Muse have to bribe people to let them use their special effects in live shows.
The 'Knights of Cydonia' rockers current The 2nd Law World Tour has been nicknamed The Unsustainable Tour because of the enormous amount of pyrotechnics used, and the huge show often leads the band to issues on tour.
Frontman Matt Bellamy told Perthnow.com.au: "Everywhere you go there are problems. We have accountants and lawyers arguing with all sorts of local councils and police and promoters.
"In Rome, we had to bribe people with thousands of euros just to be allowed to blast our fire effects. We had to phone the British Embassy in Rome and argue with some official. If you want to do things like this on the move, it's quite a big deal. It's pretty expensive though. It's mind-boggling how much, actually. But it's worth it. If people enjoy themselves, who cares?"
The band - completed by Dominic Howard and Chris Wolstenholme - are known for making their live show even bigger each time they tour, and Matt sees it as his duty to push the limits in the name of science fiction.
He said: "We're trying to fly the flag for not giving up on striving for something bigger. Striving for a little progress.
"We could always whip out the acoustic guitars, get around a campfire and start singing about how we should all start becoming hippies, smoking spliffs and growing vegetables. Which I'm totally in favour of, I do most of those things on a regular basis. But I think there's still a side of me that was into the science fiction dreams growing up that doesn't really want to let go of that.
"I think that's reflected in this tour, we're at a point where we don't need to hold back. We can do something that might bankrupt us all. Metaphorically or creatively speaking, it's good to take risks sometimes."
Tagged in Matt Bellamy Muse Chris Wolstenholme