Last night's Muse concert was the best live rock show I have ever seen, full stop. In a stunning upset, pyromaniac korpermusik purveyors Rammstein have been pushed into second place in the Arena Concert Experience category.
Muse is a three-piece outfit, a classically aligned power trio like Rush, and similar to them makes use of both automation and session musicians to take over either the guitar or keyboard duties for frontman Matt Bellamy as needed. In fact, in a comprehensive transformation from the shy fellow who let the drummer warm up the crowd in their H.A.A.R.P. concert film, he actually focused purely on vocals for a handful of songs, occasionally grabbing an axe to take over on solos.
But in addition to those background musicians, the Simulation Theory tour adds dancers, acrobats and a ten-piece marching band dressed as androids covering the horns from "Pressure."
Other highlights included 4 acrobats suspended from the rafters in hazmat suits while the giant video screen behind them depicted microscopic organisms swarming around them, two dozen translucent beach balls containing glow sticks being batted around during "Starlight," an enormous cyborg puppet erupting from under the stage, and, of course, more lasers than the entirety of the Strategic Defense Initiative.
Musically, the band played for nearly two straight hours, covering a solid mix of tracks from the newest album as well as their back catalogue, so in addition to "Algorithm" and the gospel version of "Dig Down", we got to hear "Plug-In Baby," "Time is Running Out for Us," and "Hysteria," which is still one of the best bass demos I know.
The staging, pacing and sound quality were all top-flight, but part of what makes a Muse concert such a great experience is their commitment to bringing as much drama to the stage as they put into their music, which is a considerable amount. They've had an actor or two and a pair of trapeze artists onstage before, but the additional personnel brings it to a whole new scale.
Muse has always enjoyed a reputation as having one of rock's best live shows, and with this being my third time seeing them, I can assure you: they are getting better all the time.
If you have an opportunity to see this tour, I highly recommend you do so. Pete and I are having a great visit with my sister and her husband down here in Houston, but now I find myself looking for a way I can bring more of the family to Toronto to see Muse there, which seems unlikely. But if they come anywhere in Western Canada on a second leg of their world tour, I will be there again without hesitation.
No comments:
Post a Comment