carry you through. As I towered majestically above the dozens of rabid mid-teens surrounding me, all high-fiving each other as they recognised the opening bars of Stockholm Syndrome, I felt a bit out of place. A veritable gig veteran in some ways.
It was very enjoyable, not mindblowing - but it should've been. I think I'll have to stop going to arena gigs altogether unless it's something very special. Perhaps a Jeff Buckley comeback gig preceded by a Richey Edwards poetry reading once Bill Hicks has run through some of his latest material. That should do the trick.
posted by Paddy at 11:52 pm
2 Comments:
Greetings Pad.
I saw Muse back in Sheffield on Saturday. I thought they were kinda mesmerising --- and I'm not spouting hyperboles, I mean all those lights and things rendered me a suggestive simpleton for a while. I thought they were pretty effing cool too though.
I must say I agree. I also felt a bit like a wizened old gig-veteran, particularly since I went with someone who was going to his first gig ever. I felt like I was fathering him (which I mean as a male version of 'mothering' since I didn't actually impregnate his mother --- he's Asian so I know he's not mine. Plus he's older than me so I definitely know). But yeah, the gig was exciting but in a very comfortable way. I don't think anyone even sweated onto me. But I suppose the yardstick of a good night isn't always coming out smelling of strangers' body odour... it's another thing I'm learning as I get older.
Crikey what a long comment.
Good to hear you enjoyed it (Funny) Jimi.
But growing up, it's a real learning curve for us all isn't it. At the moment it's that leaving gigs smelling of others' B.O. isn't a good thing, and before that it was not to put plastic lids in our mouths or run the scissors up our necks as kids. What next?
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