By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter
British modern rock band Muse lived up to their reputation as one of the best live acts around these days, with an electrifying, nearly two-hour concert in Seoul on Wednesday evening.
Muse, composed of members Matthew Bellamy, Dominic Howard and Chris Wolstenholme, did not disappoint the 7,000 fans who flocked to the Chamsil Indoor Stadium in southern Seoul.
Howard shared some of the Muse's secrets for giving spectacular live performances, during an interview with The Korea Times at the W Seoul Walkerhill Hotel, hours before the concert.
``We always want to try to make everyone feel like they were part of the show. We didn't want the people at the back feeling like they couldn't see what was going on. ... We've always tried to give our best. We give 100, 110 percent of our energy and soul to the music and passion into what we're doing,” he said.
Howard, who plays the drums, said it is amazing to be recognized for their live performances, especially since they worked hard to expand their production and add visual elements to the show. Muse received several Best Live Act awards in the United Kingdom and Europe last year.
Muse is currently on their first Asian tour, wowing crowds in Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Although the band is used to performing before thousands of screaming fans in Europe, Howard said they were still surprised at the level of intensity and excitement generated by Asian fans during their concerts.
``For us, it is incredibly exciting playing for people who have never seen us perform live before. The difference that we’ve noticed is there is a lot of really high-energy excitement. All the crowds have been so loud. People were screaming their heads off. It feels good. I’ve been told that sometimes when you’re at the front, the screaming is louder than the music," he laughed.
Howard said the members have all ``changed drastically” since they formed in Teignmouth, Devon in England in the 1990s. Since then, Muse has recorded four albums including the critically acclaimed and commercially successful ``Absolution” and ``Black Holes and Revelations.”
``I think we’ve become closer as a group. I think that’s one of the unique things about how we’ve stayed together for so long. Because we’ve always had the past to get back to, we’ve always stayed together through ups and downs. We could go back to when we were 15 and laugh about the little things,” he said.
Howard said he doesn’t know what musical direction Muse will take in the future, although the group will continue experimenting with different styles of music.
When asked which songs Muse enjoys playing live, Howard named ``Map of the Problematique” and ``Knights of Cydonia.” ``I like Knights because when you get to the ending, everyone knows what to do and that's to jump around and lose your mind,” he said.
Jumping around and losing their minds is just what thousands of energetic fans did throughout the Muse concert on Wednesday. The concert started at around 8:45 p.m., nearly 45 minutes later than originally scheduled, but the crowd didn’t seem to mind.
Deafening screams greeted Muse, as they performed ``Take a Bow,” ``Hysteria” and ``Supermassive Black Hole.” The charismatic Bellamy showed he was equally talented in singing, playing the guitar and the piano.
However, Muse concentrated solely on their performance, barely talking to the audience. Bellamy and Howard said a few words in Korean, such as ``Annyonghaseyo” and ``Saranghaeyo, Seoul, (I love you, Seoul)” which were received with loud cheers.
No comments:
Post a Comment