Muse with 30 seconds to mars at shoreline

Muse is an English rock band formed in 1994.

Matt Bellamy

Lead Vocals, Guitar, Piano, Keyboards

This concert showcased Matt Bellamy’s dynamic performance. He moved around the stage, stalking, bouncing, and jumping. Always graceful, never missing a note.

     

Chris Wolstenholme

Bass, Guitar, Vocals, Keyboards, Harmonica

Though perhaps less mobile, Chris Wolstenholme ground out some serious bass, often striking a pose that signaled a serious riff was in the making.

     

Dominic Howard

Drums, Synthesizer, Backing Vocals 

Dominic Howard played some mean percussion while putting on quite a show himself. His performance was spot on, never overpowering yet ever present.

     

bellamy flies

At one point, Matt Bellamy performed a huge leap that looked almost as if he would cannon ball into the stage. He stuck the landing perfectly!

 

A Look at the show

One thing is for certain, Muse knows how to entertain. The Muse performance @Shoreline was electric and the crowd was on its feet from the first note to the last. This concert is one to remember and overall excellent.

They played song after song striking a good balance between older favorites and newer songs that many wanted to see in concert for the first time.

The lighting and effects were done masterfully, taking the best advantage of Shoreline’s smallish stage. They didn’t have room for huge remote controlled drones this time, but they did manage some large inflated balloons filled with confetti that bounced from place to place until just the wrong hit when a sudden rush of air signaled that one had popped, followed immediately by a shower of confetti around the entire area. 

Did I mention energy? Where 30 Seconds to Mars had skillfully coaxed the crowd into a right vs left volume contest, Muse had the audience on their feet just trying to keep up with Matt Bellamy. I swear, he was in the air and bouncing around pretty much the entire show. He even moved into the crowd to play some from up near the lawn seats.

 

Visuals from the show

 

 

The Opening Bands

 

pvris

Lynn Gunn, Alex Babinski, and Brian MacDonald

PVRIS (Paris) warmed up the crowd. They hit the stage before the sun had vanished and served up a nice set of songs in their own, bass heavy style. The lead singer’s voice rang out clearly and the drummer never missed a beat (even when completely shrouded by the smoke machines). There are times when the opening band just doesn’t hold my attention, but not THIS time. I sat through their set and enjoyed.

30 Seconds to mars

 jared leto, shannon leto, and  Tomo Miličević 

To me this was not an opening act. They felt like co-headliners and they really worked the audience. The back and forth singing and cheering had me nearly losing my voice before Muse even hit the stage. I really liked the way the lead singer wandered the crowd, even going so far as to do a full song while standing well up near the lawn seats. Their simple stage presence and minimal effects were the only thing that felt “opening” at all. 

what  did not work?

I have to say, the concert was fantastic, it all worked… but alas, my only disappointment in the entire show was the “Enhanced Experience”. What you might ask, was the “Enhanced Experience”? Well, I’ve gotten these tickets for Muse a few times at various venues. Typically they include some food, a cash bar, a random take-home item (this time it was a cheap back-pack) and access to the MUSEum (a collection of Muse memorabilia). I’ve found this an excellent way to start a Muse concert. This time however, the experience was “less enhanced”. I found myself in a dirt floored tent, with a few fans blowing hot air to try and keep the place cool. I’ve added a few pictures of the MUSEum below so you can form your own opinion. They had quite a bit more stuff, all interesting but none really presented well.

Yep, old sneakers…

I think these might have been more impressive if not just sitting on the ground near a tent wall, unexplained. I assumed it was one pair per Muse member… I wonder who’s are who’s?

A pretty cool entrance

A robot like head on a pedestal greeted you as you entered the tent front door. You can see the smallish tables behind where one could stand and eat sliders or chips and salsa. (They tasted good.)

Past costumes?

With no real explanation I can only guess the concerts where these were used. They were roped off and had a security presence to keep people at bay so they are likely important.