FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

Raves all round for Muse

Raves all round for Muse

Refusing to be pigeonholed, the British rock trio put on an astonishingly diverse show at Impact

In one of the best concerts Bangkok has witnessed in a long time, British rock trio Muse delivered a set of high-energy showmanship and excellent musicianship at Impact Arena on Wednesday night. It was their long-overdue Thai debut.
Singer-guitarist Matthew Bellamy, bassist Christopher Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard, joined by several back-up musicians, took the stage at 9pm and kicked off to loud cheers with “Psycho” and “Reapers” from their most recent album, “Drones”. Muse then rocked the fans back and forth with “Plug in Baby”, a big hit from 2001’s “Origin of Symmetry”, Bellamy showing off his cool and catchy guitar riffs and impressive falsetto singing.
The show continued with the piano-predominant “Resistance”, the haunting and operatic “Unsustainable”, the synthesiser-laden “Dead Inside” and the mid-tempo hard rock track “Hysteria” that had the fans banging their heads in unison. After “Citizen Erased” and “Hyper Music/Feeling Good”, Bellamy left Howard and Wolstenholme to jam, and they came up with awe-inspiring drum and bass solos.
The almost theatrical performance was enhanced by the intricate play of lights and big-screen imagery creatively blended with close-up live shots of the band playing. A short runway extending from the middle of the stage added a sense of intimacy, with the entire floor cleared of chairs for a genuine rock-concert experience.
Fans were anticipating seeing aerial drones hovering overhead – something Bellamy had planned for this tour – but perhaps the idea proved too farfetched. Instead, several massive black balloons bounced around the crowd, fun at first but quickly becoming an obstructive and distracting nuisance.
Muse next calmed the pace with the ethereal synth-rock track “Madness”, another hit from 2012’s “The 2nd Law”, their sixth album. Other mega-hits, “Supermassive Black Hole”, “Time is Running Out”, “Starlight” and “Uprising”, followed before the arena was totally blacked out and filled with roars in preparation for an encore.
“Phom rak khun, Thailand!” Bellamy hollered on his return. “Thank you for coming out tonight!” The band then delivered a proper goodbye with the dramatic, arena-scale “Mercy” and the Spaghetti Western-inspired “Knights of Cydonia”, with their powerful guitar melodies both terrific closings for the 90-minute show.
The sound of Muse is bold, gnarly and extreme but, beyond that, critics long ago gave up trying to label them. Their music is constantly evolving, always pushing boundaries, never less than beautifully constructed and, onstage, gracefully controlled. The way they can switch between genres and moods sets fans floating in the clouds one minute and then shakes them with massive, heavy tones the next. It’s a phenomenon of dynamics relatively easily achieved in the recording studio, but few bands can duplicate it this brilliantly in live performance.
And, while each member is a terrific musician in his own right, headline credit goes to frontman Bellamy, who is not only a talented songwriter but also gifted singer and guitarist, and he kills on piano, too. His stage presence is grand without being snarly, and the chemistry with his band-mates is a delight to watch, making them one of the best live acts around.

 

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