Jump to content
Muse Forum Shutdown ×
Muse
Muse Forum Shutdown

Staple Center Reviews

a-museing

By a-museing
in Muse In the Media

Recommended Posts

a-museing Escapee

a-museing

Posted
Posted

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wirestory?id=11732657&page=1

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - With U2 on tour hiatus until 2011, no other group looks more poised to take over its biggest-band-in-the-world status than Muse, and the British trio proved its mettle with a mighty performance Saturday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

 

Muse has unofficially received that blessing anyway, opening some of U2's stadium dates last year. Right now, what other band can summon such epic prowess and passion? Coldplay? Perhaps, but that group enchants more than thunders. Muse's greatest songs -- from storm-the-heavens anthems to melodramatic ballads -- are last chances, gambles with fate, challenges to the gods.

 

Muse always sounded bigger than the theater-size places it first played in the U.S. while already filling much larger venues in Europe. America started to catch on a few years ago, and now the band is huge not just in sound and but in appeal. This past week's swing through southern California included three arena dates -- two weekend shows at Staples and one at the Honda Center in Anaheim -- so the group could've just played a single stadium show and surely could've pulled that off as it did just weeks ago at Wembley in London.

 

Employing a battery of video screens that at times looked like giant shards of glass, there were massive views of the band, provocative images that ranged from DNA helix to anti-war footage, Technicolor nature scenes and more surreal eye candy. The lighting, which included the use of lasers -- almost a nostalgic nod to the '70s -- was equally dazzling.

 

But those visuals never trumped the music, which always came first, a barrage of art and progressive, glam, hard rock, even heavy metal.

 

The band played on the large expanse of stage and also above it on risers that seemed to bring the trio of frontman guitarist-keyboardist Matthew Bellamy, bassist-keyboardist Christopher Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard even closer to the full house. This is a power trio, with power in bold face, assisted by longtime tour keyboardist Morgan Nicholls.

 

The set led off with a big-beat boom bounce of "Uprising," followed by the racing defiance of the title track of the group's current album "The Resistance," its fifth studio set.

 

Bellamy's Prince-like falsetto quivered over the metallic space funk of "Supermassive Black Hole," and the group lashed one of several sonic storms for the whipping whirlwind of "Hysteria."

 

With Bellamy at piano, the band played the eclectic Brit card covering (as it has for several years now) the slinky Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse number "Feeling Good," dating to the 1964 musical "The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd," a truthful slice of showbiz-success commentary, followed by the group's own yearning power ballad "Guiding Light."

 

Still Muse's biggest hit across the board, the beaming throb of the cosmic "Starlight" brought the night's loudest sing-along, especially for the refrain of "black holes and revelations" (which surely must have Professor Stephen Hawking smiling back at Cambridge).

 

 

The band followed with another winner in the snaking riff and rock 'n' roll abandon of "Plug In Baby," then Bellamy strummed the recognizable opening for "House of the Rising Sun," and the crowd spanning several generations started singing the lyrics as the tune gave way to the pulsing desperation and clutching, crying hope of "Time Is Running Out."

 

The encore tunes included the overture from the group's ambitious (and perhaps over-reaching) "Exogenesis: Symphony" and the more compact galloping fantasy "Knights of Cydonia," which closed the evening.

 

Sure, it's easy to play the band summit game with Muse: The Who meets Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix, melded with Queen and even Emerson, Lake and Palmer for a galactic quest. True, those touchstones and others can be found in the band, but it arrived at its own distinctive sound and style during the 2000s, and some of today's newest bands have described using Muse as a reference point.

 

Muse has always been built to last, and its steady ascendancy to arena and stadium level has come through the years with shows that deliver much more then some pop flavor that's here today and a footnote tomorrow. It's a genuine concert experience.

 

At a time -- again -- when great rock doesn't show up much in mainstream radio, Muse's Staples performance was a reminder of how that potent that experience can be in concert, really more than any other: uplifting, sweeping and far greater than a hit of the season or trend of the year.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://blogdowntown.com/2010/09/5702-live-review-muse-at-staples-center

 

Alt-prog rockers Muse are running out of places to play in the world. Since being signed to Madonna’s Maverick Records in late 1998, the UK band has spent the last 11 ½ years building up their global domination. During this time, millions of records have been sold, numerous awards have been awarded and tour dates supporting Red Hot Chili Peppers, My Chemical Romance and U2 have been completed. Quite a feat considering the group started out playing small L.A. venues like the Roxy Theatre and Viper Room before moving onto practically every major arena, amphitheater, outdoor festival and stadium in the world.

 

Some may forget that Muse played The Mayan in Downtown L.A. back in May 2004. Since then, the band has graduated to a large-scale, high-budget stage production that emphasizes how a live rock concert should be done. Muse returned to Downtown L.A. on Saturday, September 25th, with the first of two straight sold-out appearances headlining at Staples Center. The group has been touring in support of Resistance, their fifth studio album that was released in September 2009.

