I often times don't understand concert reviews. I prefer to read film reviews, because most of the time, a general layout will be provided, so I can decide whether or not I should pay money to see the film. I'll then look at the critics' overall grade to perhaps place the final push on whether I should see the film in the theater, wait until it arrives on video, or bypass it all together. Most of the time, though, film reviews are productive to an extent, because they give the reader at least a decent outline of the film, so they can decide on their own whether or not to see it. With concert reviews, it's often times a different story. Music seems to be more polarizing than film. I've heard of fights erupting when people argue who's better - the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. If a certain artist's name gets mentioned, one person may moan before fainting, while another will see steam emanate from their scalp and they'll scream with more fury than I imagine Pantera does when seeing a chick flick. While there may be some actors or actresses one does or doesn't care for most times, I typically don't hear such anger, hatred, love, or even worship of these actors/actresses as I do with regard to musicians.
When I read concert reviews, I can often times tell if the reviewer really wanted or really didn't want to be in attendance. Like with film reviews, I just wish the reviewers would give a more thorough and interesting outline of the concerts, so I'll know in the future, like with films, if I should dole out money to see the show. They can add their opinions too, but if they hated or loved a musician before seeing the show, of what use is the extraordinarily biased article?
That brings me to what I found to be an extremely strange write-up of the Muse concert my girlfriend and I saw last night at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio. Shelby Lum of The Lantern titled the piece, "Review: Muse lacks expected gaudy aspects, still packs great punch in Columbus show." Just based on that review, I knew I was going to be quite perplexed upon reading the article, especially since I was already puzzled from just reading the title of it.
In the piece, Lum wrote: "Tuesday was not my first Muse experience. I saw the British rockers in 2010 in Atlanta at the Gwinnett Arena after the release of 'The Resistance.' At the first show, the three band members descended out of the ceiling of the arena on 20-foot towers that went up and down throughout the night. Those towers also doubled as giant video screens. Yet for the Columbus show on Tuesday, Muse came onto the stage with a semi-generic setup."
The critic also added: "What concerned me: the entire top balcony of The Schott was closed off, and even then, the section directly facing the stage was clearly peppered with empty seats, although the floor was packed. Could it be possible Muse is having a hard time selling out an arena?"
Not long after, Lum wrote: "It wasn’t until the third song when Muse really seemed to begin the show. A pyramid-like structure made of video monitors came down over the stage as 'Supermassive Black Hole' began. An extra electronic section was included in the track that isn’t usually there, which Bellamy played off his guitar."
He closed with this: "The bottom line is that the concert was well done, the music sounded great live and the video projections and the digital aspect of the show was phenomenal. But Muse was lacking the almost gaudy performance I had been expecting. Bellamy himself said he wants outlandish setups and all sorts of other things in his tour, so a more traditional stage setup was a little off-putting for Muse."
So, let me get this straight... The concert was "well done," the music "sounded great live," and the video projections/digital aspect was "phenomenal," yet the "more traditional," pyramid-dropping-from-the-ceiling "stage setup" was a "little off-putting"? Eh, what? What was this guy expecting? For Muse to bust out flying DeLoreans, travel back in time to Back to the Future Part II and play guitar, bass, and drums while flying about the arena via hoverboards? Since when is a giant pyramid dropping from the ceiling, lighting up, having images flash up on it, and altering images, colors and shapes throughout the show a "semi-generic setup"? Either this guy has tripped major acid while going to concerts in his day or he may actually be from outer-space.
That reminds me of a fictional review I wrote of a film I saw, where I said the following:
"The film was nearly flawless. The leads were in top-form. The directing was innovative. The dialogue was raw and emotional. I can honestly say that I loved this film from beginning to end. However, I expected a different song to be played during the final credits, so I'm going to end this review on a semi-negative (but not really) note and make it seem as if it wasn't nearly as good as I actually thought it was."
In addition to his bit about being concerned the arena wasn't sold out and questioning if the band could actually sell-out an arena, the critic started his review with this: "The Muse concert at The Schottenstein Center on Tuesday was either a marking moment of the band’s descent out of fame, or a sign of Muse’s ability to pack a hefty concert punch with less gaudy set-ups."
Mr. Lum seems to want us to believe he's very knowledgeable about the band Muse, but that would be like me saying I'm knowledgeable about being pregnant. Let's set the record straight, here. Whether one loves or loathes the band, they've earned 37 awards, including that of the "Best Live Band" in 2005, 2008, and 2009 via the NME Awards. They won the same award via the Q Awards in 2003, 2004, and 2006. The Q Awards also rewarded the band with the "Best Act in the World Today" in 2009 and 2012. The band has released albums from 1999-2013. They've won awards as the best live band in: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 (twice), and 2012 - in seven of the past ten years (and 2013 isn't near over yet). In case Mr. Lum doesn't know, we were in 2012 just a little over 2 months ago and Muse won a best-live-act award then as well. Yes, that's a sure sign a band is losing it...
