#European Tour Dates 2018

[ahappydnp]

So I was rewatching dd last night and when dnp were in the Bespoke Activity Corner dan mentioned that he had a breakdown before tour bc he was gay so that got me thinking- if not for ii do u think he would’ve come out in 2018? Why didn’t they come out before ii? What was Phil’s reaction? Like did Dan feel pressure? It’s obviously their business but it really made me look back ya know

obviously we only know what he's said BUT he was actively planning on coming out before ii but i think there were a lot of factors in play as to why he didn't

dan had not come out to his family yet. he said in BIG that he was planning on telling his family christmas 2017, his mum's birthday (feb 2018), and easter 2018 but ended up backing out. he obviously couldn't come out publicly until he had come out privately to his family

he was already living in a glass closet most of 2017 but then march 2018 he made ttlmt (where he made some obvious references to being not straight). people picked up on the queer signaling and dan freaked and backtracked hard in a now infamous liveshow. the liveshow was so poorly received that phil had to do some damage control and dan was clearly not doing well at all.

this part is speculation but i do think the post liveshow backlash is when dan's rosé breakdown happened/phil not thinking the tour would happen. they were working nonstop while dan was both publicly struggling with his audience and secretly struggling with the prospects of coming out

in april 2018 dan said in a liveshow that he plans on uploading a video "in june, that's a sequel to ttlmt". he was talking about filming it mid tour as well, planning on filming it while they were on a break between the uk and european dates (side note about this liveshow: it was about him privating quite a few of his old videos which looking back makes sense because he knew coming out would mean a lot of eyes on his...less than unproblematic old content but his way of going about it backfired yet again and the audience was mad at him again for some lowkey misogyny)

"the june video" became a meme because throughout ii dan would say it was coming soon ("it might be a september video, an october video, who knows")

people have pointed out that he (and phil) were probably aware that there might be some issues with coming out very publicly as gay when they were about to travel to some of the tour dates with anti lgbtq stances. i'm not saying it's why he didn't, but i don't think they didn't consider it

basically he did in fact plan to come out in 2018 and it wasn't the tour alone stopping him. which is completely fair like i cannot fathom what was going through his head when he thought he was going to come out to his family, come out to the entire world by making a massive video, go on an 80+ date world tour, move house (lets not forget they were originally scheduled to move into the forever home in 2018 too!!!) and not lose his shit??? girl.

anyway he's mentioned that BIG would have been a different video if he had come out before ii because meeting so much of his queer audience changed a lot for him which really is beautiful. i just hate that the ii era was also tough for him behind the scenes

[melancholicstation]

The Socially Active Secretary: Chapter One

pairing: robert francis kennedy female ❤︎ original character charlotte agapov (secretary!reader)

authors note: this is more of establishing of context around our main secretary girl!! our favourite pathetic catholic men (the kennedys) will come very soon i promise, all in due time. 🍺 please leave comments of any questions/likes/dislikes/all around opinions so i know if your interested!!!

synopsis: charlotte agapov, a divorcee whom recently moved back to the states after a disastrous lovers quarrel, assumes the secretarial position to the most important man in America, but it is not he who has captured her attention, no. instead, it's his meek younger brother, the runt of the kennedy pack, bobby francis kennedy.

[1403 words]

taglist: @kennediva @absurdlyvintage

chapter two, three four

masterlist charlotte moodboard rfk moodboard

(border from jenny holzer truisms 2018)

Chapter One

May 1st , 1961

There Charlotte stood, rolling on the balls of her feet, observing the woman before her in the mirror, finding her increasingly difficult to place her as recognisable. She had all the features that Charlotte understood to be her own, but she felt like nothing of the sort. Swathed in wool, to accommodate for the seemingly perpetuate damp state of Massachusetts in the month of May, and encompassed by a calf-length dress fit with double-faced cashmere in a mousey grey. Due to her contentious divorce with the English baron Hugo Cornwall, he had ordered for all her typical clothes to be held in a storage facility in Kent instead of its original location: Brookline Massachusetts. He knew how important those items were to Charlotte, and he used them as nothing more as a bargaining chip.

As a result of the divorce Charlotte had been tabloid-manhandled out of Britain and promptly returned to her mother country, the United States, and backed right into perusing the job boards in the Cape Cod Times by her alimony-avoiding, hector of an ex-husband. Hugo, at 40, knew of nothing but a life of bone china plates and private charter jets, getting by in this world from a combination of generational handouts from his godmother's situated in a nondescript European country off the coast and the humiliatingly tacky private tours he host every Saturday evening of the inherited estates cashing in a small fortune. And yet, he avoids the alimony checkers in a not so dissimilar fashion to that of his shunned family embarrassment of an uncle, who was, as of last month, avoiding taxes of in sunny Monte Carlo.

Once it became incredibly clear that Hugo was never going to cough up, and that her mother's invitation of staying at her summer house in Martha's Vineyard had a fast approaching expiry date Charlotte started to look for her next move.

Just when she had nearly exhausted all her mother's country club friends who, in a tone that could only be translated as deeply patronising stated that,

"Unemployment for such a young, american divorcee was 'in' for 1962" and that they would "call back in April to work something out"

However, April came and went, and still nothing. During the 16-month stint since Charlotte's divorce of 1961, Charlotte felt very sorry for herself and--well that's about all she did really.

Not only did getting married at 20, and it's later disillusion 8 years later, create an abstract wreckage sculpture out of her self-esteem and physical health, it stripped all prior job experience that a girl her age should've been building. After all, she could still feel her mother's fingertips ushering an 20 year old Charlotte's hands away from a flyer, held by a piece of battered painter's tape on a lamppost advertising a law school in the area,

"Oh for christ sake what are staring at now Charlotte?, you know we have caroline's recital across town, and I swear if I have to hear your aunts nasally whine one more time so help me God I will--"

Charlotte abandons her post of intense eye contact with the poster fluttering by the winds will almost instantly and returns through a soft tone "I-I'm coming now, it just captured my eye that's all."

The rest of the walk was blanketed in a soft wool of repression and thoughts better left unspoken until her mother turned on her heal, the gravel exclaiming a pleasant crunch in response,

"Don't you dare think I didn't see what you were looking at Charlotte, these are not the aspirations expected of a future baroness, you won't have any need for these silly machinations once you're tending to your husband and your home together. I understand that your nervous but think of how happy you'll be in a short few months with Hugo."

Her mother assured her in such a cadence, with such wistful hope, not meaning to make Charlotte's stomach drop but it did all the same.

"You know, I got nervous too, when I was engaged to your father. I thought about leaving more times than Sinatra's gets played on the radio at Green's pharmacy, but I stuck it out. And I got rewarded a great deal for that, for that bravery, and you will too. Far more than I ever did, I mean you're marrying a Baron who is infatuated with you for Pete's sake!"

Charlotte thinks to scoff at the notion that Hugo is at all capable of the feeling of infatuation but halts when she observes the expression of sheer elation on her mother's face.

"Everything will run as it's meant to if you do what's best, I promise",

and with that a kiss is pressed to Charlotte's forehead, and the conversation is recklessly abandoned by both parties.

Charlotte had stayed in that marriage for 8 years and what did she have to show for it? Surely not anything tangentially useful. Sure, now she knew the intricacies of English etiquette and the British aversion to hugs but that's nothing to be put on a resume. However, one worthy advantage that came out of the grotesque misalignment that was their marriage was that around the 4th year mark Charlotte had managed to secure an English degree from the University of London. Now that was certainly something to put on her resume.

Still the world seemed to completely turn its back on Charlotte, though only on a strictly employment basis, she still attended mass each Sunday and caught up with her still married, though not happily, socialite friends but it was hard to find common ground anymore. Before she could feasibly pass as one of them, now even if they didn't explicitly state it, Charlotte was now regarded as persona no grata for the entirety of the high society scene of London. She was left with a bunch empty friends, and an, as if increasing by the day, empty purse strings.

