There wasn't a lot of chit-chat from the band, but when front-man and lead guitarist Matthew Bellamy addressed the crowd he was a rockstar. For a tiny dude, Bellamy really owned the stage. As did the rest of the three man power house. But they had to, what choice did they have when they literally set the stage so high.
Muse answered the anticipation right out of the gates with a one-two punch of Uprising and Resistance, a pair of tour-de-force tracks off their latest album that dig into rebellion and strength of humanity while satisfying the surface with catchy musical tears. If a couple of heavy-hitters didn't draw the crowd in, the audience had no way of escaping the Muse experience that the band unleashed with an assault on all five senses.
The stage came to life with three tall towers looking out over the swaying ocean of audience. Projected images of worker-drones zombieing-up the walls of the towers moved slowly to the enterlude. As the music swelled, the drones tumbled, along with the thin curtains that covered the towers' true structure. The three band members were revealed, exploding with their own energy, each on display part way up their own tower. Powerful and bizarre images, rolling colours, and live action shots of the band bounced off the tower walls complementing the performance of the stage lights and the most incredible laser show I've ever seen. Freakin' Laser Beams!!! It was more than a Live Presentation, it was a Music Experience. Muse created a balance between it's opera-style symphonic rock and the raw yet psychedelic visual adventure that burst outwards from the stage. With each new window that was opened to the audience's wide eyes, the band's classic rockstar moves elevated the act, never allowing the music or the stage to pull ahead of one another.
By the time the set had sent people to their feet, the lower portions of the towers had disappeared into the floor of the stage allowing Bellamy and bassist Christopher Wolstenholme to cruise the stage while Dominic Howard continued to massage the drum skins. The pure rock 'n roll of leg kicks and knee slides contrasted the rest of the Muse presence with ease, never allowing your mind to get too comfortable with the show.
The potent sent of drifting marijuana clouds, the cool stale taste of bad draft, the physical rumble of rock waves that resonated heart to head and back again, the sticky floors, the simple seats, the haze from the fog machines, the dancing lights, the gentle hum that cried from your ear trying to push out the crowd's muffled cacophony during the amps repose; it all draws on your mind, sketching more than a picture can remember.
As the songs blended into themselves with captivating little interludes, the loss I felt with the end of each song was instantly forgotten as another Great began to gain momentum. Muse injected a decade's worth of theatrical pieces into their new Resistance works, rewarding the fanatic while introducing the newly-converted into the depths of their world. I got lost in each song, following the art from as many places as I could handle - from the comfort of a full body trance to the soul quenching sing-along of a stadium wide following, Muse infiltrated my being. It was the perfect performance that I immediately wanted to hit repeat on.
Not since Kings of Leon have I been so mesmerized by live music. With confidence I can claim 'Satisfaction Guaranteed' to both late nineties Showbiz owners and music lovers who don't know Muse from the Kills. Great is Great, and sometimes that level of quality elevates a performance above genre, bypassing the restriction of personal preference, and opening an experience up to all who have the luxury of being present for it. If you like Great, then the Muse Resistance Tour is for you. My plan is to line up the discography, set it to shuffle, and drift back to the concert that I will have never left every time I press play on Muse.
Even my complaints are the "Perfectionist" answer to one's faults:
- In general I find that the Babydoll Merch T's are far better than the Men's options. I still bought a great shirt, but why the girlies get all the good stuff is beyond me.
- During the 4th song of the set, Supermassive Black Hole, a supermassive number of fat female Twilight fans came out of the wood work and lost their mind... only to disappear once again by the time Hysteria had started.
- There was a serious lack of 'Crazies', 'Freaks', and 'Nutjobs'. The 'Unusual Suspects' and I don't travel in the same circles, so when I go to a concert I want to see some weirdo tattos that distract from the eerie piercings but complement the creepy hair styles and bizarro attire. This was the most standard group of people since I last walked through the Gap.
- No need for earplugs was both a blessing, since I forgot my subtle neon yellows, and a let down: my ears are no longer ringing and it's only been like 18hours since I left the stadium.
- I didn't get to hit one of the large eye-ball balloons that fell from the rafters near the end of the set. Every time one of the eye-balls burst there was a celebration of confetti that showered the area.
- An hour and a half is no where near enough Muse time. Although I was beyond impressed at how every song they played was playlist worthy, I later realized that they could have been out there for another concert's worth of favourites. I need more Muse!
- From section 211, row 6, seat 16, this was all I could come up with in terms of complaints... Oh, no backstage pass / meet-and-greet... that's all I've got.
Calgary Concert Setlist:
1) Uprising (Resistance)
2) Resistance (Resistance)
3) New Born (Origin...)
4) Supermassive Black Hole (Black Holes...)
5) Interlude (instrumental)
6) Hysteria (Absolution)
7) MK Ultra (Resistance)
8) Nishe (instrumental)
9) United States of Eurasia (Resistance)
10) Feeling Good (Origin...)
11) Helsinki Jam (insturmental)
12) Undisclosed Desires (Resistance)
13) Starlight (Black Holes...)
14) Unnatural Selection (Resistance)
15) Time is Running Out (Absolution)
16) Plug in Baby (Origins...)
Encore:
17) Exogenesis: Symphony Part 1 (Overture) (Resistance)
18) Stockholm Syndrome (Absolution)
19) Knights of Cydonia (Black Holes...)
Albums:
Showbiz (1999)
Origin of Symmetry (2001) [3 tracks]
Hullabaloo (2002)
Absolution (2003) [3 tracks]
Black Holes & Revelations (2006) [3 tracks]
H.A.A.R.P. Live from Wembley Stadium (2008)
the Resistance (2009) [7 tracks]
... and a few other B-sides
Special thanks to my iPhone for the raw remembrance...
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