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Acer Reviews


laurenn1

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Sunday Herald:

If Acer Arena were built to showcase just one kick-ass band in the world, Muse could very well be the chosen one. The British rockers tore the roof off the Homebush stadium on Thursday night, delivering their Resistance tour for the first time in Australia.

 

A stage supporting three mammoth pillars welcomed a sellout crowd that included the likes of S regulars Michelle Leslie and fiance Adam Zammit and Laura Csortan. Then as a sea of strobe lights, flashing LED's, lasers and projected visuals exploded on stage, the band appeared, perched atop the pillars. Frontman Matt Bellamy, sporting a dapper metallic-sequinned suit, blasted the boys right into the crowd-pleasing Uprising but just as pulses began settling, Resistance dragged us up onto our feet all over again. Green lasers sliced their way through the crowd Tron-style. A heaving mosh bounced as one to classics like Citizen Erased, which Bellamy dedicated to Julian Assange from Wikileaks, Map of the Problematique and the singalong that always is Starlight.

 

Twi-hards, who have fallen head over heels for Muse after hearing the band on several Twilight soundtracks, also got their fix through a stellar peformance of Supermassive Black Hole-"OMG, it's the baseball scene!"- but it was the quality use of the venue space that made the biggest impact.

 

Besides the incredible light and moving footage displays, the crew managed to drag a grand piano onto one of the towers and as Bellamy worked his magic, band mate Dom Howard and his drumkit rotated 360 degrees.

 

Nearing the end, the band's trademark inflatable white eyeballs were finally dropped into the arena. The musical wonderland reached its climax when Muse returned for a thumping encore, featuring the long-anticipated Knights of Cydonia.

As the crowd busted out their most skilled Guitar Hero moves, it looked as though there wasn't a single soul left unmoved. A night bound to be long remembered.

 

 

And Sydney Morning Herald website: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/muse-20101210-18ssu.html

 

CAN a great band get too big? Herein lies the conundrum of the English rock trio Muse on this tour.

 

That they have attained greatness is not in doubt - they had shown breathtaking ambition as far back as 1999 with their debut album Showbiz and had thoroughly established their worth by their third, Absolution, in 2003.

 

But since then it has almost been as though Muse have not quite known how to get better, so they have just gone for bigger instead.

 

Superficially, this approach has worked - the past couple of albums have sold by the truckload while the band are now bona fide festival headliners - they closed main stages from Glastonbury to the Big Day Out this year.

 

But for anyone who has seen them play on past tours, there is a sense that something is missing.

 

It is difficult to pinpoint what that might be because there is so much to commend at a show such as this. Technically, Muse remain faultless: drummer Dominic Howard is an octopus-armed force of nature, the towering Chris Wolstenholme's bass lines are as solid as he is and Matt Bellamy's skills as a guitarist, pianist and vocalist are exceptional.

 

The set contains a healthy number of invigorating anthems from all eras of their career, from the more recent Uprising and Starlight to the older Plug in Baby and Time Is Running Out.

 

Further thrills abound in an appropriately scorching Sunburn, the lascivious falsetto and monstrous riff of Supermassive Black Hole and in the inevitable closing piece, the galloping but ludicrous Knights of Cydonia.

 

Muse have even spared no expense on the visual aspects, what with the sci-fi screens, myriad lasers and rising and revolving podiums.

 

Yet for every amazing moment, something often comes along to dull the impact. Too many songs tag on indulgent metallic codas (including the obligatory Back in Black reference at the end of Hysteria); indeed, there's too much musical showboating from all three members. With his silver lame´ suit, knee-slides and poses, Bellamy often seems to be acting at being a rock god rather than convincingly being one. And there is no place anywhere that a keytar is welcome.

 

It is almost as though there is just too much of everything. Many artists need all the bells and whistles to convince their fans, and perhaps themselves, that they're putting on a good show. If this gig proves anything, it is that Muse don't.

 

They would have got lost in the Muse in the Australian Media thread, so there we are.

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I saw the first article in the paper - its cut out and in my room at the moment - but I hadn't seen the second one. I guess it's true that Muse are getting bigger and bigger, but I don't think they're any worse for it. Personally I think the whole visual aspect was completely amazing, and I was pleased with the setlist, glad that there were that many great songs to enjoy. I can see why they think it's all too much, but I think that with live shows, Muse are selling the experience, not just the music.

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I agree. I really hope Muse scales it back a bit on their next tour and puts the music as their primary focus.

 

THIS!

 

I went to the show on the 9th, and for some of the time I was so distracted by all of the effects and everything they had that Muse didn't even have 100% of my attention. During UD I was just mesmerised by the lasers and lights for the whole time, and for the last half of PiB, my only focus was to touch one of those damn balloons (which I never did :indiff: ).

I mean their huge, amazing mind-blowing producion is awesome, don't get me wrong, but I hope their next tour will be toned down a little, and as mentioned above, they make their music the primary focus.

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