That was until a job ad in The Boston Globe caught the baby blue shadowed eye of Charlotte during her quite lonely solo escapade to the local sandwich bar across the street from her flat.

It read, in a thick professional font:

'Exciting Secretary Position Available at political epicentre of Washington D.C!

Are you a talented and organised individual seeking a rewarding career in a fast-paced office environment? Our office is looking for a professional Secretary to join our team and contribute to our continued success.

Position: Secretary Location: Top Secret [Call to confirm details] Salary: Competitive, with excellent benefits

Responsibilities:

managing and prioritising daily office tasks with efficiency

coordinating appointments and travel

managing diaries

support senior executives

having a pleasant demeanour when interacting with important officials

Qualifications:

High School Diploma or equivalent

Apply today to be part of a supportive and thriving workplace!

Phone: *** *** ***''

Now sure, the vague nature of who exactly the job would have Charlotte working for was strange and a little more than unnerving but realistically Charlotte, a 29 year old women with the same employment history as a 18 year old fresh out of high school, was going to take whatever she could get at this point.

The girl took the changing of the sky from bright periwinkle to a dim earl grey, as a sign to head back to her place in order to escape the fast approaching storm, the newspaper resting comparably rolled up in the crook of her arm.

Prior to returning to her apartment Charlotte had come to forget about the job as she had ran a few errands after the sandwich bar, that was until her feet met the door mat of her apartment. It was no longer clean as she had left it prior it now had, scrawled in big black letters, 'warning of eviction if payment is not obtained by next month'.

Charlotte's shaking hands move to pick up the yellow slip, and as she makes her way through her apartment, periodically leaving her jacket on the armrest of her laughably small settee in her stress-filled haze, she then starts to remember the job offer from the afternoon.

Sure the ad's ambiguity was a bit strange, but truly who was she to judge? It's not like the job offers were exactly rolling in at the moment.

'Oh what the hell, she might as well give it a go!' Charlotte thought, as she hesitantly dialled up the rotary.

End of Chapter One.

[brakingpoint]

i missed your answer but happy day of the lord i'd love you to rank drivers by hotness because i think you're hilarious

you know what it's been like three days of the lord since you sent this but i've finally got bevved on one of them so let's go. i do not believe in rankings so i will instead be offering my commentary in current drivers championship standings order

max verstappen - i wont lie i know he's not everyone's cup of tea but i do find him quite sexy. do not understand the overwhelming tit hype on this website because this man would have to clench for his life to fill a victoria's secret training bra but it's fine because his beautiful autistic rizz and enchantingly bold nose make up for it. points deducted because i can tell his skincare routine is dish soap

lando norris - 2019 lando norris is like, i am honestly too old to have found him sexy if i'd been into f1 at the time bc even though we're only like 2/3 years apart in age he looks about 5 years younger than me. but i can completely get how if you were like 16 at the time he would seem like the cutest boy on the planet. like up all night era one direction vibes you know. unfortunately his 2024 styling with the weird desperate attempt at facial hair makes him look like a man who uses snapchat for evil

charles leclerc - objectively beautiful man crafted by the gods themselves but i can't honestly say he makes me feel anything carnally. i look at him as i would a marble sculpture in a museum

oscar piastri - he is not a bad looking guy but he does nothing for me. partially an age thing and partially his complete lack of rizz. he doesn't have time to be sexy he's got a job to do and that job is scaring the pants off lando norris every time he's within DRS range

carlos sainz - sometimes i think he is one of the top 10 sexiest men ever to exist on the planet and sometimes i think he looks like that really angry eagle off the muppets. he's got to work the right angles

lewis hamilton - much like charles leclerc he is someone who is so deeply objectively sexy that it almost reverts to me feeling nothing wait a second somebody just beamed psychic images of those interviews from like singapore 2019 where he had his hair up but with a couple bits framing his face so gorgeously and now i can't form words or think of anything else

george russell - the thing you have to understand is i went to oxford and i went clubbing a lot in oxford and so i have made out with a number of george russell lookalikes that is easily in the double figures. and i have zero regrets

sergio perez - he's not sexy he is like a cabbage patch doll whose nose i want to boop so fondly as i very gently whisper in his ear to DRIVE FUCKING FASTER

fernando alonso - i don't find him sexy but at the same time i can understand why lance stroll does

nico hulkenberg - i feel like you either have to be a really really straight woman or a really really gay european man to find him hot. and i am unfortunately neither

lance stroll - i'm refraining from answering until he grows his hair back out. at which point i will still refrain from answering but moreso for my own dignity

yuki tsunoda - we must not underestimate the rizz of a man so short he could be a back up dancer on sabrina carpenter's short 'n' sweet tour. i can unequivocally say i would

alex albon - you see physically he is not really my type but being engaged in conversation with him for more than five minutes would have me so horny i can barely breathe. i just love a dork yknow. i feel like i'd match with him on tinder by the strength of his bio even though his selfies are a bit shit and then i'd be actively drooling throughout the entire date

daniel ricciardo - in 2018, yes. in 2021 onwards, no. was he in some sort of reverse dorian grey situation where his portrait has gotten both hotter and attained better f1 results? who knows

pierre gasly - if he brings back the long swoopy hair with the frosted tips we are back in fucking business quite frankly

ollie bearman - i know he's technically an adult but he looks so young that even including him in this poll as an aside feels noncey to me

kevin magnussen - i have nothing to say. next

esteban ocon - he's tall, i suppose

franco colapinto - once again it's an ollie bearman situation where i can objectively acknowledge that he's a handsome lad but i've been following him since he was 19. i CANNOT see him that way.

zhou guanyu - i feel like his inherent swag is wasted in f1 i'd probably fancy him a lot more if he was some rando catwalk model i saw reblogged onto my dash precisely once when he was walking the runway in dior's latest collection at paris fashion week or something

logan sargeant (rip) - i really can't knock the people who fancy him because i feel like if you're american making out with 5000 guys who look just like him at college parties is my equivalent of making out with a ton of george russell impersonators at oxford. but thus i cannot see it due to our vastly different life experiences

valtteri bottas - he's hot in the way that like i walk into a gay bar and see the posters of men in leather jockstraps plastered around the place and go you know what this is not targeted to me but i can see why this is hugely titillating to the people these pictures were actually put up for. he's the closest to 1980s gay porn we have on this grid and i have to hugely respect that even if he's not my personal type

bonus liam lawson round - he looks like he was meant to debut in a boyband circa 2014 but accidentally got locked in a portaloo before their first recording session and they just kind of forgot about him there and he's just stumbled out into the daylight right now for the first time in 10 years and he's a little startled and hasn't learned about modern fashion yet but he's still kind of hot to people who would have desperately fancied luke from 5SOS were they above the age of seven at the time that band debuted

[goldduststevie]

I almost can't believe it but I'm actually going to a Stevie solo show! I had accepted that I was never going to see her solo, because she hasn't toured here since 1989. I saw FM for the last time in 2015 (I skipped the 2018 concert because I didn't really care for that line-up). I really believed that was the last time I would see her on stage irl. But then she announced a solo date so of course I had to be there, even though it cost me an arm and a leg (seriously what are these prices?!) Who else is going to the Amsterdam show, or one of the other European dates? And did you get good seats?