 

Muse frontman Matthew Bellamy has been a target of the tabloids since taking his relationship with actress Kate Hudson public. Hudson was spotted at several Muse shows around the globe, spurring speculation that the two were dating this past summer. Given this information, it was no surprise to see the actress in attendance behind the soundboard on the floor of the Staples Center. It’s a good thing she showed up to support because Bellamy & Co. put on a stellar performance.

 

Major rock shows require all the bells and whistles and Muse rang and blew each one of them. There were three tall skyscraper towers that hovered over the stage. After an introduction, the structures split apart to reveal vocalist-guitarist Bellamy, bassist Christopher Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard. Each member was positioned on their own platform roughly 15 feet in the air surrounded on all sides by multimedia and video screens.

 

Major rock shows also require rock star outfits. Bellamy was outfitted in a flashy, reflective silver disco ball-like suit that could either ring Anita Ward’s bell or at the very least nuke a Hot Pocket. Howard’s kit sat perched in the middle of the stage on a round platform that also rotated. The band dropped in with a riff version of “Uprising,” followed by the self-titled track off their latest album. The three platforms dropped into the floor and “New Born” was accompanied by a visual laser light spectacle that could easily provide LASIK vision correction.

 

Muse played their hit single “Supermassive Blackhole” before embracing the back and side sections of the Staples Center. The band shifted their set equally throughout the night including during “MK Ultra” and a few other tracks which provided an engaging 360-degree perspective. This was a smart move that sold more tickets and gave equal opportunity views and experiences to those seated behind the stage. While these fans may not have been able to see the opening support act, they were certainly rewarded with amazing views and interaction from the back of the house during the headliner’s set.

 

The opera-influenced space rockers continued to rip through a setlist that included “Hysteria,” ”United States of Eurasia” and a cover of Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” which was voted “greatest cover song of all-time” in a poll conducted by NME. Wolstenholme joined Howard on the drummer’s rotating platform for a mellow drum and bass showcase known as “Helsinki Jam.” Muse then used their 2006 smash hit “Starlight” off Black Holes and Revelations to up the ante and bring the floor’s energy to an unseen level not seen since the Lakers won the NBA Championships back in June. Muse had the entire venue clapping and singing along to lyrics. The general admission ticketholders that stood on the floor deserve credit for fueling much of the band’s fire throughout their hour and forty-five minute set. This was not your typical unresponsive or unimpressed Los Angeles crowd.

 

Giant eyeball balloons dropped down from above during “Plug in Baby” before Bellamy took to the side of stage and treated the crowd to a short instrumental snippet of “House of the Rising Sun.” The crowd had no problem providing the lyrics to a song The Animals made popular in 1964. The band closed their set with “Unnatural Selection” before returning with an encore that ended with “Exogenesis Pt. 1,””Stockholm Syndrome,” and “Knights of Cydonia.”

 

Bellamy hurled a variety of different guitars in the air several times throughout the night, allowing them to drop and hit the stage in typical rock star fashion. Bellamy is certainly entitled to do so as he is an outstanding singer that can hit any vocal range, all while engaging with his audience. His vocal ability has always been impressive, just as the band’s ability to grow and evolve into one of today’s biggest touring acts. It certainly helps when you’re influenced by Queen, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, and Black Sabbath.

 

It is no mystery why Muse sells out arenas and stadiums. They have an incredibly loyal fan base which can be seen in the community forum on the band’s website (http://www.muse.mu). Like true Deadheads, these are diehard fans that interact with each other every night using live real-time Twitter postings from fans who Tweet updates and setlists from each venue. This band is simply one the best rock groups in modern music and they certainly proved themselves with another great Los Angeles performance. If their history and track record is any indication, a future date at Dodger Stadium looks inevitable.

 

Massachusetts’ Passion Pit opened the show with a 9-song set that included two tracks off their 6-song EP Chunk of Change. The synth-pop quintet has been touring since last year in support of Manners, their debut full-length album.

 

Pictures: http://www.laweekly.com/slideshow/muse-staples-center-31265072/

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dead-duck Escapee

dead-duck

Posted
Posted
It is no mystery why Muse sells out arenas and stadiums. They have an incredibly loyal fan base which can be seen in the community forum on the band’s website (http://www.muse.mu). Like true Deadheads, these are diehard fans that interact with each other every night using live real-time Twitter postings from fans who Tweet updates and setlists from each venue. This band is simply one the best rock groups in modern music and they certainly proved themselves with another great Los Angeles performance. If their history and track record is any indication, a future date at Dodger Stadium looks inevitable.

heh a shoutout to the sexy plane! :awesome::thumbsup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
strokeinabox Escapee

strokeinabox

Posted
Posted

OLOLOLOL We made Stephen Hawking smile?

 

I was so very disappointed that the Plug In Baby balloons were released on the other side of Staples.

But then I realized that the balloons didn't have any confetti.

