The Europeans have been gagging all over Muse's cock for years. Various European magazines have proclaimed them the artists of the decade,touring artist of the year, and so on and so on. I have been a fan since the Absolution album. Their first two albums are a bit avant garde for me. I had the ability to see them at the Khyber Bar about six years ago. I passed. "Muse...I hate their EP." I am kicking myself for that.

Muse has not brought their full production tour to the States. Most of the time opting for stripped down sets, which makes us Yanks feel like red headed step children. However, we finally got a full production last night at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. I see why the European press has nothing but great things to say about this band.

I have been to countless concerts and I experienced things I have never experienced last night. In America, we like to be close to the band.This gets us in trouble (See Dimebag tragedy), but in Europe they are ok being 15-20 feet away from the stage. Muse has a big circular stage,then about 10-15 feet of railway tracks for two cameras. After the camera pit comes the bouncer and photographer pit (about 5-8 feet) and THEN the barrier for the people. So Muse performed a whopping 20-25 feet away from the audience. That is not a gripe, just something I haven't ever seen before. Even Metallica stadium shows are closer than that.

The house lights dim around 8:30 and there are three giant columns onstage. An intro plays where lights shine on the columns to make them seem like tall buildings. The intro is a bit long, but finally Muse erupts into the familiar beat of their latest single Uprising. The "buildings" fall revealing Muse standing on top of LED light columns.They are 20 feet above the stage standing on top of the columns. The columns change colors, showcase vibrant colors and images (flowers, green fields). They are amazing and totally unique. I have never seen a band use LED lights quite like it.

Matt Bellamy, lead guitar and vocals, looked like Liberace's closet threw up. He had silver pants and jacket and sparkling shoes. Actually, he may have been the straight version of Liberace since at one point Matt jumped on the piano.

They played a lot of songs off their latest album Resistance, but did still rely heavily on the older albums. They did a good job of playing to not only the older fans, but also the newly minted Twilight fans. Speaking of that, those Twlighters are fucking annoying. They have the potential to ruin Muse for the casual fans. They are fanatical about everything (Twlight, Muse, budding breasts). I have a feeling that Muse will be seen as the "Twlight" band and not the good band they are. It is exactly what happened to Dave Matthews. Yea, his band is good, but his fans ruin it for everyone else. Perhaps the worst fan would be the one who love Twlight, Muse, and Dave Matthews. Luckily, so far, those people are myths.

The sound was impeccably balanced. I didn't get any reverb, ricochet sound, or cracks/hisses. That is hard to do in an arena setting. Muse was able to captivate an entire arena. I also might add an entire Philadelphia arena. Philly is typically a harsh crowd, but they loved Muse. The band made fans sitting behind the stage a part of the show, playing to them a few times and making sure to make eye contact with them. A few arena bands (Linkin Park come to mind) opens the back of the stage and then never plays to them.

Are Muse the best touring band in the world? No. Are they artist of the decade? That is debatable. But do they put on a great performance for your money? Absolutely. Some pictures are below that I took with my cellphone. I forgot to dilate my ass and squeeze my camera in. You have to settle for cell phone pictures. As with all our pictures, you can click the image to pop to the larger version.





Setlist:

Uprising
Resistance
New Born
Map of the Problematique
Supermassive Black Hole
Guiding Light
Hysteria
Nishe
United States of Eurasia
Feeling Good
Helsinki Jam
Undisclosed Desires
Starlight
Plug In Baby
Time is Running Out
Unnatural Selection

Encore:

Exogensis: Symphony Part 1
Stockholm Syndrome
Knights of Cydonia

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