On April 7th, beloved British rockers Muse played an intimate comeback (or post-pandemic, whatever you want to brand it) show in their hometown of Exeter, at the Cavern Club. The show saw the band playing material from their forthcoming new album live for the first time.
The Cavern Club, which plays host to a maximum of 220 attendees, was graced by Muse’s first performance since 2019, as part of Jim Beam’s “Welcome” sessions. The Welcome Sessions debuted last year as live music was ushered back into the world following the music industry’s abrupt stand still at the hands of the COVID-19 pandemic. The initial entries in the series featured intimate performances from world-renowned acts such as Dublin’s own post-punk titans Fontaines D.C, English rockers Wolf Alice, singer-songwriter Jack Garratt and Swedish singer-songwriter José González. Those who attended Muse’s cosy comeback gig had entered a ballot on Seetickets to be chosen to attend the show, and those lucky few were given information on the venue’s whereabouts.
As reported by Devon Live, the band performed a 45-minute-long set and filmed a promotional video throughout. This comes just ahead of their ninth studio album Will of the People.
According to Setlist.FM, the band commenced the electrifying evening with a performance of their newest single “Won’t Stand Down”, a heavy tune with a great deal of metal influence. Muse also performed the second single from the album “Compliance”, and of course brought out some fan favourites such as “Hysteria”, “Supermassive Black Hole”, “Plug-In Baby”, and “Knights of Cydonia”. The video linked below is presently the only available footage of the gig.
Will of the People will be released on the 26th of August via Warner Records and Helium-3. Never being a band to shy away from politically charged lyrical content, frontman Matt Bellamy said of the , according to NME: “‘Compliance’ is about submission to authoritarian rules and reassuring untruths to be accepted to an in-group…Gangs, governments, demagogues, social media algorithms and religions seduce us during times of vulnerability, creating arbitrary rules and distorted ideas for us to comply with. They sell us comforting myths, telling us only they can explain reality while simultaneously diminishing our freedom, autonomy and independent thought… We are not just coerced, we are herded, frightened and corralled to produce a daily ‘two minutes of hate’ against an out-group of their choosing and to turn a blind eye to our own internal voice of reason and compassion. They just need our Compliance.”
The forthcoming album can be pre-ordered here, and the track list can be viewed down below.
1). Will Of The People
2). Compliance
3). Liberation
4). Won’t Stand Down
5). Ghosts (How Can I Move On)
6). You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween
7). Kill Or Be Killed
8). Verona
9). Euphoria
10). We Are Fucking Fucked
