January 30, 2013
Muse’s 2009 The Resistance Tour featured a pyramid-shaped stage based on George Orwell’s 1984, an elephant lift which launched the band 30 feet into the air and a series of acrobatic displays and stunning LED visuals. So it’s fair to say that the 60,000 fans who packed Los Angeles’ Staples Center over three nights weren’t expecting a conventional guitar-band-drums set-up for their resulting The 2nd Law tour.
With prices for Muse tickets on TicketIQ starting at averaging $125, $143, and $220 for the three shows at Staples (compared to a tour average of $164), few could have complained about a lack of value for money. Those fans in attendance witnessed yet another typically elaborate stage set-up as the band hit their second venue on the US leg of their tour.
Alongside Dominic Howard’s elevated drum kit, was an impressive array of lasers, balloons and confetti, and Bellamy’s karaoke-style glasses. Audiences were perhaps most wowed by the clever visuals featured on the various video screens that engulfed the stage, from the stock exchange ticker during “Animals” to the roulette wheel, which accompanied “Stockholm Syndrome.” But whereas most bands would struggle under the weight of such an ambitious production, Muse’s prog-rock sound has always been equally theatrical, ensuring that it was still the trio who remained the focus of the two-hour set.
http://youtu.be/x9kv9G_ndSI
Kicking off with the bombastic dubstep of “The 2nd Law: Unsustainable,” the band then reeled through a further seven tracks from its parent album including lead single “Madness,” which was dedicated to Bellamy’s fiancée, Kate Hudson. Other performances included the symphonic rock of “Supremacy” and the Queen-esque “Panic Station.”
But recognizing that the crowd also wanted to hear the hits, Muse didn’t fail to please their audience. They performed a string of singles from 2001 sophomore Origin Of Symmetry (“Bliss,” “Plug In Baby”), 2003 UK chart-topper Absolution (“Time Is Running Out,” “Hysteria”), 2006 US breakthrough Black Holes and Revelations (“Starlight,” “Supermassive Black Hole”) and 2009’s The Resistance (“Undisclosed Desires,” “Uprising”). They also added a new drum n’ bass interlude, “Monty Jam,” and a brief excerpt of Rage Against The Machine’s “Freedom.”
http://youtu.be/lfusZRZVYrg
Supported by British blues-rock outfit Band Of Skulls, Muse will now play three dates in Canada before returning to the US on February 22nd at Sunrise’s BB&T Center (get-in price $72, average price $180). Therethey will be joined by Los Angeles post-hardcore quarter Dead Sara for 16 shows. Hundreds of Muse tickets are still available on TicketIQ for most dates, with Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena on February 28th currently holding the cheapest get-in price at $56, and Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Events Center on March 17th the lowest average price at $158.
In Canada, Muse has dates at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre on April 9th and 10th, and Montreal’s Centre Bell on April 23rd. While up north they will also be accompanied by Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro who will travel with the band back to the states for shows at TD Garden on the 12th, Madison Square Garden on the 15th and 16th, the IZOD Center on the 19th, and the Nassau Coliseum on the 21st. Ticket prices for these shows all start around $70 bucks with hundreds of great seats still available for each date. If you’d like to see Muse or any upcoming concerts, check out TicketIQ.com.
