INTERFORM ART MAGAZINE
Muse - a rock band inspiring and entertaining for decades
Jayna Fields & Sara Rosenberg
WRITTEN by
21 September, 2026
In this article, we share our experiences with the band Muse and their music, which we both love. Jayna got hooked when she heard "Muscle Museum" in England in 2001 while studying abroad, and has since attended a total of 21 Muse concerts and will see her 22nd and 23d show in Germany this year, while Sara discovered them when the song "Supermassive Black Hole" appeared in the Twilight movie in 2008. She has listened to them ever since and has been inspired by them in her photography.
Setlist from a Muse concert in 2007, belonging to Jayna.
Photographs: Jayna Fields
Social media offers an excellent way to connect with like-minded people across borders. We met on Instagram and realized we share a passion for Muse, writing, and concert photography/videography, so we decided to write an article together about how we discovered Muse and our thoughts and experiences.
But first, who are Muse? The English rock band Muse, consisting of Matthew Bellamy, Christopher Wolstenholme, and Dominic Howard, is currently on The Wow! Signal Tour promoting their tenth studio album of the same name. The band has been active for 32 years, always with the same three members, and is still thriving. Formed in Devon in South West England as Rocket Baby Dolls, they later changed the name to Muse after winning a local battle of the bands in Teignmouth.
Photograph: Jayna Fields
JAYNA'S STORY
Photograph: Jayna Fields
"It’s a different world there, hanging on for dear life at the feet of the musical magicians themselves."
"To see Muse live is an unforgettable experience. I’ve seen them at multiple stages of their career.
The first time? 2004, a tiny club where they were the opening act for a band I’ve forgotten in the United States. I was working at a newspaper then, and when I saw the press release with their name on it I was overjoyed.
I was already a fan, having done a study abroad in England in the summer of 2001. There, I heard Muscle Museum for the first time and I was hooked.
I’ll never forget how surreal it was, walking right up to the barrier without a clue as to what the band even looked like. But I knew what they sounded like, and that was all that mattered.
And then, this three-piece of scrawny young men in their mid-twenties explodes onstage with this incredible frenetic energy and immediately launches into their most popular song on the radio: Hysteria.
I thought they were quite bold, as most bands would have saved their most well-known track for their encore. But Muse is not like most bands.
That was 2004, and it cost about $12. Chris had long hair to his shoulders and a broken wrist. As usual, I couldn’t really see Dom behind the drum kit. A woman yelled at Matt to take his shirt off, and he said “we have to get to know each other better before we start getting naked.” Alas, he never took off his shirt.
Since then I’ve seen them 21 more times in six different states across America. Over time, their stage design has evolved from the simplistic to the bombastic. But that energy, that magnetic magic that draws us in has only gotten stronger.
I usually queue up for a minimum of four hours chasing the reward of the barrier. It’s a different world there, hanging on for dear life at the feet of the musical magicians themselves.
You make friends with the people around you, who are usually happy to hold your spot while you run and grab a drink or visit the restroom.
Muse fans are especially good-natured, and I love how people are exchanging friendship bracelets now.
Over the past 22 years, I’ve seen people faint, fight, and attempt to make love in the pit. I’ve seen technical glitches leave Matt strumming away furiously with no sound.
At one show, Edgefest 16 in Texas, fans were so excited the barricade got pushed back and we ended up with a reduced set while security tried in vain to get the unruly crowd to cooperate.
Matt poured water on the overheated crowd, trying to help, and Dom was dressed as Spider-Man. He must have regretted that wardrobe decision in the Texas heat.
In 2007, I took my sons to their first gig. They were 11 and 14 then, and we took a family vacation to San Francisco. CA. We got to the barrier, only for a lovely Irish man to approach us from the security pit and suggest that it “was about to get rough.”
He ended up pulling me and my younger son out to sit on the other side of the barricade. I had never been pulled out before, and he said “apologies in advance, this is quite undignified,” and then there I was, suddenly upside down over his shoulder.
Our new seating was equal parts amazing and terrible. Amazing, because we could almost reach out and touch Matt’s piano. Terrible because I couldn’t move with the music. We did end up with a setlist that I still have.
I’ve been asked why. Why must I see the same band over and over again? Simple. The setlist rotates, anything could happen, and in all this time I’ve only seen Matt toss a guitar once.
Someday, I hope to see Unintended live and get a do-over with Space Dementia. I saw them play it live at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, but I couldn’t see over the crowd very well. I do remember how excited I was though.
Matt said, “we assumed you wanted some deep cuts. We’re going real deep.” When I heard the very first note, I screamed with joy. But I want a do-over. I want to SEE Matt fall to his knees and hit that power chord. You know the one.
Who knows, maybe I’ll get lucky at my Muse #22 and #23 in Germany this November."
SARA'S STORY
"I learned that Matt is mostly self-taught on piano and guitar, and doesn't have formal training for singing either, which I find very inspiring."
Photograph: Jayna Fields
“I first heard Muse in 2008, when their song “Supermassive Black Hole” appeared in the first Twilight movie. I think it was from their fourth studio album. From there, it was just a continuous discovery of all they had created up until then, and I kept following their musical journey, and not one album has disappointed.
The author of the Twilight series, Stephenie Meyer, is also a huge Muse fan, so she connected me to this world of Muse and their music. She really wanted to have their music in the movie adaptation of her book, and her dream came true. Twilight feels like its own universe I want to revisit, and I feel the same way when I listen to Muse.
Speaking of dreams coming true, I think it’s really cool how Muse collaborated with Ellie Goulding on a song on the latest album, called “Hush”. Apparently, she had a dream several years ago that she was in Muse, and when they released the song, they shared an old tweet where she wrote: “Dreamt I was in Muse”. There is also a young adult paranormal romance novel called Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick, so it feels like full circle for me with how I experience a connection between the YA novel world and Muse.
I like the whole band, but Matt’s artistry and creativity have especially inspired me, both intellectually and creatively. Of course, Chris on bass is extraordinary, and so is Dom on drums.
I became really fascinated by Matt’s creativity when I listened to interviews and began analyzing lyrics and how the music was constructed. I learned he is mostly self-taught on piano and guitar and doesn’t have formal training in singing either, which I find very inspiring. He seems to really enjoy the process of creating music, and the band works so well together, in symbiosis.
One thing that struck me about Matt’s music was how he blends classical piano with rock and isn’t afraid to cross genres to create something completely new. I think of him not only as a musician but also as a sound artist. He also incorporates atonal elements and electronics. And he seems to have so much fun creating!
In my academic studies, I have come across Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and the goal of self-actualization, as well as theories on personality development, and Matt seems to me to have reached this highest level of development.
Another thing that fascinates me is that Matt has a strong intellectual curiosity and draws inspiration from science and also alternative and sometimes “alternative” facts and conspiracy theories. You can see this in titles like “Origins of Symmetry”, “Supermassive Black Hole”, and now “The Wow-Signal”. According to a quick Google search, the Wow! Signal was “a strong narrowband radio signal detected in 1977,” and it sparked debate about extraterrestrial activity.
Unfortunately, I’ve never been able to see them live, but I hope I get the opportunity soon. I really appreciate how they always seem to put on over-the-top, spectacular performances that give the audience an experience; they seem to really care about their audience. Watching a lot of Muse videos online has inspired me to do concert photography and has influenced how I do it.
Muse also often shares fan artwork on their social media and has a space on their website for fans to share their creativity. I really appreciate how they encourage creativity, and Matt, Chris, and Dom all have an honorary Doctorate of Arts at the University of Plymouth.”
Jayna @jmarvine
Sara @sara.rosenberg.foto