“Our time is running out”, I’m sorry, but we have to disagree
We had the chance to see Muse reunite with Dublin after 7 years at their live show at 3Arena on September 27. Actually, the word “seeing” would not do the show justice, considering how epic and electrifying the whole show was. We felt Muse through the heat on our faces when the whole stage was spitting fire. We felt Muse when we could not keep our eyes open because of the amount of confetti and snowflakes raining down from the ceiling. We felt Muse when there was a huge creature on stage that looked like it was guarding the gates of Helheim with its horns and glowing red eyes, telling us we were psycho killers. We felt Muse, singing along to Matt’s guitar riffs. We felt hope, strength, happiness, and joy, but we also felt madness, despair, worry, and anger. So it would be better to say that we got to be a part of an experience, which very few bands could offer so consistently over a very long period.
Performance
Alex already mentioned that they were one of the best performers he had ever seen, even before going to the show, and it was again, one of the first things he said when the show was over. When it comes to their performance, we think it is crucial to say that doing these kinds of shows (even bigger ones), for over 20 years, and maintaining the same energy and sound is something that deserves a huge respect. Frontman Matt Bellamy's ability to still hit those high notes, along with the entire band's energy during the roughly two-hour performance, is proof that their 'time will not run out' anytime soon.
Alex already knew how parallel the live performance was to the studio versions in terms of vocal and sound quality, but I personally want to add how fascinating this was, bearing in mind how high Matt sings. We did not have much to say other than “wow”, and to be fair, it is Muse guys c’mon we probably don’t need to say how great the performance was. If you don’t know already, all of the articles online already talk about how great their performance is. So we prefer a different approach to writing this review, knowing that we do not have to tell you how great Muse is, we will go into details and specific points of their greatness, alongside some criticism we have about the whole experience (believe it or not, we have plenty).
The main point of criticism we have about the performance was that we did not feel like they hadn't played in Dublin for more than 7 years. Honestly, when you think about it, Muse coming back to Dublin after a long time, plus the fact that Matt is quarter Irish (which he talked about in this show briefly), we expected a more historic and special reunion between Dublin and Matt. The main reason we felt like this was the lack of interaction with the crowd. We barely got anything from Matt or the rest of the band other than the quarter-Irish information, and the classic “thank you”, and “good night”. However, we believe crowd interaction is a two-way street, and the audience significantly contributed to the reunion falling short of our expectations, which we will discuss shortly.
Now let’s talk about the setlist a little bit. For me, the highlight of the concert was the setlist. Muse for me was a heritage from my parents. I was listening to Muse growing up, but was kind of detached from them throughout the years. So this show was some sort of a reunion between me and Muse as well as it was between Dublin and Matt.
Walking towards the arena, I remember telling Alex that “Butterflies and Hurricanes” was one of my favourite songs growing up. With the increasing rumours that they could play some songs from Absolution in honor of its 20th anniversary, we had some expectations of them playing songs they usually do not play. When Matt said they were going to play a couple of songs they haven’t played in a while; and apologised in advance if they f*** it up, that moment, leading to them playing Butterflies and Hurricanes was the highlight of my night. It was their first time playing B&H since 2017. We both felt extremely lucky to be a part of this historical moment, especially myself, since that song specifically had a history for me.
With the addition of a couple of songs that took us back through the depths of our memories, we both found the setlist very satisfying and very well-constructed. The setlist, combined with stage work and the videos that were played on the screens, gave us a captivating storyline to follow throughout the whole show. The order of the songs, no matter which album they were from, formed a very well-connected narrative and gave the whole show a theme. A theme where the Will of the People punches out a hole in the wall that was being pushed towards them by the guardian of Helheim (yes guys, I am going to call that huge monster on stage that from now on).
We love the idea of having a perfectly flowing storyline in a live show, and we enjoyed every element of it, especially during the video of Felsmann + Tiley’s reinterpretation of Kill Or Be Killed, when the officers of the guardian of Helheim knocked out the rebel with the sign “Will of the People” (sorry for the spoiler). However, this captivating and very interesting storyline kind of faded after “Time is Running Out”. We started losing track of the storyline and the videos towards the second half of the show. About this, Alex also mentioned that to finish the storyline in their previous shows of the Simulation Theory Tour, Matt threw a guitar at the villain of that storyline, to free the suppressed people, which was the perfect ending to the story. In Dublin, the story kind of faded away as we approached the end of the show, and just ended without closure. We would have loved to see that enthralling storyline resolving in this show as well.
