Have you seen this NME list of the most exciting live acts? NME.com users were asked about the most exciting live acts and these are the results of their vote:
1. Muse
2. The Strokes
3. The Killers
4. Queen
5. Bruce Springsteen
6. Nirvana
7. Arctic Monkeys
8. The White Stripes
9. Led Zeppelin
10. Rage Against The Machine
11. Radiohead
12. Jimi Hendrix
13. AC/DC
14. David Bowie
15. The Cure
16. Foo Fighters
17. Pink Floyd
18. Blur
19. The Clash
20. The Rolling Stones
Muse is number 1? It has to be a joke! They beat some of the most legendary acts and that’s why I think polls and surveys like this one are total bullshit. Of course this new generation is going to pick Muse over the Clash, because they have never seen the Clash,.. or Pink Floyd, or Jimi Hendrix, or Led Zeppelin or even Nirvana and Queen!…. And what does exciting mean anyway? If we are talking about what bands can bring around their music, then the Flaming Lips should certainly win and they are not even in the list.
I saw Muse live once, and I was not excited, they have a bombastic sound but so what? Is this supposed to be exciting? I had about zero fun! Is there any lasting effect after a Muse concert?.. but I know, I am bias because I can’t stand them now.
I don’t know who got to vote, but it seems to be a monolithic population and at the end, just a popularity contest between some dinosaurs, alive or extinct, and newer bands which sell tons of records. Muse has a new album to be released soon which means that fans were anticipating so they got to vote for them, regardless of their excitability potential. The Killers and Arctic Monkeys are way too high on the list too, and no real big indie bands made it.
To me, there are big absents such as Arcade Fire, Gogol Bordello (totally a winner for me) Iggy Pop and the Stooges, and may be The Black Keys. But I am someone who would get excited to see Tom Waits, so I am out of here!