 

But then I found out Muse played Bliss and Ruled by Secrecy on the second night, which I could have attended if I didn't have to drive back to my uni in time for Monday classes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Bells Escapee

Bells

Posted
Posted

With U2 on tour hiatus until 2011, no other group looks more poised to take over its biggest-band-in-the-world status than Muse, and the British trio proved its mettle with a mighty performance Saturday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

 

Muse has unofficially received that blessing anyway, opening some of U2's stadium dates last year. Right now, what other band can summon such epic prowess and passion? Coldplay? Perhaps, but that group enchants more than thunders. Muse's greatest songs -- from storm-the-heavens anthems to melodramatic ballads -- are last chances, gambles with fate, challenges to the gods.

 

Muse always sounded bigger than the theater-size places it first played in the U.S. while already filling much larger venues in Europe. America started to catch on a few years ago, and now the band is huge not just in sound and but in appeal. This past week's swing through southern California included three arena dates -- two weekend shows at Staples and one at the Honda Center in Anaheim -- so the group could've just played a single stadium show and surely could've pulled that off as it did just weeks ago at Wembley in London.

 

Employing a battery of video screens that at times looked like giant shards of glass, there were massive views of the band, provocative images that ranged from DNA helix to anti-war footage, Technicolor nature scenes and more surreal eye candy. The lighting, which included the use of lasers -- almost a nostalgic nod to the '70s -- was equally dazzling.

 

But those visuals never trumped the music, which always came first, a barrage of art and progressive, glam, hard rock, even heavy metal.

 

The band played on the large expanse of stage and also above it on risers that seemed to bring the trio of frontman guitarist-keyboardist Matthew Bellamy, bassist-keyboardist Christopher Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard even closer to the full house. This is a power trio, with power in bold face, assisted by longtime tour keyboardist Morgan Nicholls.

 

The set led off with a big-beat boom bounce of "Uprising," followed by the racing defiance of the title track of the group's current album "The Resistance," its fifth studio set.

 

Bellamy's Prince-like falsetto quivered over the metallic space funk of "Supermassive Black Hole," and the group lashed one of several sonic storms for the whipping whirlwind of "Hysteria."

 

With Bellamy at piano, the band played the eclectic Brit card covering (as it has for several years now) the slinky Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse number "Feeling Good," dating to the 1964 musical "The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd," a truthful slice of showbiz-success commentary, followed by the group's own yearning power ballad "Guiding Light."

 

Still Muse's biggest hit across the board, the beaming throb of the cosmic "Starlight" brought the night's loudest sing-along, especially for the refrain of "black holes and revelations" (which surely must have Professor Stephen Hawking smiling back at Cambridge).

 

The band followed with another winner in the snaking riff and rock 'n' roll abandon of "Plug In Baby," then Bellamy strummed the recognizable opening for "House of the Rising Sun," and the crowd spanning several generations started singing the lyrics as the tune gave way to the pulsing desperation and clutching, crying hope of "Time Is Running Out."

 

The encore tunes included the overture from the group's ambitious (and perhaps over-reaching) "Exogenesis: Symphony" and the more compact galloping fantasy "Knights of Cydonia," which closed the evening.

 

Sure, it's easy to play the band summit game with Muse: The Who meets Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix, melded with Queen and even Emerson, Lake and Palmer for a galactic quest. True, those touchstones and others can be found in the band, but it arrived at its own distinctive sound and style during the 2000s, and some of today's newest bands have described using Muse as a reference point.

 

Muse has always been built to last, and its steady ascendancy to arena and stadium level has come through the years with shows that deliver much more then some pop flavor that's here today and a footnote tomorrow. It's a genuine concert experience.

 

At a time -- again -- when great rock doesn't show up much in mainstream radio, Muse's Staples performance was a reminder of how that potent that experience can be in concert, really more than any other: uplifting, sweeping and far greater than a hit of the season or trend of the year.

 

_________

 

Followed by:

 

MUSE COULD BE THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

 

Don’t be shocked when you hear that Muse could (should) be the world’s biggest band. They’re awesome. Today, Yahoo reminds us that the band has been opening for U2 over the past year, and given their tour hiatus, might just take over their position as the headliners. But here’s the thing — Muse and U2, totally different. Yes, both appeal to the masses but the times are changing. Bono just doesn’t do it for me anymore.

 

Muse played three shows in SoCal this past week — two at the Staples Center and one at the Honda Center in Anaheim — and according to Yahoo they were amazing. They played a good amount of music including their songs “Uprising,” “The Resistance,” “Supermassive Black Hole,” the great “Hysteria,” and the fan favorite “Starlight.”

 

Muse has enough songs across the board to make them one of the biggest bands of today and mostly it’s due to their sound. They are influenced by some of the greatest like The Who, Led Zeppelin and the all-time legend Jimi Hendrix.

 

While U2 will continue to be bigger than them, this weekend Muse have proven themselves worthy of being up there (even though they’ve been making headlines since the late-90s, just saying). When Lady Gaga came to the Staples Center, some said it wasn’t a concert, but an event. The same goes for Muse, with the exception that everyone is invited.

 

___

 

Yahoo source / Beatcrave source

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...