As much as I briefly mentioned the stage spitting fire, gigantic creatures hanging out on stage like it’s nobody’s business, and confetti raining down like cats and dogs, I want to talk a little bit more about how insane the production and the stage was. During this tour, the stage initially appeared much simpler, far less intricate, and theatrical than the stage used for the famous 2013 concert at the Olympic Stadium in Rome. However, it held some pretty impressive surprises. After "Won't Stand Down," during the video with "Kill or Be Killed" playing in the background, the lights dimmed, and the first mask representing one of the fictional rebels from the world that inspired their latest record, "Will of the People," quietly emerged. This mask accompanied us for a significant part of the concert, literally changing its face with every song, as there were screens behind it altering its appearance.
At the end of "We Are Fking Fked," the rebel decided it was time to leave and went back to prepare for the imminent revolution. The lights behind the stage, which had previously been divided to make room for the mask, returned, and the mirror game began. Even before Muse took the stage, six mirrors hanging from above were noticed, which had not been fully utilised until the first hour and a half. With the arrival of "Supermassive Black Hole," the mirrors descended from above and danced harmoniously to the music while occasionally spewing fire. These mirrors added depth and a sense of three-dimensionality, which was very intriguing. It's a shame they only lasted for three more songs ("Plug In Baby," "Uprising," and "Starlight"). In our opinion, they could have been utilised better, even in the first part of the concert.
The lights dimmed once again, the mirrors returned to their place, realigning at the top of the stage, and with a speech by JFK taken from the album "Drones," the last mask appeared. At the end of the story, the final showdown arrived; the guardian of Helheim was here in front of us, and now it was time for "Kill or Be Killed." Its mask was nothing short of breathtaking, a head resembling a bull merged with a human cyborg, reminiscent of some beasts from Greek mythology, painted red by the lights to make everything look even more terrifying. Honestly, it was amazing! Now there was no escaping, and the 3Arena decided to confront it to the tune of "Knights of Cydonia," and the audience shouted, "You and I must fight to survive."
For the final bit of the review, we want to talk about the venue and the crowd. We can start off by pointing out the convenience of 3Arena for the Muse crowd. Knowing that Muse has been around for over two decades now, their fan base has a good variety, from all different age groups. There were people in the crowd, who wanted to jump around, but also there were people who wanted to listen to the band that they were listening to 15 years ago. So, the layout of 3Arena allowed all fan bases to enjoy the concert however they wanted. Wherever you sit on the top floor, you can see the stage in front of you, without being too far back. 3Arena was cozy enough for people to enjoy the show, but also intimate enough for people in the crowd to come together and go crazy for the band they love. We’re sure it was convenient for Muse as well since they are used to playing stadiums, a smaller venue like 3Arena, being indoors as well, made the band’s and the team’s job much easier to get the perfect sound. Now comes our biggest problem about the show. We were standing, fairly close to the stage, surrounded by people who had waited a good bit in line to get a good place close to the stage. Yet we found the energy of the crowd way lower than we expected it to be. Even when they started playing songs that they hadn’t played in years, we couldn’t see a reaction that would get you goosebumps. Plug in Baby was probably the only song we felt like the crowd was electrifying, other than Uprising. But Matt always gets the crowd going for Uprising in all of his shows, so I would not see that as an extra plus. Alex had a lot more complaints about the crowd, since he had the chance to see the previous crowds where a whole stadium is going crazy for 2 hours. In this show, people barely jumped around and screamed the words in the concert of one of the best rock bands of our generation. I felt like there was a good bit of people in the crowd, who looked like they said “Oh, Muse are playing, let’s go check it out”, which is a very rare case for Muse crowds. To be fair, the show was on a Wednesday night, so maybe we should not be too harsh on the crowd, but it still fell way below our expectations, which as I mentioned before, might have also affected the crowd work and interaction of the band as well.
Finishing Touch
Overall both me and Alex agree that Muse are timeless, incredible performers allowing us to feel a whole gamut of emotions in two hours. Their concert was a somehow both violent and calming journey to be a part of. Very-well planned setlist, with an alluring story line draws you into the show, even though it left us high and dry for the ending of it. It was the best stage production and decoration I have ever seen in an indoor show, especially the giant mask and the guardian of Helheim. For us, Muse exceeded all of our expectations, while the crowd was nowhere near the previous Muse shows.
Hot gignwings review
Last but not least, we evaluate the sections mentioned above with a spiciness scale ranging from zero to five. The spicier the better!
Performance: 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶
Production: 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶
Setlist: 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶
Venue: 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶
Crowd: 🌶 🌶
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