After missing out on Muse TWICE in 2004, I finally got to see them last week at Festival Hall. About damn time if you ask me. I've been following the band since 2000 I think, since I heard their first single released here (Muscle Museum) and went on to get their first album - so it's been a long time coming.

All I can say is that this is a band that is made to be seen live. There's a bit of theatrics to the show - videos and animations shown on curtainy type screens, strobe lights that flash in sync with well timed drum beats, a piano with a LED display, giant inflated balls released into the crowd and smoke machines out the wazoo - but the most impressive part of seeing them live is to hear and see them play. There's some bands out there that can not even come close to matching the musical quality of how they sound on an album (a testiment that some bands are either too overproduced for their own good or that their shortcomings are just masked too well in the studio),  but Muse actually matched and went above anything you'd hear on a CD player.

Alot of the songs were from the new album - Super Massive Blackhole had some newbies dancing while Knights of Cydonia was reserved for the climatic last encore, and tracks like Hysteria and Time Is Running Out which came from their previous (some would say mainstream breakthrough) album got some of the loudest cheers, though some older gems like Sunburn (from the first album Showbiz), Plug-in Baby and Citzen Erased had some of the hardcore fans down in the pit bouncing and cheering appreciatively.

Personal highlights was getting to hear Map of the Problematique live, and the rush of recognising the intro riff of Stockholm Syndrome. I'm a little bit sad I didn't get to hear Muscle Museum or Hyper Music live, but for a hour and a half concert they coverered alot of their hits and fan favorites, so I can't complain at all.

The play list was as follows...

Take A Bow
Hysteria
Supermassive Black Hole
Butterflies And Hurricanes
Map Of The Problematique
City Of Delusion
Citizen Erased
Sunburn
Apocalypse Please
Invincible
Time Is Running Out
Plug In Baby

Soldier's Poem
Starlight
Stockholm Syndrome

Knights Of Cydonia

A great image was Matt being spotlighted inbetween songs, as he ran to the opposite side of the stage (the side I was on), right up on the edge near the speakers and starter playing the opening riff of Plug In Baby with a wide grin on his face. Too cool.

I might edit some pics in, if any that I sneakily snapped turn out.
Anyway, it was awesome. The end!