I feel like I need to give this guy a bit of a history lesson. Muse debuted with their album "Showbiz" in 1999. It received fairly solid reviews - an average of 6.74/10, with the album achieving Gold status in England and Australia.
The band released "Origin of Symmetry" in 2001, and received great reviews - averaging approximately 9/10, and achieving Platinum status in England and Australia, as well as Gold status in Switzerland. In 2006, Q Magazine listed the album the 74th greatest album of all-time. Kerrang listed it as the 20th best British rock album of all-time.
Muse continued the momentum with their third album, "Absolution," released in 2003. This was received very favorably with critics as well, earning a 72/100 via Metacritic. The album has gone Platinum in England and Australia, as well as Gold in: Canada, Italy, Switzerland, and the United States. Kerrang named it as the 2nd best album of the 21st century thus far
The band continued its ways with its 2006 release, "Black Holes and Revelations." Like all its predecessors, the album was met with great praise - 75/100 via Metacritic. It was named as Planet Sound's album of the year in 2006. It was also named as one of the ten "essential progressive rock albums of the decade" via Classic Rock. It was also described in Robert Dimery's book as one of the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The album went triple-Platinum in England; Platinum in: Australia, France, Italy, New Zealand, Switzerland, and Ireland; as well as Gold in: the United States, Germany, Finland, and Norway.
The band's fifth studio album, "The Resistance," made its presence known in 2009. Like with "Absolution," it received a very solid 72/100 grade via Metacritic. It resulted in the band's first Grammy - for best rock album. It's gone Diamond in France; double-Platinum in England; Platinum in: Australia, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, and Switzerland; and Gold in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Norway, Poland, Portugal, and the United States.
That brings us to the band's most recent album - "The 2nd Law" - released in 2012. It achieved another solid 70/100 grade via Metacritic. Already, the album has attained triple-Platinum status in France; Platinum status in Italy and England; and Gold status in: Canada, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, and Switzerland. It was the 26th best-selling album worldwide in 2012, selling an estimated 1.4 million copies. Yeah, the band sure is losing steam and starting their descent out of fame...
Mr. Lum is also missing a few critical points here. Muse had already played in Cleveland and Cincinnati, so it's not like there were many fans driving down from the northern part of the state or driving up from the southern part, since they had already seen the band live this tour. The show was also played on a Tuesday night - not ideal for sell-outs. Also, like with a lot of British bands, while Muse is definitely gaining popularity in the U.S., they still haven't reached the heights here that they have around the rest of the world - Europe, in particular. Lastly, meteorologists were calling for between 4-8'' of snow (along with some sleet) yesterday and through last night and this morning. After my girlfriend and I walked out of the arena, the snow was coming down faster than a cheetah with a jet-pack strapped to its back. On our way back to her place, we saw between 10 and 20 cars that had gotten into accidents with another vehicle or slid themselves into a railing. One guy was riding our bumper, had to hit the brake, and wound up doing a 180 and facing the other direction. For Muse to have sold out most of the arena last night, as well as most of the arenas in upper-state Ohio (Cleveland) and lower-state Ohio (Cincinnati) is quite the testament of the band's growing success. Then again, as Mr. Lum stated, regardless of how great the music, lights, or videos were, the generic pyramid-dropping-from-the-ceiling stage setup was disappointing. I highly recommend Muse invests in flying DeLoreans and hoverboards to please Mr. Lum the next time they're in town. I have a feeling if they did that, he'd say something like the following - "The show was excellent. The band sounded spot-on as always. However, their clothes just didn't match well enough. It really bugged me." There's just no pleasing some people, is there? As for me, I would grade the concert a very solid A - one of the best, if not the best I've seen. Unlike Mr. Lum, I wasn't expecting magic to be unveiled before us via time machines and who knows what else (and yes, I saw them twice in 2010, including the same show Lum saw). Otherwise, like him and his acid flashbacks, I may have graded it a little lower than that.
http://www.thelantern.com/a-e/review-muse-lacks-expected-gaudy-aspects-still-packs-great-punch-in-columbus-concert-1.3005484#.UTdzzVeeN6g
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse_discography
When I read concert reviews, I can often times tell if the reviewer really wanted or really didn't want to be in attendance. Like with film reviews, I just wish the reviewers would give a more thorough and interesting outline of the concerts, so I'll know in the future, like with films, if I should dole out money to see the show. They can add their opinions too, but if they hated or loved a musician before seeing the show, of what use is the extraordinarily biased article?