[userparamore]

hi! genuine question - why is it a disappointment that pmore performed at eras tour? i’m very neutral on taylor swift so i don’t really know the issues surrounding it. thank you in advance ❤️

i'm no taylor swift stan so i don't really want to, or have the energy to mention everything. but from a paramore fan perspective it's disappointing bc it's makes them come across as hypocrites. i've talked about this before and i don't want to get into it again but they've spoken up about climate change, hayley even jokes about root being about our planet "running out of time", they've partenered with REVERB on their this why tour (which i guess is a little greenwashing-ish but better than nothing). but this ends up being ungenuine when you tour with the artist who releases the most co2 emission out of every celebrity. the fact that she sued the kid who called her out for this, i think says alot about her as a person. paramore preaches about the shows being a safe place for everyone; all poc and lgbtq+. but then they tour with the prime example of white feminism, who only speaks up/comments on things if it affects her. and again with paramore claiming to be more political during the this is why album cycle, and expressed multiple times how important the diversity of their fans are etc. it does not seem genuine when they're praising an artist like taylor swift as much as they have been doing. i think that saying of: if you want to know someone, just look at who they choose to spend their time with, is very true.

another part of this and i think this is probably the biggest one for paramore fans in general is that the tours during this is why didn't include europe mainland (or asia). they toured only in uk&ireland for this is why, and then in interviews said they did an european tour. is the european tour in the room with us now? anyway, the last european mainland tour was jan 2018, and had only 3 dates that wasn't in the uk out of 8. so the last real european tour was summer 2017 with 18 dates. 6 of them was in the uk&ireland and 4 of the rest of the european dates were festivals leaving only 8 "real" concerts in mainland europe. lots of the countries on the eras tours, like italy, poland, switzerland etc paramore haven't played in over a decade (aka during the self-titled era). to have waited this long for them to tour and then for it to cost close to 400 dollars for a nosebleed ticket, if you even get a ticket, does not feel great. another thing is that for some of these countries paramore have made 2 albums since the last time they toured, and they've never had the opportunity to hear any of the songs from those albums live. as the opener act on the eras tour, paramore played 9 song. most of these were their greatest hits. as a paramore fan you obviously want to go to a concert to see them perform, but for that amount of money i think it's reasonable to want to hear other songs than still into you, ain't it fun and misery business. the setlist was catered to reach non-fans, and that's fine honestly, it would probably be worse for them to play songs "nobody" had heard, than the one's that had commercial success and makes them be able to have some crowd interaction.

either way, i don't think people would've been as disappointed by this tour if they had also announced an solo european tour. the argument that this will get them new fans and make them a bigger name doesn't hold water in my opinion bc paramore are already a big band. they're already a band who can sell out tours and big venues on their own.

[fakeoutbf]

so much for (tour)dust

european leg

magic 8 ball and piano medley songs sorted by date

color coded by album ● repeated songs in bold

tttyg ● futct ● ioh ● fad ● srar ● abap ● mania ● smfs

October 17 - Hala Torwar, Warsaw, Poland

Piano medley

- Golden

Magic 8 Ball song

- Bang the Doldrums (Alias: DUMB AND DUMBER)

October 18 - Sportovní hala Fortuna, Prague, Czechia

Piano medley

- I'm Like a Lawyer With the Way I'm Always Trying to Get You Off (Me & You)

- Golden

Magic 8 Ball song

- G.I.N.A.S.F.S.

October 20 - Mediolanum Forum di Assago, Assago, Italy

Piano medley

- What a Catch, Donnie

Magic 8 Ball song

- I Am My Own Muse

October 21 - Zenith, Munich, Germany

Piano medley

- What a Catch, Donnie

Magic 8 Ball song

- The Kintsugi Kid (Ten Years)

October 23 - Le Zénith, Paris, France

Piano medley

- Golden

- What a Catch, Donnie

Magic 8 Ball song

- The Kids Aren’t Alright (Alias: NUTELLA CREPES)

October 24 - AFAS Live, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Piano medley

- What a Catch, Donnie

- Golden

Magic 8 Ball song

- 27 (Alias: PUMPKIN)

October 25 - Vorst Nationaal / Forest National, Vorst / Forest, Belgium

Piano medley

- Golden

- What a Catch, Donnie

Magic 8 Ball song

- Sophomore Slump or Comeback of the Year

October 27 - First Direct Arena, Leeds, England

Piano medley

- I'm Like a Lawyer With the Way I'm Always Trying to Get You Off (Me & You)

Magic 8 Ball song

- Don't You Know Who I Think I Am?

October 28 - The OVO Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland

Piano medley

- What a Catch, Donnie

- Golden

Magic 8 Ball song

- Young Volcanoes (First time live since 2018) (Alias: MIKEY MYERSs)

October 29 - AO Arena, Manchester, England

Piano medley

- What a Catch, Donnie

- Golden

Magic 8 Ball song

- The (After) Life of the Party (Alias: ZEROOO)

October 31 - Utilita Arena Birmingham, Birmingham, England

Piano medley

- I'm Like a Lawyer With the Way I'm Always Trying to Get You Off (Me & You)

- Golden

Magic 8 Ball songs

- Halloween (Misfits cover) (Alias: DANZIG)

- You’re Crashing, but You’re No Wave (Alias: BEACH BOYS)

November 2 - The O2 Arena, London, England

Piano medley

- Mr. Blue Sky (Electric Light Orchestra cover)

- I’ve Got All This Ringing In My Ears and None On My Fingers

- Golden

Magic 8 Ball songs

- The (Shipped) Gold Standard (Live Debut) (Alias: SONIC THE HEDGEHOG)

- Young Volcanoes (Alias: SPOCK)

November 3 - The O2 Arena, London, England

Piano medley

- Don’t Stop Me Now (Queen cover)

- What a Catch, Donnie

- Golden

Magic 8 Ball songs

- What a Time to Be Alive (Full Band Live Debut)

- American Beauty / American Psycho (Tour Debut)

November 4 - Utilita Arena Cardiff, Cardiff, Wales

Piano medley

- I'm Like a Lawyer With the Way I'm Always Trying to Get You Off (Me & You)

- Golden

Magic 8 Ball song

- Our Lawyer Made Us Change the Name of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued (First time live since 2008)

November 6 - Rudolf Weber-Arena, Oberhausen, Germany

Piano medley

- What a Catch, Donnie

- Golden

Magic 8 Ball song

- Thriller (Tour Debut)

November 7 - Barclays Arena, Hamburg, Germany

Piano medley

- Just One Yesterday

- What a Catch, Donnie

Magic 8 Ball song

- Fame < Infamy

November 8 - Max-Schmeling-Halle, Berlin, Germany

Piano medley

- What a Catch, Donnie

- Golden

Magic 8 Ball songs

- XO

- G.I.N.A.S.F.S.

[cherrylng]

MUSE Trivia and More [INROCK (December 2018)]

Three all the way The three members - Matthew Bellamy (vo./keys./g.), Chris Wolstenholme (b.) and Dominic (Dom) Howard (dr.) - have remained the same since the band formed in the early '90s.

Discography Muse have produced eight albums to date. The eighth is their latest, 'Simulation Theory', due for release on 9th November 2018.

● Debut album 'Showbiz' (1999) Released in '99, it reached a top ranking of 29 in the UK charts and sold 700,000 copies. It did not chart in the USA.

● Second album 'Origin of Symmetry' (2001) Number 3 in the UK, 1.5 million copies sold so far. Top 10 in seven European countries. Not released in the USA until four years later in 2005. This delay was caused by the band's then-owned label in the US, Maverick Records, deciding that Matthew's falsetto was not suitable for radio, and the band parted ways with the label as a result of the discussions at the time. It did not chart on Billboard (#161) until February 2010, another five years after its release in the USA.

● Third album 'Absolution' (2003) Number one in the UK and France. Top 10 in 10 European countries. Has sold 3.5 million copies worldwide to date.

● Fourth album 'Black Holes and Revelations' (2006) Number one in the UK, Australia, Ireland and Switzerland. It was the best-selling album of the year in Europe. It was the band's first ever Top 10 album in the USA. It sold nearly 4.5 million copies worldwide.

● Fifth album 'The Resistance' (2009) First album produced by the band themselves. It reached No. 1 in 14 countries, including the US Billboard Alternative Chart. It also sold around 4.5 million copies worldwide.

● Sixth album 'The 2nd Law' (2012) Sales fell to 2.5 million copies, but it reached number one in more than 10 countries. The stadium tour that accompanied the album recorded the largest attendance in the band's history, generating revenues of $103 million (approx. ¥11.551 billion) from 79 shows. The show at Rome's Stadio Olimpico, which attracted more than 60,000 spectators, was later released as the live album 'Live at Rome Olympic Stadium'.

