Muses

Throwing Muses stopped being a full time thing in… 1997? I think? Every few years they pop back up again with a new record and I go berserk for a while. For me there are two bands that I would take a bullet for. Rush is one, Throwing Muses is the other. It doesn’t make sense, it’s not rational. I don’t care. I’ve been obsessed for decades and there is nothing I can do about it.

There is a new album due to come out on March 14th. I am beside myself with anticipation. They’ve snuck out three of the songs already and I’m literally losing my mind over them. The last record they gave us came out in 2020 (Sun Racket) and it is fan-freakin-tastic. This new one… Moonlight Concessions… I cannot wait. I absolutely cannot wait.

The only question left is, are they going to tour. The answer is yes, but as of right now the only shows they’ve announced are in Europe in May. I don’t think I can get to Europe to see them so I am going to have to just sit (im)patiently and wait to see if they announce North American shows. I need to see them. I NEED to see them. The last time I saw them was August 11, 2006 and if I don’t see them again I am going to mentally fall apart forever. No exaggeration at all. I will lose my skull.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/3515812218/in/album-72157617818549515

But wait, there’s more! Possibly… I don’t know for sure.

Remember that sad time in 1992 or so when Throwing Muses split in two? It was sad at the time but the end result was two bands who were operating on very similar release/tour schedules. We had Muses proper, and we also had Belly. Remember Belly? Gold record, huge hit single, grammy nominations, round the clock MTV airplay. Yeah, you remember. It was almost (not quite, but almost) like having two versions of one of my favorite bands operating at the same time.

Well it turns out Belly is coming back again this year as well. It’s the 30th anniversary of their second record (which should have been a gigantic hit but wasn’t) and they have announced that there will be live shows. We don’t know when or where yet. I never saw Belly live. Even when they got together for short stretches a few years ago, I still haven’t seen them. I saw Tanya Donnelly on her own shortly after they broke up, but I never saw Belly.

This is the year. I don’t know where, when, or how but I NEED it to happen.

I haven’t seen any Muses related artists live since October 6, 2007 when Jen and I experienced the magic of Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donnelly on the same bill at the Brattle Theater and they did a set together and it was amazing. Remember that day?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/3515979868/in/album-72157617820421549/

I need NEED both bands to announce Boston area shows and I need it to happen soon before I go insane and I also need them to be on consecutive days so that they both sit in with each other because that would be pretty much the only thing that could make me feel better as the United States descends into fascism.

Pretty please