That brings me to what I found to be an extremely strange write-up of the Muse concert my girlfriend and I saw last night at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio. Shelby Lum of The Lantern titled the piece, "Review: Muse lacks expected gaudy aspects, still packs great punch in Columbus show." Just based on that review, I knew I was going to be quite perplexed upon reading the article, especially since I was already puzzled from just reading the title of it.
In the piece, Lum wrote: "Tuesday was not my first Muse experience. I saw the British rockers in 2010 in Atlanta at the Gwinnett Arena after the release of 'The Resistance.' At the first show, the three band members descended out of the ceiling of the arena on 20-foot towers that went up and down throughout the night. Those towers also doubled as giant video screens. Yet for the Columbus show on Tuesday, Muse came onto the stage with a semi-generic setup."
The critic also added: "What concerned me: the entire top balcony of The Schott was closed off, and even then, the section directly facing the stage was clearly peppered with empty seats, although the floor was packed. Could it be possible Muse is having a hard time selling out an arena?"
Not long after, Lum wrote: "It wasn’t until the third song when Muse really seemed to begin the show. A pyramid-like structure made of video monitors came down over the stage as 'Supermassive Black Hole' began. An extra electronic section was included in the track that isn’t usually there, which Bellamy played off his guitar."
He closed with this: "The bottom line is that the concert was well done, the music sounded great live and the video projections and the digital aspect of the show was phenomenal. But Muse was lacking the almost gaudy performance I had been expecting. Bellamy himself said he wants outlandish setups and all sorts of other things in his tour, so a more traditional stage setup was a little off-putting for Muse."
So, let me get this straight... The concert was "well done," the music "sounded great live," and the video projections/digital aspect was "phenomenal," yet the "more traditional," pyramid-dropping-from-the-ceiling "stage setup" was a "little off-putting"? Eh, what? What was this guy expecting? For Muse to bust out flying DeLoreans, travel back in time to Back to the Future Part II and play guitar, bass, and drums while flying about the arena via hoverboards? Since when is a giant pyramid dropping from the ceiling, lighting up, having images flash up on it, and altering images, colors and shapes throughout the show a "semi-generic setup"? Either this guy has tripped major acid while going to concerts in his day or he may actually be from outer-space.
That reminds me of a fictional review I wrote of a film I saw, where I said the following:
"The film was nearly flawless. The leads were in top-form. The directing was innovative. The dialogue was raw and emotional. I can honestly say that I loved this film from beginning to end. However, I expected a different song to be played during the final credits, so I'm going to end this review on a semi-negative (but not really) note and make it seem as if it wasn't nearly as good as I actually thought it was."
In addition to his bit about being concerned the arena wasn't sold out and questioning if the band could actually sell-out an arena, the critic started his review with this: "The Muse concert at The Schottenstein Center on Tuesday was either a marking moment of the band’s descent out of fame, or a sign of Muse’s ability to pack a hefty concert punch with less gaudy set-ups."
Mr. Lum seems to want us to believe he's very knowledgeable about the band Muse, but that would be like me saying I'm knowledgeable about being pregnant. Let's set the record straight, here. Whether one loves or loathes the band, they've earned 37 awards, including that of the "Best Live Band" in 2005, 2008, and 2009 via the NME Awards. They won the same award via the Q Awards in 2003, 2004, and 2006. The Q Awards also rewarded the band with the "Best Act in the World Today" in 2009 and 2012. The band has released albums from 1999-2013. They've won awards as the best live band in: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 (twice), and 2012 - in seven of the past ten years (and 2013 isn't near over yet). In case Mr. Lum doesn't know, we were in 2012 just a little over 2 months ago and Muse won a best-live-act award then as well. Yes, that's a sure sign a band is losing it...
I feel like I need to give this guy a bit of a history lesson. Muse debuted with their album "Showbiz" in 1999. It received fairly solid reviews - an average of 6.74/10, with the album achieving Gold status in England and Australia.
The band released "Origin of Symmetry" in 2001, and received great reviews - averaging approximately 9/10, and achieving Platinum status in England and Australia, as well as Gold status in Switzerland. In 2006, Q Magazine listed the album the 74th greatest album of all-time. Kerrang listed it as the 20th best British rock album of all-time.