● Seventh album 'Drones' (2015) The band reached number one in 15 countries and number one in the USA for the first time. The footage from the Drones tour was turned into a film, which was screened for one night only around the world on 12th July this year (note: there was also an encore screening in Japan). No DVD release date has yet been announced.

Funny memories Dom cites the Zepp DiverCity Tokyo show on 13th August 2013 as his funniest memory ever. During the last four songs, a group of people wearing headgear (presumably roadies and friends) stormed onto the stage. The footage was filmed, but the full story has not yet been released. [T/N: It has since been released on Muse's YouTube channel on April 2020. It was for Panic Station, Supermassive Black Hole, Can't Take My Eyes Off of You, and Starlight. You're welcome.]

Father George Bellamy Matthew's father, George Bellamy, is a rhythm guitarist best known for his '60s band The Tornados. He still plays in local Devon bands.

Metallica are also fans of Muse! The band played at the Big Day Out rock festival in Australia and New Zealand in 2004. At the time, there were no rehearsal trucks available, so the main act Metallica set up a rehearsal tent right next to the main stage. As Muse exited the stage after their turn, Metallica were often heard warming up with 'New Born', a song from their second album Origin of Symmetry.

Rise to prominence When they played Glastonbury Festival for the first time on 25th June 2000 [T/N: Technically, this is their second time performing in Glastonbury. Their first time was actually on 25th June 1999], they were ninth out of 11 on the Other Stage. They parked an old Volkswagen van in the guest/artist campsite, pitched a tent next to it and cooked breakfast outside. Four years later, in 2004, they became the headlining artist on the Pyramid Stage. They no longer needed to camp in tents.

Temporary bedroom The songwriting for third album 'Absolution' was done in a warehouse in East London. Chris therefore set up and slept in an air-inflated bed there, which he bought from IKEA.

Where are the first performance recordings!? They are still very embarrassed about their demo tapes 'This is a Muse Demo' ('95) and 'Newton Abbot Demo' ('97) and their first performance as a band when they tried out for the Battle of the Bands contest ('94). Whenever a copy of "This is a Muse Demo'' was put on an auction site, someone would sell it for an unbelievable amount of money. The "someone" is thought by fans to be the band members themselves.

Poker face!? The three of them like to play poker. When they played with Robert Smith (The Cure, vo./g), they won a lot of money. At one point, they played almost every day on tour, and as a result Matthew owed his crew and band members thousands of dollars. He likes to go to the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas to play poker with betting limits, because it's not so easy with restrictions. He still plays on the tour bus, but there is also alcohol involved, so at the end of the day it's all about throwing chips at each other.

Jetpack For their show at Wembley Stadium in June 2007, the band planned to appear on stage with jet packs, which would allow them to fly using the jets on their backs. However, the stadium's health and safety team refused permission. Matthew's guitar was allowed to be carried onto the stage by a remote-controlled robot. Incidentally, Matthew actually bought and owns the jet pack for £10,000. He was addicted to such gadgets for a while, but woke up one day when he lost his mobile phone and realised he could still live without it.

Avoiding the 9/11 attacks On 10 September 2001, Muse were due to play a showcase gig at the Mercury Lounge in New York. But when that was cancelled, they flew early to their next destination, Boston. If they had stayed another night at a hotel on New York's Lower East Side as planned, they might have been caught up in the attacks on the World Trade Centre.

A row with Celine Dion In 2002, there was a row with Celine Dion. She revealed her plans to name her long-running Las Vegas show Muse. Matthew commented, "I don't want people to think we're Celine Dion's backing band." Celine insisted on the title Muse and proposed an offer to pay them £32,000 (approximately JPY 4.7 million), which Muse refused. Celine's management then pushed to go ahead with the plan anyway, and Muse considered filing a lawsuit. In the end, Céline relented and the title changed to 'A New Day'… and began its extended run the following year in 2003.

Matthew, you're about to get killed! Matthew likes scuba diving, but thinks he was nearly killed by an instructor once. The instructor liked Matthew's girlfriend at the time and tried to kill him by putting only half the oxygen in his oxygen tank when she got in the way. As well as scuba diving, Matthew has also tried squash, but he always ends up crashing into the wall and getting hurt.

Personal life ● Matthew Matthew was engaged to Italian psychologist Gaia Polloni until December 2009 and lived in a mansion in the village of Mortolazio on the western shore of Lake Como in Italy until 2010. The mansion was put on the market last year for just under USD 2 million (approximately JPY 224 million). It is approximately 250 square metres in size. It was built in the late 1820s, when the Italian composer Vincenzo Bellini lived there and Winston Churchill was invited to visit and paint. Neighbours include George Clooney and Sir Richard Branson. Matthew made the album 'The Resistance' here. After his breakup with Gaia, he started dating actress Kate Hudson in the spring of 2010 and got engaged the following year. Their son, Bing, was born in July of the same year. He and Kate ended their engagement in December 2014. He started dating model Elle Evans in 2015 and they became engaged in December 2017. Matthew now lives in the USA and owns at least three mansions in the Los Angeles area. Two of them are in Malibu. One was purchased from radio personality Adam Carolla in late 2014 for $3.6 million. The other house was purchased in 2016 for $2.6 million (JPY 291 million). The third house was bought last year for $7.25 million (approximately JPY 813 million) on a green lot in Brentwood, between Westwood and Santa Monica, from former tennis player Pete Sampras. In addition to this, he also owns mansions in his hometown of Devon and in London. In addition, in Malibu, he is neighbours with Chris Martin (Coldplay, vo./g. / piano), with whom he occasionally exchanges dirty-talking emails. In jest, of course.

● Chris Chris has six children with his wife Kelly, whom he married in 2003. His alcoholism deteriorated to the point of vomiting blood at one point, yet his bass playing skills remained undiminished and those around him were slow to realise the gravity of the situation. However, during the making of The Resistance, he finally entered rehab and underwent treatment. He has been sober ever since.

● Dom There is no mention of Dom getting married. Last autumn, he adopted a dog named Floyd, who appears to be a Boston terrier.

Guitars smashed Matthew entered the Guinness World Records in 2010 for smashing 140 guitars on tour in 2004. But he didn't actually break that many, and the guitars he smashed on stage usually just split the body and neck in half. Even if they look broken, they are actually repaired and returned. He has only broken about four guitars before he really broke them again, and one of them was a Gibson Les Paul that he didn't break on stage, but smashed into a cupboard. Counting his entire career, he has destroyed and replaced roughly 20 necks. But it's not just the guitars that suffer from Matthew's act. Dom is also a good nuisance. He has been injured three times so far because of the guitars Matthew has thrown around.

China tour When the 'Drones' tour visited Beijing on 9th September 2015 and Shanghai on 21st September 2015, 'Uprising' and 'Revolt' were removed from the set list. This was because they were deemed excessively political by the Chinese government.

'Twilight' series of romantic films Stephenie Meyer, author of the popular Twilight novels, is a big fan of Muse. Therefore, the soundtracks of the film trilogy 'Twilight' (2008), 'New Moon/Twilight Saga' (2009) and 'Eclipse/Twilight Saga' (2010) contain the songs 'Supermassive Black Hole', 'I Belong To You (+Mon Coeur S'Ouvre A Ta Voix)' and 'Neutron Star Collision (Love is Forever)', respectively. Neutron Star Collision was written specifically for Eclipse.

Impressions of Kanye West Matthew likes rap music and is a big fan of Kanye West. He describes Kanye's music as "It's already thoroughly me, me, me." However, one time Kanye came to say hello to Muse backstage, and instead of being "me", he just talked about T-shirts and left. Matthew found it so funny that he later named his cats Kanye and Kim (Kanye's wife Kim Kardashian).

