Muse: Giant Floating Eyeballs that explode in confetti= Awesome

The husband and I had a date last night. We packed up the Peanut and dropped her off at her Auntie C's and headed out to see what would; by the end of the evening, become one of my all time top five live shows ever.


My husband introduced me to Muse and their relentless grinding melodies a few years ago. I can remember listening to them for the first time and really liking the combination of the heavy bass line, driving percussion and guitar riffs and the falsetto voice of lead singer Mathew Bellamy. Toss in some incredible lyrics and it's pretty excellent combination.


Since Muse tops my Husbands list of favourite bands when we heard they were coming to Vancouver we got tickets for ourselves and some friends as soon as pre-sales came out.


This was my first time seeing them live although I'd been told that they were an excellent band to see live; I didn't quite realize how excellent the show would be. They played a nice range from all their albums to roars of approval from the audience. The stage set was amazing, featuring the band on three elevated platforms that rose and descended throughout the show. Each platform was made up of lights that projected images of the band, the audience and other visuals throughout the show. In addition to this, there were some fantastic lights and lasers that were at times blinding. At one point during the show I thought specifically that the light show was very Pink Floyd (a comparison I learned afterwards is often used for their live shows)

In my opinion I think that the best live shows are the ones where the audience is engaged and the band plays beyond the pristine quality of a music recording. Watching the energy that is Bellamy during the show I was reminded of this. Even though we were in seats that can only be described as nosebleeds we could see and feel how much playing the music was as exciting and engaging for the band as it was for the audience. Listening to Resistance (one of the songs performed last night) on the radio today was almost a let down after seeing and feeling the performance last night. The show climaxed is a the dropping of giant balloon eyeballs filled with confetti that bounced down through out the end of the show.

The show was loud (The rhythm and percussion shook my pant legs and altered the rhythm of my heartbeats) and rocking and yet I somehow didn't end up with ringing ears afterwards which is a glowing recommendation to their sound crew. In short I loved it, so much so that saying that I loved it doesn't quite encompass how good it was.

Which band would you put in your all time top 5 list of best live show?

I know I'm not alone in this

I really don't like kids music. OK for the most part I hate it H. A. T. E. It. There is one, maybe two exceptions to this and I'm not going to go into what they are right now. What I do want to talk about is all the non-children's music my daughter likes to listen to.

1 Weezer-Pork & Beans. This is her number one all time favourite song. If it comes on the radio she sings along, if it comes on the TV she stops what she's doing from 5 rooms away and listens. At least once a week (if not more) she requests it. Once it's been played she asks for it again and again and again.

2 Snow Patrol- just about all of their discography. Her daddy plays bass in a group that covers a few of their songs and she likes to dance to them.

3 Muse- Starlight. She wiggles in her seat and bops her head to this song whenever it gets played.

4 The Clash-London Calling and Train in Vain. We were once listening to this band and she spontaneously started running around and stopping to bounce to the beat. It's especially cute when she nods her head to the music too.

5 Fear Factory- my baby likes it heavy

6 Talking Heads- Psycho Killer. We changed the words to Psycho Kitty meow meow meow hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss

7 Depeche Mode- all of it. I could be biased here but she was in the womb at the last live show I went to see with her. I distinctly felt her moving in there during the opening riffs of John the Revelator. and she likes to sing along to Dave Gahan when he chants "Wrong" in the new single. Also she seems to know most of the words already and when I play the video she runs into the room and gets mad when I take the video off the screen to listen to the song (it's a little to graphic for her to watch).

8 Cold Play-The Scientist. Again in the womb, it was the only song that she would stop kicking me when it was played.

She's also been seen bopping her head to Tool and Keane.

I have to admit that it's a little gratifying to see her enjoying music that goes a little further than Raffi and Sharon Lois and Bram

So I'm a bit of a geek

I may have mentioned my love for Depeche Mode in a post not too long ago. I'm so very very psyched and excited about the new album they have coming out in a few months. Now I don't consider myself their biggest fan, nor do I really consider myself a rabid fan of the group. I love love love the music, I think Martin Gore is a genius.

While packing up my daughters stuffed animals and toys this morning/afternoon I watched/listened to Germany's Echo awards show from start to almost finish in order to watch the world premier of their new single, Wrong.

The Rule of 3

Awhile back I posted about reading about Nick Hornby's theory on the need to solve a song in order to get past it and move on to another song. It makes a lot of sense when you think about it; You hear a song, it sticks, you have a burning desire to hear it over and over. You hum it as you walk down the street, you sing snippets to yourself when you're waiting for the lights to change, for the timer to go off, while putting a load of laundry in the dryer or snuggling your toddler after nap time.

Maybe it's just me, but I become addicted to certain songs and play them over and over until the husband asks "Hey can we listen to something else?" It's a little embarrassing to admit that when I let him play an alternate song that my ears are itching to hear my most recent addiction.

my recent over-plays?
Well, there's Keane's latest album Perfect Symmetry. And not just a single song, the whole album has been on permanent rotation.

There's A-ha's songs Forever not Yours and Did Anyone Approach you from the Lifelines album, plus the title song is pretty good with a wicked cool video (Do the kids still say wicked cool?)

and then in the spirit of the holidays
Raveonettes' Christmas Song.

I have a rule about buying music that I stick to very faithfully. I call it the Rule of 3 and it's never let me down. I will not buy an album unless I've heard three songs and liked them. I could be incredibly enthralled by a single, so much so that my whole life takes it on as a sound track. If I can't hear two more songs I may buy the single song or hit replay on Youtube and listen to it until it's run its course, but I will not buy the whole album. 3 is my limit. If I like two and there isn't a third song that gets me I can guarantee that if I buy the album I will lose interest quickly and the purchase will have been a waste of money. I've done this a few times and the albums are still collecting dust on the shelf.

The last album Canadian band Odds put out before becoming The New Odds is a perfect example. I loved Odds, I saw them live 4 times. My whole relationship with my husband is built around Odds, Monty Python and a mutual love of Pepsi. The last album came out and we bought it because it was Odds. I'm going to be honest here. I don't think I've ever actually listened to the whole thing all the way through.

If I like three songs on an album and the others do nothing for me, I know that with time, more songs will click and I'll end up loving the whole album. The A-Ha is a great example I heard one song and listened to it on Youtube hitting replay more than once, I listened to another and liked it not so much. Listened to another and was a little iffy leaning toward liking, fourth song was "Eh" fifth song I couldn't get enough of it. I got the album and have played the whole album at least once a week for the last 8 months.

I love Itunes and Youtube are perfect rule of three helpers, because they let me sample an album or song snippets risk free. if I love a song or artist enough I'll make a purchase.

I have one exception to the rule of three and that's Depeche Mode. I'll buy them sound unheard based on my adoration of the music and the history of the bands music over the last 28 years. For me they are that good. I can't wait for the new album to come out so I can drive everyone nuts with the repeat all feature in Itunes.

So why am I telling you this?

Really it's to help purge these songs out of my system and make way for the next batch that I know are coming down the pipes. Depeche Mode's as yet untitled album for instance. I'd like to hear about what you've been listening to as well. Any songs that are circling round your head? On auto replay? I've told you mine....