Muse continued the momentum with their third album, "Absolution," released in 2003. This was received very favorably with critics as well, earning a 72/100 via Metacritic. The album has gone Platinum in England and Australia, as well as Gold in: Canada, Italy, Switzerland, and the United States. Kerrang named it as the 2nd best album of the 21st century thus far
The band continued its ways with its 2006 release, "Black Holes and Revelations." Like all its predecessors, the album was met with great praise - 75/100 via Metacritic. It was named as Planet Sound's album of the year in 2006. It was also named as one of the ten "essential progressive rock albums of the decade" via Classic Rock. It was also described in Robert Dimery's book as one of the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The album went triple-Platinum in England; Platinum in: Australia, France, Italy, New Zealand, Switzerland, and Ireland; as well as Gold in: the United States, Germany, Finland, and Norway.
The band's fifth studio album, "The Resistance," made its presence known in 2009. Like with "Absolution," it received a very solid 72/100 grade via Metacritic. It resulted in the band's first Grammy - for best rock album. It's gone Diamond in France; double-Platinum in England; Platinum in: Australia, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, and Switzerland; and Gold in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Norway, Poland, Portugal, and the United States.
That brings us to the band's most recent album - "The 2nd Law" - released in 2012. It achieved another solid 70/100 grade via Metacritic. Already, the album has attained triple-Platinum status in France; Platinum status in Italy and England; and Gold status in: Canada, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, and Switzerland. It was the 26th best-selling album worldwide in 2012, selling an estimated 1.4 million copies. Yeah, the band sure is losing steam and starting their descent out of fame...
Mr. Lum is also missing a few critical points here. Muse had already played in Cleveland and Cincinnati, so it's not like there were many fans driving down from the northern part of the state or driving up from the southern part, since they had already seen the band live this tour. The show was also played on a Tuesday night - not ideal for sell-outs. Also, like with a lot of British bands, while Muse is definitely gaining popularity in the U.S., they still haven't reached the heights here that they have around the rest of the world - Europe, in particular. Lastly, meteorologists were calling for between 4-8'' of snow (along with some sleet) yesterday and through last night and this morning. After my girlfriend and I walked out of the arena, the snow was coming down faster than a cheetah with a jet-pack strapped to its back. On our way back to her place, we saw between 10 and 20 cars that had gotten into accidents with another vehicle or slid themselves into a railing. One guy was riding our bumper, had to hit the brake, and wound up doing a 180 and facing the other direction. For Muse to have sold out most of the arena last night, as well as most of the arenas in upper-state Ohio (Cleveland) and lower-state Ohio (Cincinnati) is quite the testament of the band's growing success. Then again, as Mr. Lum stated, regardless of how great the music, lights, or videos were, the generic pyramid-dropping-from-the-ceiling stage setup was disappointing. I highly recommend Muse invests in flying DeLoreans and hoverboards to please Mr. Lum the next time they're in town. I have a feeling if they did that, he'd say something like the following - "The show was excellent. The band sounded spot-on as always. However, their clothes just didn't match well enough. It really bugged me." There's just no pleasing some people, is there? As for me, I would grade the concert a very solid A - one of the best, if not the best I've seen. Unlike Mr. Lum, I wasn't expecting magic to be unveiled before us via time machines and who knows what else (and yes, I saw them twice in 2010, including the same show Lum saw). Otherwise, like him and his acid flashbacks, I may have graded it a little lower than that.
http://www.thelantern.com/a-e/review-muse-lacks-expected-gaudy-aspects-still-packs-great-punch-in-columbus-concert-1.3005484#.UTdzzVeeN6g
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse_discography
I think the reason they might be having a hard time selling seats is there are ticket scalpers there. Those ignorant jerkoffs always take advantage of people wanting to see shows, so they stand in line, buy up all the tickets, and when no one wants to pay their ridiculous price for tix, they throw them away and those seats remain empty. I hate those people more than anything. Muse, however, looks like a band I'd want to see. I've heard some of their stuff before, but I'm still in the initial process of discovering their music. And in the case of the Beatles vs. Stones, there's really no argument there. They're both good in their own ways. Although me and a friend of mine at school have a agree to disagree set of terms on whether Metallica is better than Judas Priest. I say Priest over Metallica, lol!!
ReplyDelete::laughs about the Priest vs. Metallica bit:: I also never understood the Beatles vs. Stones debate. Whenever someone asks me to choose, they often times give me the look of death when I say I love both bands. It's not like someone is asking who's better - the Rolling Stones or Nickelback. That would be a no-brainer. I'd go with Nickelback. Just kidding. They're asking about two of the greatest, most influential bands in the history of rock music. I don't really believe there's a right or wrong answer to the question of who is better - the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. They're two of the very best.
ReplyDeleteThat's also an interesting note about the scalpers. You may have a point there. I hadn't really thought of that.