6 Music - Music News

Muse kick off their highly anticipated world tour tonight in Sheffield.

The Devon trio recently told the BBC they plan to have acrobats and giant moving buildings on stage.

Singer Matt Bellamy dropped into 6 Music recently and admitted his inspiration comes from concerts by the pop greats: "Artists like Madonna and Michael Jackson were both amazing live performers in the eighties and I remember seeing footage of those concerts and thinking, 'Wow! That's something completely extraordinary, rock bands don't really do that.'

"You've gotta be careful with synchronised dancing, that's where it gets a bit pop..."

Their grand, orchestral juggernaut of a record features themes of space, Matt explained the intergalactic ideas on their fifth album, The Resistance: "Like the way poets used to use things like the oceans and the mountains to describe big emotions, to me, space is like a contemporary version of that.

We live in space it's our home. We have a special relationship with it, I'm sure there is life out there somewhere."

"I like the idea of having a revolution, but having fun whilst doing it." 

Matt Bellamy

The Big Pink support

The idea of revolution features heavily on this offering, Matt told us the spirit of the recent G20 protests in London is the way forward: "I like the way everyone was dressing up in silly costumes. 

"I like the idea of having a revolution but having fun whilst doing it. Put on a silly costume and go down the houses of parliament and have a good time" he joked.

Electro rock duo The Big Pink are supporting Muse, playing tracks from their debut album A Brief History of Love.

Robbie and Milo let us in on what they have planned: "We've got some big ideas, I was gonna dress up as a doctor, with like a full on doctors outfit, and put all my keyboards and synths and stuff on a stretcher."

"We're gonna out Muse, Muse!"

They admit to not feeling nervous, but say there's an awareness that they need to enter the big leagues: "I think we're gonna have to step up our live performance a bit.

"Last year when we supported TV On The Radio we had to step up our game and this is another stage. It's been an incredible year for us and to have this at the end is a lovely little prize."

UK tour dates:

November

4 Sheffield Arena, Sheffield
5 Echo Arena, Liverpool
6 O2 Depot, Dublin
9 SECC Glasgow
10 NIA Birmingham
12 O2 Arena London
12 Children in Need Concert, Royal Albert Hall, London
13 O2 Arena London