The Cloud Room:
MUSE:
From my diary:
"My how a couple of years changes things! MUSE is finally becoming as big in America as they are everywhere else on the planet. When we arrived, there was a line down the block, around the corner and around the next corner. It's one of the longest lines I've ever seen. The show was sold out cold. Scalpers couldn't even find tickets to scalp. Maybe there is some justice in the world (pun fully intended, if'n you get it) if a band like this is finally making headway in the US.
I had both cameras weighing me down (and quite painful). I waited in the pit, admiring the upgrades at the Tabernacle and this killer combo of speaker mains that MUSE had that leaned back like a quarter circle. The way they were meant that the people in the balconies could get at least as good a mix as the people up front. Ingenious I tells ya!
The band finally came on with "Take A Bow" from the new record. The lighting was (of course) awful for this portion of the show. Everything went crazy for "Hysteria" though. Jeez, it was loud in the pit. It's hard for me to believe that Muse can give out that much energy every night. "Supermassive Black Hole" followed and the kick drum literally felt like it was kicking me in the chest with each hit. It friggin' rocked. By then, the shoot was up.
I made way into the first balcony and sweated through a couple of songs. It was so unbelievably hot and uncomfortable in there. It was so humid, I thought it was going to start raining inside. I eventually decided to try the 2nd (and top) balcony. It used to be beyond miserable there. But tonight, with the Tabernacle upgrades, it was nice and cool (relatively speaking). On top of that, with MUSE's special speakers, it sounded better than anywhere! We watched them tear through a set that lasted a little over an hour. Right off hand I remember "Starlight", "Soldier's Poem", "Invincible", "Time Is Running Out", "Bliss", "Plug In Baby", "Feeling Good" and "Butterflies And Hurricanes".
The finale of the main show was "Stockholm Syndrome". It was the best single musical performance I've seen this year. Oof! Just incredible. After it had gotten as big and bombastic as possible, they took it over the edge with a whole new riff-heavy section. Wow!
The final song of the night was "Knights Of Cydonia". I like the song just fine on record but it takes on a whole new dimension live. The reverbed out vocals were great and really added to give it that spaghetti western cum surfer metal vibe. It stomped, man!
YEAH!
Muse is jaw-droppingly good in concert. I’ve heard it said that Muse are the best
live band on the planet. I don't know if I agree but I'm leaning that way."