Translator's Note: Okay, so I already knew a good majority of these trivia information as a long time fan, but I do acknowledge that some are new to me. Mostly, given that all of this information was up until late 2018, some of the information written in there can be considered as outdated.

[black-arcana]

THE PRETTY RECKLESS Has 'A Lot' Of Music Written For Upcoming Fifth Album

During an appearance on the May 6 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", THE PRETTY RECKLESS singer Taylor Momsen was asked about the progress of the songwriting and recording sessions for the band's fifth album. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I don't have [release] dates for you, but we booked — we've locked up the studio for eight months. It takes us a while to make a record. But it was going amazingly [before we paused the sessions in order to hit the road]. Hopefully when we pick back up in September, it'll be the same kind of flow and everything will just jell. But a lot of it's written. I'm sure that more will be written when these experiences happen and then new songs [arise] out of them. So I'm sure that there'll be some more songs coming. But I don't have dates. But it was going great, and we had just started; we really haven't started at all, but there's written stuff. So that's a start, I guess. But as far as recording, we hadn't really gotten into it yet."

This past January, THE PRETTY RECKLESS shared a photo of Taylor in the studio with Jonathan Wyman, who co-produced THE PRETTY RECKLESS's latest album, 2021's "Death By Rock And Roll", apparently confirming that Wyman has re-teamed with the group for the upcoming LP.

In a May 2023 interview with Ronni Hunter of the 99.7 The Blitz radio station, Momsen revealed that she and her THE PRETTY RECKLESS bandmates had commenced work on the follow-up to "Death By Rock And Roll".

"We're in a great headspace," she said. "We're just having fun with it, and wrapping up the tour cycle of 'Death By Rock And Roll'. And then new record — and it's next chapter. We've already kind of started it… We've gotten into a studio; we've stepped foot into a studio. So that's saying something for us."

THE PRETTY RECKLESS will support AC/DC on the legendary hard rock band's spring/summer 2024 European tour. Momsen and her bandmates will also open for THE ROLLING STONES this coming Saturday, May 11 at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In November 2022, THE PRETTY RECKLESS released a new collection of music, "Other Worlds", via Fearless Records. The effort saw the group delivering its first proper acoustic recordings, unexpected covers and other reimaginings.

"Death By Rock And Roll" was made available in February 2021 via Fearless Records in the U.S. and Century Media Records in the rest of the world.

Upon release, "Death By Rock And Roll" topped multiple sales charts — including Billboard's Top Albums, Rock, Hard Music, and Digital charts. The record also yielded three back-to-back No. 1 singles — "Death By Rock And Roll", "And So It Went" (featuring Tom Morello of RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE) and "Only Love Can Save Me Now" (featuring Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron of SOUNDGARDEN). The band has tallied seven No. 1 singles at the rock format throughout its career.

"Death By Rock And Roll" was THE PRETTY RECKLESS's first album to be made without longtime producer Kato Khandwala, who died in April 2018 from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.

THE PRETTY RECKLESS formed in 2009 and consists of Momsen, guitarist Ben Phillips, bassist Mark Damon and drummer Jamie Perkins.

In 2021, Momsen — who rose to fame portraying the character of edgy little sister Jenny Humphrey on The CW's "Gossip Girl" — described "Death By Rock And Roll" in an interview with ABC Audio as a "battle cry for life and for hope."

"I think that that's something that we can all use a little bit more of, especially right now," she said. "We could always use a little more hope, and we could always use a little more rock and roll."

[dykehayleywilliams]

may I ask about the mitski curse or is it secret knowledge

*LONG POST INCOMING* It all started in 2016.

I've been a Mitski fan since 2014 when First Love/Late Spring premiered on Stereogum and desperately wanted to see her live. The chance finally came after I moved to New York; I had tickets for her show in February 2016 at The Knitting Factory. But then. A freeze hit the city that weekend, resulting in a pipe in the shitty apartment bursting so I missed the show because I had to wait for the emergency repair guy to come by. Okay, well that's a bummer, I though. I've been waiting for almost two years to see Mitski but surely I'll get another chance. July 2016. I was living in Texas for the summer, a few hours away from Austin, where Mitski had a show scheduled. Perfect! I can drive up to the show! My old, barely functioning truck can handle the drive! It did not. My car broke down two hours outside Austin.

November 2016. Third try to see Mitski in a year is the charm, right? Oh wait, I waited too long to buy a flight to my grandma's for thanksgiving and I had to fly out the day of the Mitski show because every other flight was $500 more expensive.

By 2017 I was starting to get worried. I had tickets to see her April 2017, but I got horrific food poisoning and couldn't get out of bed for three days.

I didn't get another try until late 2018 on the Be The Cowboy tour during her 4 night residency at Brooklyn Steel. Except Mitski's popularity had blown up significantly and I couldn't get tickets when they went on sale the first three shows. BUT THEN a fourth show was added, on a Monday night, and I finally got tickets! Perfect! Until I had a final project for one of my classes scheduled the same night that I could not miss without failing the class, and I desperately tried to find tickets for another night but none were available for under $300.

At that point I was convinced: I was cursed. There were no tour dates I was even able to TRY to make, and then in September 2019 Mitski played Summer Stage (two weeks after I moved from New York) and announced it would indefinitely be her last live show.

October 2021: Mitski releases Working for the Knife and announces a tour. The closest tour date to where I was living was 8 hours away, but I fought for my life for tickets and was determined I would finally break the curse.

I got COVID two days before Mitski's Denver show in March 2022.

BUT WAIT! Mitski was announced as one of the openers for HSLOT's European stadium leg! And my friends and I planned a bar trip to Scotland that lined up with the weekend of Harry's show in Glasgow! Okay, maybe seeing Mitski as an opener at a stadium show isn't ideal, but I was desperate. Except, of course, the stadium entry was a complete mess, and we didn't get into the show until the very end of Mitski's set. I had finally seen her live, but for 8 minutes and at what cost.

I wasn't happy, but I told myself it wasn't the end of the world because I already had plans to see Mitski at the All Things Go festival in October, so redemption would come soon enough. Then Hurricane Ian hit and my flight to DC that had a layover in Orlando was cancelled the day before I was supposed to leave. At that point, there was nothing I could do but laugh. Why did I think it would go any differently this time? No. I couldn't take it anymore. I dropped wayyyyy too much money on a different flight to DC with no layover. That flight was delayed by 5 hours, but I made it. Nothing was going to stop me.

Mitski's set starts. We're in the pit, I'm 5'2" so I'm on my tip toes, straining my neck to keep my eyes on Mitski. And then. Everyone's BeReals went off during Francis Forever and the crowd became a sea of phones. I was crushed. I had broken the curse, but 9 years too late.

[klaineccfanficlibrary]

Klainebingo 2023

Thank you for hosting this event! I’m an old school reader and admittedly haven’t read much new stuff post-2016 or so, so it’s been absolutely lovely to find some new stories and authors!

1 Reverb (2018) by Fickelodeon

2 Wouldn’t Change a Thing (2020) by nontarelationship 

3 You Will Be Found (2020) by kurtswish

4 Avian Series (2020) by kurtswish (Occupation: Superhero Costumer)

5 Even Better Than the Real Thing (2020) by gleekto

6 Andante, Andante (2020) by fionapear 

7 Courting Royalty (2022) by hundredindecisions (Challenge: 3-2-1 Prompt Bang 2022)

8 (N/A)

9 Head Versus Heart (2020) by dizzywhiz (Trope: Hurt/Comfort)

Thanks for your list!!  Find them on ao3.  Rules here

1. Debut fic:  Reverb by Fickelodeon

Post-Michael thru Season 4, Blaine’s just a little unwell, and it’s not long before everyone can tell. Physical and Mental illness. Hurt/Comfort. If Robin Cook wrote for Glee and General Hospital, the story would probably go like this. Universe Expansion for Seasons 3 and 4 wherein I add some elements to canon and leave some out but manage to get everyone back to place where they can still have the endings they got in canon. Honestly, I just wanted to write H/C, but the more I hurt Blaine, the more I realized he wasn’t going to handle that very well, so I added in diagnosed mental illness. All in all, it’s everything I love to read in fic all in one epic story, just in case I don’t ever get the chance to write these characters again.

