Pity poor ol’ Perth. When it comes to national tours from major headline acts, its usually 50/50 if they manage to get a look in at all.
Art-metal fans are still fuming at missing out on a Western Australian leg from progressive titans Tool, and Bruce Springsteen touched down in Brisbane to kick off his Wrecking Ball Australian Tour last night (photos here, with replacement guitarist Tom Morello front and centre), with dates along the East Coast with no visit to Perth from The Boss, with Frontier Touring amicably apologising to irate fans of both.
On the flip-side however, Guns N Roses, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, and the KISS/Mötley Crüe Monster double bill all kick-started their national tours in the WA capital, now UK’s leading purveyors of sci-fi arena rock are looking to do the same before the year is out.
Following on from histrionically talented frontman Matt Bellamy spilling the beans of Muse’s Australian tour plans over twitter, he’s gone and done it again with another trickle of information revealing that the band are looking at starting things off in Perth.
Responding to a fan’s inquisition about solid tour dates, Bellamy wrote:
@kate_storm_grlStarting Nov 30 (I think) in Perth.Whole of December.
— Matt Bellamy (@MattBellamy) March 13, 2013
So Perth fans, better pencil Saturday 30th November into your diaries, while Australian lovers of Muse can block out the “whole of December” for what is sure to be a massive arena trek for the British trio.
Bellmay’s confirmation of a year-end visit from the band will be their visit to Down Under in two years since playing the Big Day Out in January 2010, then a series of mammoth arena sideshows across the country later that year.
In that time, their over the top single ’Survival’ was recognised as the official anthem for the 2012 London Olympic Games, one of their video shoots was gatecrashed by a high-speed police chase, and the band were even sued for $3.5 million by a man claiming that they stole his idea for a sci-fi rock opera (as if Muse hadn’t made a career out of such things).
All before releasing their hugely eclectic (even by their own standards) sixth studio album The 2nd Law, containing schizophrenic nods to Queen, Skrillex, INXS, U2, and Dream Theater in a record that took lyrical inspiration in everything from the second law of thermodynamics to off-world colonisation.
The band’s live shows and stage setups are just as extravagant, with their current set in touring The 2nd Law featuring a huge bank of video screens displaying all manner of visual stimuli that eventually transforms into a pyramid of TVs (watch the madness here).
A December tour from Muse also puts them into the rumour mill for festivals playing in Australia’s summer festival season, though they’ve generally been attached to the Big Day Out, an end of year visit could put them in contention for the year end Falls Festival.
What better way to bring in the New Year than with a rock n roll laser spectacle that looks, sounds, and feels like the end of the world?
Until then, we’ll be sure to keep a close Big Brother’d eye on Bellamy’s twitter feed for any confirmation of official dates for Muse’s 2013 Australian Tour.