Muse(!) @ the Fillmore Auditorium (Denver, CO), 7/24/06 Aug 02 '06    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet Popular Products in Music The Dirtchamber Sessions, Vol. 1 by The Prodigy From $11 Jersey Boys [Original Broadway Cast Recording] by Original Broadway Cast From $8 The Bottom Line Matt, Dom, Chris? Yes, please! For the past week, the night of July 24th, 2006 has been constantly playing in my head. Every arpeggio, riff, and bassline has found a place in my mind to settle and make itself at home. I've thought about how to properly review a performance by one of the best live bands to grace a stage. How am I to do them justice? How am I supposed to put this experience into words? The band in question would happen to be one of the biggest names in the UK, the winner of a Best Live Act award, and one of my personal favorites, MUSE. I distinctly remember the first time I ever heard Matt Bellamy's voice. It was a late night and we were on our way to San Antonio. I was in the back of a motor coach with someone drooling all over my shoulder right outside of Oklahoma City. I was listening to the local radio station when I heard a fat, buzzing bassline and Matt's breathy crooning. I thought, "Hey, something in music that isn't half bad!" And then, a "what the hell is that" moment hit me right in the face when Matt's falsetto kicked in, but I certainly grew to love it. The second I got home, I looked up my newest "it" band and the obsession grew from there. Okay, I admit I'm one of those Yanks who had only heard of Muse after Time Is Running Out got airplay in the states, but I'm just not that up on my UK music. Luckily, the band has gotten plenty of attention after checking in the Billboard charts at #9 with their latest release, Black Holes And Revelations. Anyway, enough of my nostalgia. I eagerly anticipated the release of Black Holes And Revelations. And when I say eagerly, I mean, obsessively, because that's just how I roll. Tour dates were posted, panic attacks were had, et cetera, et cetera. My heart sunk. The closest city that Muse was playing in was Denver, which is eight hours away from my itty bitty town in Kansas. So, I started planning my road trip to Colorado, because eight hours is nothing if you're getting to see Muse when you get there. I pull up to the venue and I see absolutely no one. Then I turn around the corner and there is a line that is seriously two blocks long. No worries, though, Muse can rock 'em in the back too. Somehow, I fought my way up so that I could almost touch the barricades. Sometimes, I am so surprised at how talented I am. All I had to do was wait until those dapper British boys came and stole my heart away. But first comes survival of the opening bands. The Cloud Room is (or at least I think they are): J - Vocals, guitar David H - Guitar Steven - Piano Jon Petrow - Bass Jason Pharr - Drums As it always is with these bands and their warped sense of being on time, the show (scheduled to start at 8 pm) started around 8:30 and by that time, the booze was flowing and the sweat was, er, pouring. While suffering the nearly unbearable wait, I tried to figure out how I was supposed to stare at Matt for an hour and a half with this seven foot tall German man in front of me. Still in the middle of my predicament, the purple chandeliers of the Fillmore Auditorium finally dimmed and the place roared with applause. Well, maybe not roared, but we were quite excited. I'm not really sure for what, though, because of all the people I chatted up, not one person even knew the name of the opening band, let alone liked them. A man in all white with a rather strange looking mass of curls on his head walked on stage with four or five other guys and they played. That could pretty well sum up my whole Cloud Room experience, because to put it bluntly, they were so boring that all I could think about during their set was that Indian restaurant I passed on the way to the show. Their sound wasn't bad, but they had absolutely no stage presence whatsoever and each song ran into the next. I suppose that if I would have actually listened to their songs prior to the concert, I would've liked them a lot better. They sounded a bit like Kevin Max, a lot like Interpol, but watered down in a mish-mash of airy pop songs that all sound the same. Oh well, I guess anyone would sound like that when playing before Muse. So, nearly an hour after the Cloud Room's set finished (which thankfully wasn't very long), I had to practically keep myself from having a heart attack because... IT'S MOTHERFREAKIN' MUSE! Muse is: Matthew Bellamy - Vocals, guitars, keyboards Chris Wolstenholme - Bass, backing vocals Dominic Howard - Drums Morgan Nichols - Backing keyboards Another man in white, albiet very different from the previous man in white, enters from stage left. Two other men follow, and the crowd absolutely has a fit. They are our heroes, and, excuse the pun, our muse. Without a word from any of the band members, the synth riff of Take A Bow sweeps the entire venue and completely takes my breath away. A steady crescendo builds up to Matt wailing "You'll burn in hell for your sins!" and it's on. From that moment, Muse fans in Denver barely get a break. The highlights don't stop there. The chunky bassline of Hysteria starts a small mosh pit and one of my personal favorites (New Born) lights the place on fire. Matt sits at his piano for the unforgettable intro to this song and soon breaks out into an all-out guitar frenzy for about six minutes. I really wish they would've played more songs from Origin of Symmetry, and probably even Showbiz, because most of the audience seemed to know most of their older stuff. The only song they played from their first album was Sunburn, which is a real crowd pleaser with Matt's insane piano skills. Soldier's Poem was the only break the band gave us, tempo-wise. I thought it was kind of an odd choice of song to be played for such an energetic set. I would rather have them play a slower Absolution song like Blackout or Sing For Absolution. But still, no complaints, as it was a nice surprise to be hearing so much new material, considering the Absolution tour seemed like a Muse rewind with all of the OOS they played. While on the subject of old songs, you need to be prepared for Plug In Baby, which is definitely up there in my top 5 song list. Mosh pits, screaming, and some hardcore guitar playing will ensue. Best live song, ever. I would have never guessed that they would play City Of Delusion, but Matt came out, donning his acoustic guitar and pulled it off fantastically, even though it was obvious that they had some musical augmentation playing behind them. Dominic Howard still maintains his title as the smiliest drummer in rock, grinning the whole way through, even during the more serious songs. Chris got a little bit of mic time, especially during Supermassive Black Hole, where he sang most of the chorus. By the time the set reached the total noisefest of Stockholm Syndrome, I was starting to get fatigued. Muse had played but one slow song the whole set and I had been hopping around the whole time. Thank God the band had mercy and after screaming "This is the last time I'll abandon you!", Matt and the crew walked off stage. Of course, what Muse show is complete without a completely explosive encore? Within a few minutes, I had regained some strength to mosh and scream the lyrics out to Time Is Running Out and Knights Of Cydonia, both of which were crowd favorites. KoC had Matt playing guitar behind his head, on the floor, and in other interesting positions without missing a single note. "Thank you Denver! Good night!" And with the final dimming of lights, I am soaked in sweat, and completely exhausted from what I have just been through. Muse is a relentless live band, in each and every way. Forget what you think of Black Holes or Absolution. With one concert, they will have you loving every minute of all of their albums. What reason is there not to see them? Oh yeah, and did I mention that Matt Bellamy is a complete hottie? ;) Setlist Take A Bow Hysteria Map Of The Problematique New Born Assassin Butterflies & Hurricanes Supermassive Black Hole Sunburn Solider's Poem Starlight Plug In Baby City Of Delusion Stockholm Syndrome Encore Time Is Running Out Knights Of Cydonia For more on THE CLOUD ROOM, go to thecloudroom.com. For more on MUSE, go to muse.mu or microcuts.net.

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