2.  Page turner:  Wouldn’t Change a Thing  by notarelationship

On the eve of his junior year at Dalton, Blaine’s dad kicks him out of the house, dumping him at the bus stop, cutting him off, and leaving him homeless. This is the story of how he survives, meets Kurt, and ultimately triumphs.

3. Need Tissues:  You Will Be Found  by @kurtswish

While on a National Broadway Tour, Kurt meets an intriguing man. With more than just miles separating them, they must make a choice. Will they go back to their different lives, or will they let themselves be found?

4. Unusual occupation: Avian Series by @kurtswish

Kurt Hummel always felt separate from his world and being the only one without a Soulmark didn’t help. Just as he is ready to end it all, something happens to change the course of his life.  Parts 1 - 3

5. Your choice:  Even Better Than the Real Thing by @gleekto

College AU/Famous!Blaine and Fanboy!Kurt - Kurt POV

Kurt really doesn’t have time to figure out the dating world between being a freshman at prestigious theatre school, LAADA, and his active but secret blogging life in the Sing!Fandom. So what if Sing! ended last year? There are still fics to read and actors to follow. Especially the uber talented heartthrob lead, Blaine Anderson. He can act. He can sing. He can even dance. He’s gay. He’s out. And he’s only 24. Kurt is willing to twiddle his thumbs and click refresh until Blaine Anderson’s next project.

He just didn’t expect the next project to be on his roommate Rachel’s new TV show.

6. Summer story:  Andante, Andante  by fionapear

Burt settles himself down in the chair of the vanity, peering up at the wall-mount TV at the movie. He fishes in his pocket for the piece of paper from the restaurant earlier. His fortune cookie fortune reads: “With time comes understanding.” It feels a little apt, even if he can’t place exactly why.

(Or: In which Burt Hummel, slowly, begrudgingly, grows to accept Blaine’s presence in his life.)

7. Written for a challenge:  Courting Royalty  by hundredindecisions  @thnxforknowingmeme

During Kurt’s senior year, his friend Rachel gets some surprising news: she’s the princess of a tiny European country, and she has a twin brother to share the throne with. The summer after graduation, Kurt visits his newly-royal friend in the country she’s heir to before they head to New York for college. Staying in a castle and rubbing shoulders with European nobility is pretty overwhelming, but the most remarkable part is meeting Rachel’s brother Blaine, the new prince who Kurt instantly begins crushing on. This summer is either going to be a fairy tale come true, or result in multiple diplomatic catastrophes.Inspired by Meg Cabot’s Princess Diaries series and the movie adaptations, but no background knowledge is needed to understand the fic.

8. n/a

9.  Genre/trope you wouldn’t normally read:  Head Versus Heart by @dizzywhiz

Blaine gets hit by a taxi and ends up in the hospital - so naturally, as his best friend and long-standing roommate, Kurt visits him at every possible opportunity until he gets to come home.

It only takes a couple of visits before Kurt notices something impossibly endearing: the beeping of Blaine’s heart rate monitor speeds up whenever his friends come to visit. At least, Kurt assumes it happens with all of Blaine’s friends, until Sam has no idea what he’s talking about.

#Jen

[evermoredeluxe]

do you think taylor york (guitarist of paramore) counts as a HAB of the eras tour. he and hayley have been dating since like 2018 but since he’s part of the opening act idk if he counts

HAB is a state of mind. he can join for sure if he wants to during the european leg.

[thelensofyashunews]

ROC MARCIANO SHARES “LEFLAIR” VIDEO

New York Hip-Hop multi-hyphenate, Roc Marciano has just shared a new music video for “LeFlair” from his recently-released album Marciology. The album was met with instant acclaim from both Pitchfork and Rolling Stone, the latter of which hailed it as a “dose of assonant rhymes over lush beats” in its 4-star review. While mainly self-produced, Roc’s latest outing also boasts production credits from The Alchemist and Animoss and includes features from Larry June, Flee Lord, CRIMEAPPLE, T.F., Knowledge the Pirate, and GREA8GAWD. The Marciology rollout marks the start of a new era for the MC and producer, arriving alongside the recent announcement of a forthcoming multi-date North American and European tour. Roc Marciano is a storied emcee on the heels of a career-minting run of critically-acclaimed solo LPs, from his respective 2018 and 2019 albums Marcielago and Mt. Marci, to his 2020 instrumental project Pimpstrumentals, and The Elephant Man’s Bones in collaboration with The Alchemist. Roc Marciano has also spent the past few years sitting behind the boards, creating the soundscape for notable underground Hip-Hop projects like Stove God Cooks’ debut album Reasonable Drought and Flee Lord’s 2021 LP Delgado.

Marciology serves as Roc Marci’s eleventh studio album, as he steps back into the booth and showcases why COMPLEX says he “continues to run New York’s underground scene” even at this point in his illustrious, decades-long career. With dark instrumentals to complement his cold-blooded bar work, Marciology is proof that the legendary emcee continues to adapt to the times while only improving his imaginative storytelling. Highlighted by Roc Marciano’s signature urgent flow and contemplative raps splashed across a canvas of nostalgic, old-school production, the long-awaited Marciology marks his first solo album in nearly four years – a staunch reminder that the producer and emcee is as hungry as he’s ever been. Widely hailed as a godfather of underground Hip-Hop, Roc Marciano is continuing to shape the sound of the next generation, playing a key role in the resurgence of contemporary Hip-Hop.

[arlequin-magazine]

Bonjour! (I have never opened an article with this greeting before, but it’s somewhat “on brand” so I will just apologize for any cringe that might have happened there.) Anyhow, you’ve probably heard the news about KAMIJO’s upcoming European tour “The Anthem” that’s taking place in June of this year, right? (If not, we’ve already made a post with tour dates and ticket information here.) You might know KAMIJO as the vocalist of Versailles (and Lareine and New Sodmy before that) and a solo musician in the 耽美系 (Tanbi Kei) subgenre of ヴィジュアル系 (Visual Kei), but did you know that there is actually a whole story behind KAMIJO’s solo works? KAMIJO started his solo career in 2013 with the release of the single “Louis 〜艶血のラヴィアンローズ〜” (Louis ~Tsuyachi no Ravian Roozu~), but the 2014 EP “Symphony of The Vampire”, the 2018 album “Sang” and the 2022 album “OSCAR” are all connected to one another, telling a story that is still unfolding to this very day. With the European tour on the horizon we figured it would be a good time to bring these releases to the front once more, and we’ve decided to do this with a three-part series that we’ve named “Behind the Mask” (yes, we are aware this is also the name of one of KAMIJO’s singles that came out in 2021). Today we’ll start with part one, which is “Symphony of The Vampire”. An EP that exists out of 7 movements, namely “Presto”, “Sacrifice of Allegro”, “Royal Tercet”, “Dying-Table”, “Sonata”, “満月のアダージョ” (Mangetsu no Adaajo) and “Throne”. Are you ready? Then let’s go! (Continue reading...) Also available in: Nederlands | Español | 日本語

[louisupdates]

THE ACADEMIC TO SUPPORT LOUIS TOMLINSON ON HIS US TOUR

HOT PRESS

By KATE BRAYDEN | 25 Apr 2023

The Academic have just been announced as support for Louis Tomlinson for his upcoming North America tour in May and June.

The Westmeath indie-pop rockers will support the former One Direction singer on dates across the US and Canada this summer, following on from their own headline North American tour.

"We’re buzzing to be joining @louist91 for some shows on the Faith In The Future world tour!" The Academic posted to their Instagram today. "We already know that Louis has the most incredible fans and we can’t wait to play for you guys! Let us know which show you are coming too. We will try and meet as many of you as we can!"

