Behind the Bass: Chris Wolstenholme

Chris Wolstenholme

Doing some reaseach about muse daily actually has it benefits. I stumbled apon a website that actually had an interview from MUSE's bassist, Chris Wolstenholme. It is known to many musers that he doesnt really like to partake in interviws of the band. I am not quite sure why he isn't fond of interviews, but i did happen to find one with just him in it. Below is thus interview;

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You guys are really big in Australia now, but has that always been the case? The first time we played in Australia we played in a RSL. That was in 1999. We played to maybe 50 or 60 people. We did a couple of tours in Australia on our first album, and then we didn’t come here at all for the second album. And then it wasn’t until Absolution where we did the Big Day Out. Things didn’t really seem to be moving forward in Australia at all. And all of a sudden it all went crazy. And since then we’ve kept coming back.

When in Sydney, where do you go? We like Harry’s. We were sitting there eating pies looking down at the mudflats [it was lowtide], and it was covered in rats. It was weird eating and watching rats. It didn’t work.

What was going through your mind before that Wembley gig? I think I was pretty much as terrified as I’ve ever been for a gig. But not just that day – I was nervous for the entire week. Any normal gig, even big arenas, you only really get nervous maybe half an hour before the show. The difference between an arena and a stadium is obvious. Sixty-something thousand people, that’s a different story.

How much planning went into the show? That gig was booked nine months before we actually did it. There was so much planning. And it was always there in the back of our minds – we have a huge show on June 16 and 17 at Wembley Stadium. The week leading up to it was where everyone was getting extremely nervous, and then the day before the gig, I felt sick. It was that bad. Obviously excited as well, but I felt sick. And not just because of the amount of people – just the fact we’d never really played a stadium before and we were unsure as to whether our music would work in a stadium. But once we got out there, it was great.

Did anything go wrong? It was quite emotional really. A couple of times I almost felt choked up because it made me think a lot of where we came from – playing in little clubs to 20 or 30 people, when mates from college used to come and watch us play, and that doesn’t seem like that long ago: seven, eight or nine years ago. To then be up at this level playing Wembley Stadium, it was quite emotional.

Coachella 2010

MUSE @ Coachella

4/22/10

From the bombastic artrock of U.K.'s Muse to the arena-sized dance music of Dutch DJ Tiesto, the 2010 Coachella Music and Art Festival's second day was a world party on a massive scale. The Devon band were forced to scale down their usual extravagant stage show for their second headliner slot (behind Tiesto) but still managed to include lasers and fireworks in their 90-minute set. At one point, they also spliced in a Jimi Hendrix-esque interlude of 'The Star Spangled Banner' into proceedings, and more randomly threw a sequence of Nirvana’s ‘School’ into the mix too. Later in their set, the trio ad-libbed several interludes of music that made reference to Coachella's Californian setting, including a section of mariachi riffs and a mock spaghetti western score, which was played just before the finale of ‘Knights Of Cydonia’.

US & Canada Tour Dates Announced

DID YOU SAY MORE MUSE?!

I am very pleased to announce the first of Muse's forthcoming US & Canada autumn tour dates. All the dates listed below will go on general sale on Saturday 24th April APART FROM Charlottesville and St. Louis. These two dates will go on sale one day earlier on Friday 23rd April.

A Muse fan pre-sale will be available for all these dates on Wednesday 21st April. Link coming very soon!

Please note on-sale times for these dates vary so please make sure you check the extra information for each date by going to the tour dates section or the individual date using the links below.

More dates coming soon. Stay tuned...!

