Muse Rocked The TD Garden – Boston
Venue: TD Bank Garden
Review by: Micah Gummel
Photos by: Micah Gummel
More Show Photos: HERE
When their fifth studio album, “The 2nd Law,” the band has been filling venue across the US. On this night at Boston Garden Muse frontman Matthew Bellamy is a man of few words, but he and fellow British band mates Christopher Wolstenholme (bass, vocals, keyboard, rhythm guitar, harmonica), Dominic Howard (drums, percussion, synthesisers, sampling), and touring member Morgan Nicholls (keyboard, percussion) put on an energetic and extravagant performance.Since every album brings a new set of songs to a band’s repertoire, old favorites are left in the past. I was pleased, however, to discover that the concert was almost like a “Best of Muse” showcase. An extensive set-list left plenty of room for old favorites.
When it comes to a Muse concert, there is no compromise between visual awe and musical substance. On Friday, Muse overloaded the senses inside the TD Garden with a barrage of cleverly designed lights and videos accompanying meticulously crafted art-pop. You saw this from the beginning with a pyramid of display screens and lights that alternately hovered over the stage and encased the musicians was the visual focal point of the stage design. The futuristic totem flashed song lyrics, displayed graphics and bits of song-video imagery, and lit up like a beacon, effectively illustrating Muse’s ability to draw crowds.The music of tonight focussed on two albums “The 2nd Law” and its predecessor, “The Resistance,” blend romantic escapism and dark social commentary about control, authority, and eroding humanity. As a frontman, Bellamy stays atop the big ideas, delivering them with a sense of triumph that inevitably turned the Garden into a dance party. Even “United States of Eurasia,” evocative of the nuclear threat in recent headlines, was more of a bonding experience than a frightening one.
Muse also isn’t afraid to show off its inner geekyness; “Knights of Cydonia” is the kind of song that is cool because the band isn’t worried about how it looks playing a surf-rock-based, cinematic epic prefaced with a mournful harmonica solo.Muse generally overstuffed its sound, with Bellamy reeling off several frenetic guitar parts, going so far as to play a Jimi Hendrix-style “Star-Spangled Banner” before segueing into the disco throb of “Panic Station.”All in all this over 90 minute show was a great full of creative lighting and big stage theatrics. If you ever get the chance to see them go you will not be disappointed.
Set List
The 2nd Law: Unsustainable
Supremacy
Map of Problematique
Supermassive Black Hole
Panic Station
Resistance
(Star-Spangled Banner intro)
Animals
Knights of Cydonia
Sunburn
Follow Me
Liquid State
Madness
Undisclosed Desires
Time Is Running Out
Stockholm Syndrome
(Rage Against the Machine’s Freedom outro)
Uprising
Encore:
Starlight
Survival