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Academic (@theacademic)

It's already been a huge year for Craig Fitzgerald, Stephen Murtagh, Matthew Murtagh and Dean Gavin. The Academic scored their second Number 1 on the Official Irish Albums Chart with their sophomore record Sitting Pretty.

The follow up to 2018 album Tales From The Backseat – their first chart topper – saw off stiff competition from both Paramore and Taylor Swift to take the coveted top spot. Tour dates across Ireland, the UK and Europe followed before the band headed Stateside.

In a special Hot Press cover story interview with Pat Carty, bassist Stephen Murtagh explained: “The first album feels like such a summery record, a young debut album. I don’t think this album feels that way. It feels like a natural progression without losing sight of what makes us… us.”

The album was produced by Nick Hodgson, formerly of Kaiser Chiefs, at Snap Studios in London.

“We listened to a lot of mixes like R.E.M. and Arcade Fire," bassist Stephen Murtagh remarked. "A lot of indie music is very kick drum with the vocal shouting at you down the middle whereas we wanted it a bit more spacey.”

“The first album, feels like such a summery record, a young debut album," Stephen resumed. "I don’t think this album feels that way. It feels like a natural progression without losing sight of what makes us… us.”

Earlier this month, The Academic performed for 20,000 people during US President Joe Biden's trip to his ancestral home in Ballina, Co. Mayo during his Irish visit. The band also performed at the Hot Press-curated Windmill Live show at the end of March.

Tomlinson will perform in Dublin on November 8th this year, at the 3Arena as part of his UK and European tour.

Louis Tomlinson, North American Support Tour Dates

26 May - UNCASVILLE, CT, USA

27 May - GILFORD, NH, USA

29 May - LAVAL, QC, CA

30 May - TORONTO, ON, CA

1 June - CUYAHOGA FALLS, OH, USA

2 June - STERLING HEIGHTS, MI, USA

3 June - CINCINNATI, OH, USA

6 June - COLUMBUS, OH, USA

7 June - INDIANAPOLIS, IN, USA

9 June - MARYLAND HEIGHTS, MO, USA

10 June - KANSAS CITY, MO, USA

13 June - MILWAUKEE, WI, USA

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Trailermania and Other Things

Wow, look at that! A new trailer Pixar's ELEMENTAL, and a first trailer for DreamWorks' upcoming sequel TROLLS BAND TOGETHER! Plus other cool things!

TROLLS BAND TOGETHER looks cute and fun, much like its predecessors. What stuck out to me, and many others, was that groovy surreal 2D animated sequence that I hope we see more of in the movie proper. More weird shifts in art styles like that, please, because the first TROLLS had some moments like that, and TROLLS WORLD TOUR had some little details here and there along with its distinct colorful worlds. The story seems markedly smaller-scale than WORLD TOUR, sort-of circling back after going big. I think releasing it five days before Disney Animation's WISH, however, isn't all that smart... And weird, considering that in many European territories, the movie is aiming for a September/October bow, but what do I know?

ELEMENTAL's new proper trailer gives us a much better idea of what director Peter Sohn's new Pixar movie is really made of. They got the basic premise out of the way with the teaser, which is - quite frankly - a teaser's job. They're made for Average Joe and Jane Soccermom, not nerds like you and I. The new trailer showcases all the fun worldbuilding and just how many gags they can stretch out of this idea: Elements being living beings. Very cartoony, very much made for animation, plus it even pokes fun at its own world. That whole quip about the purpose of chain-link fences is a line that would be even funnier in one of the CARS movies. Peter Sohn had said that the story was very personal to him as a child of Korean immigrants living in New York in the '70s and '80s, and I think we're seeing shades of that in this new trailer. But yes, visually a treat. Colorful AF, with some of that midcentury modern graphic design thing going on with the movie's logo and title cards, much like INSIDE OUT. What's exciting me about this movie is that it's animated characters where everything about them - flowing water, waving fire, etc. - is moving. It's like, super-animated.

And as a treat? Pixar's attaching CARL'S DATE, a much-delayed episode of the UP spin-off Disney+ series DUG DAYS, to the movie. This will be the first Pixar short to run in movie theaters since BAO back in 2018, which of course screened before INCREDIBLES 2. TOY STORY 4 in 2019 ran with *no* short whatsoever, and ONWARD had a Simpsons short - of all things - attached to it. SOUL went straight to Disney+ alongside the short that *would've* accompanied it in theaters, BURROW. LIGHTYEAR was the first Pixar film in theaters, domestically, since ONWARD, and that ran with no short.

More animated shorts in the cinema, pretty please.

I'm also more confident in its box office prospects. It's suggested that former Disney CEO Bob Chapek's heavy pivot to streaming has really hurt Disney's animated output in the pandemic era, from both Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar. A sort of "we can just wait for that to come out on Disney+, when it's free" mentality from potential moviegoers... Meanwhile, Illumination's SING and MINION sequels did pretty great regardless of Peacock's existence, ditto DreamWorks' PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH. These three movies are some of the only animated theatrical-release movies to cross $100m at the domestic box office, and Pixar's LIGHTYEAR did manage to get past that as well, off of its fine opening weekend gross. ELEMENTAL is the first original Pixar movie to hit theaters since ONWARD, which we can't use to gauge its prospects because that opened right before everything shot down in March 2020.

That all being said, this trailer I feel will work on moviegoers. It's a fun premise, and the trailer doesn't hesitate to show lots of the gags and jokes that they pull from it, and it looks colorful. The general public likely associates Pixar with this kind of story (despite online pop culture "experts" insisting that the movie looks like a "parody" of Pixar's past successes), so it could open okay and have solid-to-great legs! Pixars usually cost over $150m to make, so they better hope this one's a blockbuster. As in, opens with at least $45-50m and then legs it past $150m domestically and more than double that worldwide. I want it so succeed, Pixar hasn't had a genuine box office success since TOY STORY 4 back in 2019, and I'd hate to see an original movie struggle.

Summer 2023 is quite crowded in terms of family movies and four-quadrant spectacles, I must say. DreamWorks' RUBY GILLMAN, TEENAGE KRAKEN opens two weeks after ELEMENTAL, and ELEMENTAL opens two weeks after SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, which itself opens a week after Disney's LITTLE MERMAID remake... And mixed in with these are THE FLASH and the fifth INDIANA JONES movie. Pretty crowded couple of weeks I must say. A statistic back in 2014, which I bring up *a lot*, showed that the average American family hits the cinemas four times a calendar year. I'd imagine that number is even lower in the pandemic era, and I believe the stat because I've been working at a movie theater since August of 2015... And lemme tell ya, sometimes I do a double take on what I've charged my customers for tickets and concessions.

So, yes, lots of families and other moviegoers have become choosier. I feel like we're seeing that with superhero movies this year, honestly, what with ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA having abysmal legs after its giant opening, and SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS straight-up imploding. In such a competitive marketplace, you really need to stand out... not to pretend I know a thing or two about boring economics and capitalism. I think ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE is locked to do well, and on the "live-action" end, THE LITTLE MERMAID and DIAL OF DESTINY will do very well. As for RUBY GILLMAN... If we are to assume it cost $80m max to make, then it could perform like THE BAD GUYS - which narrowly missed $100m domestically and made $250m worldwide - and be considered a success. Okay $20m-ish opening, 3 1/2x multiplier to get it past $70m domestically, add about $150m overseas, all set! THE BAD GUYS had a similarly cutting-it-close marketing campaign, with the teaser bowing in December and the movie proper hitting in April. RUBY GILLMAN's trailer is now out, and the movie is literally three months away. I think they seem confident in this one. From what I understand, PUSS IN BOOTS Dos' Oscar campaign kind of got in the way of them getting the word out on RUBY GILLMAN earlier this year, and of course... A tiny movie Universal is releasing in a week... I'm sure you've never heard of it... It's called THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE.