US & CANADA TOUR AUTUMN 2010

22nd September: Viejas Arena, San Diego, CA
23rd September: Honda Center, Anaheim, CA
25th September: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA

1st October: Santa Ana Star Center, Rio Rancho, NM
2nd October: Pepsi Center, Denver, CO **tickets from postponed Denver date valid for this show, see date for details**
5th October: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
6th October: Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI
8th October: Ford Center, Oklahoma City, OK
21st October: Pepsi Coliseum, Quebec City, QC
27th October: John Paul Jones Arena, Chalottesville, VA

2nd November: Sprint Center, Kansas City, MO
3rd November: Scotttrade Center, St. Louis, MO
5th November: Schottenstein Center, Columbus, OH
6th November: US Bank Arena, Cincinnati, OH

Source: muse.mu

MUSE Chicago!

MUSE CHICAGO @ the UNITED CENTER

March 12th, 2010

It has been a couple months since I had last posted on my blog, but don't you worry, I am back with a brain full of Idea and topics to branch upon! Throughout my absence, allot has gone on.

Starting off, I attended the MUSE concert in Chicago on March 12 @ the United Center. The opening band was Silversun Pickups, and they started a vibe in the arena that got everyone pumped up for the main band, MUSE. Throughout there performance as an opening band, they were actually really really good.

Standing in the crowd, many people thought that they would kill the show or even make some people leave before MUSE could have a chance to blow their mind. When they came out they put on a really good performance that got everyone on there feet. Even between sounds the lead singer would communicate with the crowd and get them to put on an audience light show with the flashes on their cameras. They were really friendly to the crowd and the crowd followed by doing the same to them when they left the stage for the main band, MUSE.

When I was standing up against the barrier (FRONT ROWW!) many people around me were freaking out just like I was. We all traveled for one moment, and for one band, MUSE. With a sold out arena, and a GA pit extended to accommodate more people on the floor; Matt Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme, and Dom Howard, where there to do one thing. Continue there Resistance Tour, and to play beautiful and genius work of music.

When they began to play, a tear came to my eyes. Me, Aaron Taylor, had finally made it, and for one goal; to finally see MUSE live. The roar of the crowd, and led off with their current single "Uprising." When the curtains fell, the crowd was in a frenzy, the floor bounced in synchronicity with arms held high and sang along as Matt Bellamy at long last started to fulfill his promise of a show to redeem their Lolla '07 performance. Though well-received, they acknowledged after that performance that they owed the city of Chicago something more. As would be expected with a show like this, there were few lulls in the action. Even in the seated sections, few sat for much of the show.

Although it continued throughout the show, the most impressive moment came at the beginning of "Resistance" when the light show started in earnest. Few combine music and visuals to this extent, and very few do it better than Muse. The lasers were everywhere, the strobes were going nuts, and all the while, the music just kept on driving forward.

"Supermassive" found Bellamy on a part of the stage practically overhanging the crowd, and they thanked him for it. Shortly after, Christopher Wolstenholme showcased his talent on "Hysteria," which as expected, was one of the high moments for the show. And shortly after, something I didn't expect happened, the pillars raised back up with Bellamy playing the coolest piano I've seen in quite some time. Every time he hit a note, a different light in the soundboard of the piano lit up. More impressive was the cover of "Feeling Good" which was done quite well.

This was one of the best experiences of my life, and I will always remember the day I saw MUSE live in concert. I think that everyone should have the opportunity to experience something like this. Music is something everyone should, and can relate to. Music can bring people up when they are down, and even calm them down when they get crazy. It is a harmless mind drug, that gives people a good addiction. I my self, am addicted to the beautiful music and relentless mind of Matt Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme, and Dom Howard.

I didn't want to bore everyone with what I had to say, so I am going to stop this post now :D

Lol, one last thing I wanted to post is the set list:

Uprising

Resistance

New Born

Map of the Problematique

Supermassive Black Hole

Guiding Light

Interlude

Hysteria

Nishe

United States Of Eurasia

Feeling Good

Helsinki Jam

Undisclosed Desires

Starlight

Unnatural Selection

Time Is Running Out

Plug In Baby

Encore:

Exogenesis: Symphony, Part 1: Overture

Stockholm Syndrome

Knights of Cydonia