T IN THE PARK S P EC I A L I S S U E
How did this space-age, prog rock three-piece become one of the most in-demand festival headliners in the UK? Henry Northmore explains all, with the top ten reasons why Muse are not to be missed at T in the Park
1 They don’t do safe, they only do epic While Snow Patrol and Coldplay continue to turn out music to cry to, Muse have eschewed morose introspection in favour of ostentatious magnificence. And their fans love them for it. Across five albums they have perfected a vastly popular blend of spaced out hyper-rock that is half metal fury, half operatic bombast and all rock excess and squealing guitars – like Slayer and Queen trapped on spin cycle for eternity.
2 M a t t B e l l a m y i s a n e v i l g e n i u s Since forming the band in sleepy Teignmouth, Devon, Matt Bellamy has been the architect of this insanity, writing all of Muse’s reflections on the chaos of the universe and the nearness of the apocalypse. It’s led to some accusations that he’s a little unhinged. ‘It happens all the time. You say things like, “the aliens are coming down to take us all away” as a joke, obviously, but I get portrayed as some kind of mental bloke,’ he laughs. ‘It’s quite funny to read some of it back. “Did I actually say that?”’
the hardness
3 I t ’s n o t t h a t p re t e n t i o u s . . . h o n e s t 2006’s B l a ck H o l e s a n d Revelations proved Muse could keep the weirdness and in equilibrium. ‘We were just trying to find a different way of being heavy, by being kind of crazy – using insanity to be heavy, rather than a typical rock idea of being heavy using a fat riff,’ explains drummer Dominic Howard. ‘Trying to find a new kind of heaviness that makes you just want to smash up your bedroom.
‘The more that we do some sort of pretentious concept song, the more we want to balance it out by doing a straight-ahead rock song,’ adds Bellamy, ‘which doesn’t require any deep thought [and makes] you just want to go fucking crazy and roll on the floor.’
4 They’re in good form This may be the first time they’ve headlined the Main Stage at T (they last played in 2004 when they headlined the NME Stage) but they’re also headlining Glastonbury for the second time this year and have sold out two nights at Wembley Stadium in September. This is after having supported U2 on their unfathomably huge 360° tour and headlined America’s finest festival, Coachella, in April. To say
14 THE LIST 24 Jun–8 Jul 2010
PLANET ROCK