Anyways, we now await trailers for... Netflix/Annapurna's NIMONA (summer), Netflix/Pearl's THE MONKEY KING (sometime this year), Disney Animation's WISH (November 22nd), Netflix/W/M's LEO (also Nov 22nd), Illumination's MIGRATION (December 22nd), and Aardman/Netflix's CHICKEN RUN: DAWN OF THE NUGGET (to be determined, later this year). And for whoever is interested, the 2nd PAW PATROL movie as well. Eatin' good, as they say.

[dailykoreanpop]

ATEEZ, K-POP’S RESIDENT PIRATES, AREN’T DROPPING ANCHOR ANY TIME SOON

At London’s O2 arena on Feb. 22, darkness engulfs a packed crowd of thousands, leaving just a constellation of illuminated light sticks patterned across the room. A flood of red lights then spotlight the eight members of ATEEZ, the first fourth-generation K-pop group to headline the iconic venue.

Dressed in cloaks that cover them head to toe, they walk from the main stage to a second one near the center of the room, striding with a measured intensity that says they know everyone is waiting for a big release. As the opening bars to their Earth-rattling song “New World” starts, one by one the members’ faces are lit up by neon tube lights, each to an eruption of ear-ringing screams by fans (fondly dubbed by the group as ATINY).

The concert then kicks into high gear with pyrotechnics and light shows as the group commands its dancers with puppeteer-level control until their cloaks are shed and they stand face-on, resolute in their power. It’s a feat of production, a thrilling assault on the senses that combines their typically booming musicality with a razor-sharp narrative vision that places them at the center of a fictional anarchist regime. This sensory overload is a far cry away from the first time they performed in the city in 2019, in a venue with about one-10th the capacity for fans.

A few days before the concert over a conference table, all eight members — ​​Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung, and Jongho — sharply dressed in dark and tan suits, break out in a chorus of “whoas” and “aaaahs” as I show them a badly taken video in my Instagram archive from the rafters of that first London show. It captures them occupying the small stage alone in matching white shirts, performing with the kind of synchronized ferocity that has earned them a record legion of fans in the short time since. There are no backing dancers, no 40-foot screens showing them in close-up and no fireworks, except the ones they create themselves. All there is is ATEEZ, introducing themselves to fans with the same sentiment they’d open their biggest European tour to date with four years later: “Hello, world.”

“I'm still nervous before I perform onstage,” says Hongjoong, the intuitive leader of ATEEZ who takes on the responsibility of steering most of our conversation. Reflecting on those initial smaller gigs, he says “we have grown up so much and we are now so comfortable when fans see us onstage, but I think there’s the same mindset from back then because we still want to show more things.” He says a constant desire to get bigger and better keeps them hungry. “At the shows, I always think that I want to be back here to see fans again, but if we want to do that work, we have to try harder. So it’s the same mindset.”

That first world tour came just five months after the group debuted in late 2018 with dual singles “Pirate King” and “Treasure,” proving that conquering the world was never just intended to be kept within the confines of their overarching pirate-themed concept. Despite a global pandemic halting the ability to travel and even perform in front of live audiences at home, ATEEZ have barely slowed down their expansion. Through songs like 2020’s “Inception,” 2021’s “Fireworks,” and last year’s explosive “Guerilla,” which their current world tour is inspired by, they’ve grown not only in tone but in popularity, pioneering a sound replete with as much passion as melodiousness and which has translated to millions of views on YouTube and spots on global music charts. It’s also tangibly materialized in their ability to fill arenas wherever they decide to tour and a secure place in the global conversation about K-pop’s global boom.

Since 2022, much of ATEEZ’s time has been spent on the road, first with The Fellowship: Beginning of the End and now The Fellowship: Break the Wall. Both names are a nod to their pirate roots and the idea of taking on the world together as a unit. They’ve done so much traveling, in fact, that when asked whether there was anything they’d like to see in London while they’re here, they joke they’ve already seen most of it from the number of times they’ve been. (For Wooyoung, a walk across Abbey Road’s iconic crosswalk, a Chelsea FC game, and a trip to the Harry Potter studio remain on his to-do list. “It’s the third time I’ve failed to do it so next time I’ll book tickets before I leave Korea,” Wooyoung sighs.)

Gaps in their intense touring schedules have also been filled with musical releases like EPs, standalone singles, music videos, and music show performances in South Korea. Such a packed diary could make it hard to stay motivated or think ahead creatively, but the members each have different ways to combat that burnout. “I search my name on social media,” says Seonghwa. “So many ATINYs give encouraging words, and that’s how I get my support.” Next to him, Wooyoung echoes, saying, “even if it’s hectic and we have one thing after another, we know that there are ATINYs who have been waiting even longer to see us.” He also adds that he enjoys when he’s recognized in the street on tour, as it reinforces the reality that he’s a famous singer who has a responsibility to keep pushing himself for fans.

“I get inspiration from games, animation, and things I’m doing online,” Yeosang says, pointing to fan art interpretations of himself and the group on social media. ”I see ATINYs’ drawings, and that gives me inspiration. If I see something I like, I try to make it happen onstage and make it look as good.”

“They’re so fast!” Hongjoong enthusiastically chimes in about their fans’ art, “and they make us look cooler, so we try to copy the outfits.” Yunho laughs next to him, calling ATINY the group’s new stylists.

Honjoong then dives into his own inspiration, as someone who composes much of the group’s music. “I always say to many people that my role model is David Bowie as he always tried so many creative things, so I try to get inspiration from everything. Like, even in our interview, if I get new praise or hear a good sentence, I write it down in my [phone] memos so that I can continually be creative.”

The constant desire to push forward and improve is palpable within ATEEZ, a group whose creative mental exertion is matched only by the sheer amount of physical labor they exercise on stage. Barely a moment during their set, which is packed with more than 20 songs spanning their almost five-year discography, is spent not doing some kind of energy-expending choreography. Here, the intersection of tiredness and adrenaline converges as the group tries to balance getting enough rest with the thrumming afterbuzz of performing to a room of thousands.

“It’s different for every member,” Yunho says about their post-concert wind-down. He says he likes to play games on his phone or scan the Internet, which is the same for Jongho, who called his cellphone his greatest essential when going out on tour. But they’ve recently, as a group, also developed a new way to mellow out that high. “After a show, we immediately get on the tour bus and ask it to just drive us around,” says Hongjoong. “We usually talk about our show, the mistakes we made, or sometimes we’ll joke and talk about the parts that were really good and that we should try again. We like to review the show.”

With their mind on performing while onstage and, seemingly, offstage too, you’d be forgiven for thinking the eight members have little time to dedicate to their own well-being. However, despite their constant churn of output, which includes new music coming at an unspecified time later this year, they’ve each focused on hobbies and goals coming into 2023.

Jongho immediately and enthusiastically says that he wants to take up golf more when he gets back to South Korea, while Yunho and Yeosang want to improve their gaming. San says he wants to start playing volleyball but needs to convince others to join him: “I’m alone,” he says as the room laughs, “so I need some friends.”

The group also just realized Wooyoung and Mingi have a knack for bowling after a group trip during a recent tour stop in Germany. “They were so good! We were so surprised,” says a bewildered Hongjoong.

As for Hongjoong, whom ATINY also call Captain, he wants to showcase more of his photography. “Last year, I did an exhibition of film photos, so I want to do that again this year,” he says, adding, “I try to take a picture everywhere [we go].”

Everywhere they go feels like a prophecy waiting to be fulfilled by ATEEZ. Their lore has always centered around the idea of travel, be it as pirates coursing the seas in their debut to dimension-hopping in a search for utopia in the connecting storylines of their music videos. In everything they create, there is always an eye for what they can lay claim to next.

After their show, as I’m led backstage to chat with them one final time, the group enthusiastically waves me off, saying “see you next time!” — which sounds more like a commitment than anything else. The post-pandemic era of ATEEZ’s journey has really just set sail.

Credit: Elite Daily