Tag: apocalypse please

Muse 5/8/16

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(a) setlist

    1. Psycho
    2. Dead Inside
    3. Supermassive Black Hole
    4. The Groove
    5. Madness
    6. Apocalypse Please
    7. Interlude
    8. Hysteria
    9. Stockholm Syndrome
    10. Animals
    11. New Born
    12. Uprising
    13. Time Is Running Out
    14. Reapers

Encore:

  1. Bliss
  2. Starlight
  3. Knights of Cydonia

(b) highlights

  • seeing Muse in the smallest venue I’ve EVER seen them in = amazingggg
  • straight up being at that show; it had sold out in about 0.0343 seconds and s o m e h o w I got tickets – to this day, I never know how that happened
  • “Apocalypse Please”!!! “Bliss”!!! “Stockholm Syndrome”!! “The Groove”!! “New Born”!!! “HYSTERIA” whaaaaaat
  • Starting out in the 10th row at the beginning of the show and ending up in the 2nd row by the 3rd song just by pure crowd energy and movement = magic
  • knowing that a band that uses production so, so heavily can still shine in a tiny, stripped-down venue without any production whatsoever, my god
  • got Matt Bellamy’s guitar pick…from the literal sky out of nowhere

(c) lowlights

  • I have never sweat so much in my entire life, I swear to God – Webster Hall had never been so damn hot and there were so many people, I looked like I had jumped into a pool

(d) overall thoughts

This show was magic. I couldn’t even believe I was there. It was one of those shows that felt like everyone on Earth was trying to going to, and Webster Hall is so small and it was just crazy. Tickets were will call only, so all our names were on a list and it was honestly unbelievable to see my name on that piece of paper. God, what a feeling.

As I mentioned previously, Muse is one of my all-time favorite bands and I’ve seem them many times over the years. But I’d never seen them like this. A band so strongly associated with huge lights, sounds, screens, smoke, cameras, and all that jazz totally taken away just to have three dudes on stage playing massive songs – the only thing that remained massive in that small venue. The new songs were amazing to me, the older songs were such a treat  – each moment felt like a string of gifts connecting to the next melody. What a time.

To put a total cap on the whole event, as I’m standing there after the show has ended, still trying to process everything that happened, a flash of yellow falls from the sky in Webster hall and lands a foot away from me. I divebomb on it in my prototypical ungraceful way, and my God – it’s Matt Bellamy’s used guitar pick. Where did it come from? How did it end up 20 feet from the stage in an open arena where I’m looking like a mess? Don’t know, don’t care. That’s magic.

 

Bottom Line: There’s something so strangely emotional about the impact this show had on me, and there’s so much more I could say about it, but all that really matters is that it was incredible to me.

Muse 1/27/16

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(a) setlist

    1. Psycho
    2. Dead Inside
    3. Interlude
    4. Hysteria
    5. Map of the Problematique
    6. The 2nd Law: Isolated System
    7. The Handler
    8. Resistance
    9. Supermassive Black Hole
    10. Prelude
    11. Starlight
    12. Apocalypse Please
    13. Munich Jam
    14. Madness
    15. Undisclosed Desires
    16. (JFK Speech)
    17. Reapers
    18. Time Is Running Out
    19. Uprising
    20. The Globalist
    21. Drones

Encore:

  1. Mercy
  2. Knights of Cydonia

(b) highlights

  • that setlist – “Map of the Problematique” (!!) and “Apocalypse Please” (!!) in particular
  • the 360-degree stage set-up and other-worldly production, my god
  • being front row for the first time ever seeing Muse – unforgettable as all hell
  • the literal DRONES flying around inside the venue – ain’t no time for subtlety here
  • quote of the night from my friend, who was seeing Muse for the first time: “Matt Bellamy could win American Idol!”
  • Chris Wolstenholme’s general existence
  • getting Dom’s drumstick (!!!)

(c) lowlights

  • they didn’t play my all-time favorite Muse song “Stockholm Syndrome” or my favorite song from the new album “Revolt” 😦
  • drone warfare can be, uh, a touchy subject

(d) overall thoughts

Wow, do I love Muse. For some reason, the band has attracted a particular brand of haters over the last decade or so, which never cease to amaze me because I literally cannot fathom how anyone could hate a band that has seriously redefined the idea of spectacle and performance in rock ‘n’ roll. I’ve seen Muse a lot – a couple of times for every album since 2006’s Blackholes and Revelations – and every time has been a capital E “Experience.” This one at the Barclays Center proved they’re not holding back or slowing down on monumental stage design or stadium-size production levels, but aiming even higher to perform and impress. With a huge, rotating 360-degree stage, two side stage wings with an accompanying runway, a dozen or so real-life flying and glowing drones, and one inflatable fighter jet, Muse dismiss symbolic subtlety and quiet political commentary for the best damn circus in town you’ve ever seen.

Matt Bellamy and Chris Wolstenholme were all over the stage(s), playing glowing guitars with equal parts power and grace, and damn, it was so much fun to watch. Dom Howard, though stationary, never failed to amaze from his spinning drumming stool. Though somewhat of a minority, I enjoyed their latest album Drones and found myself wrapped up in the world that Muse created in their music – presumably the one we’re living in now, only with more paranoia, violence, and impending doom. But also – hope! It’s incredible to think that just hours before the show I lamented to one of my friends how much I would love to hear an older classic like “Map of the Problematique” only for them to actually play it! I always think, when it comes down to it all, Muse is comprised of just three dudes – a guitarist, a bassist, and a drummer – but their sound can fill arenas on par with full orchestras. Each note, guitar wail, and lyric feels so fully-embodied and emotional in such a real way. So many moments during this show reminded me of that.

With very little to complain about, I have to admit that perhaps the only drawback to the literal inclusion of drones and military warfare via screens and the occasional soldier walking around the stage (seriously), was not the inherent heavy-handedness of the political message, but the insensitivity of the act; a couple of English dudes projecting “My father was killed by drones” and “my sister was hit by a drone” can feel slightly disingenuous even though that wasn’t the band’s intent. Muse have become a bit of a “message band” over the years, and I actually quite like that, but I never want my friends to feel uncomfortable at a show and a few of them were. Regardless – in my opinion – the performance itself was enough of a statement for the validity of modern day rock ‘n’ roll than any verbose political statement might’ve been.

 

Bottom line: Muse are some of the best damn musicians around – true masters of emotional performance art and experiential music – and I will always stop everything to see them perform, especially when they’ve got something to say.