Last weekend was exhausting, but for all good reasons. After hitting up the RJD2 show at the Magic Stick on Friday night, we were headed to the exact opposite, the gigantic Muse arena specatacle at the Palace of Auburn Hills. I’m not a big fan of giant arena shows just because I like the intimacy of a lot of the smaller shows that I go to, but I’m such a fan of Muse, with their combination of metal, rock and classical melodies, that I knew I had to go, and as expected they did not disappoint.

I was also really looking forward to seeing openers Silversun Pickups because I’m a fan of theirs as well, and they are one of those groups that I’ve had plenty of chances to see at festivals and whatnot, but it just has never worked out. We planned on arriving around 8 PM because for some reason I thought there were two opening acts. But when we got there, I realized that I was wrong and that sadly we already missed them. Blerg.

Silversun Pickups – Well Thought Out Twinkles

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We got there and took our spots on the floor about halfway through the crowd on the left side of the stage and were having a good time with the great music they were playing before the set began. There was some good music from Adam Freeland, The Presets and ending with a cool Animal Collective remix. Then the lights went down and the huge fabric covered towers on the stage lit up. They were illuminated to appear to be a large staircase with nondescript figures climbing and filling the staircase, then the top figure tumbled over, knocking down the rest like dominoes. As they fell, the fabric covering the towers fell as well, revealing the three band members each in their spot in the middle of each of the towers. Very dramatic, very Muse. Just what I came to see.

They opened up with the huge anthem “Uprising” and continued through the set that never really gave up on energy and tempo. I was really hoping they wouldn’t kill the mood with one of their slower tunes which, while great, are a bit of a letdown live when you are rockin out and want to continue to do so, and luckily they didn’t. The light show was pretty spectacular with the towers essentially becoming video screens that were constantly changing, always keeping things interesting. There was an abundance of green laser lights throughout the arena which amped up for a few songs, probably more than I’ve ever seen.

While the stage setup was a bit restricting in terms of the band moving around on stage, the band was lowered down to ground level a few times where they made good use of the stage. There was also a pretty cool musical interlude with bassist Christopher Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard where they both took spots on the center drum tower which spun around and moved up and down as they played. And singer Matthew Bellamy was pretty on point all night too, sometimes allowing the audience to lead the vocals, but without overdoing it. The highlight may have been during the set closer “Plug In Baby” when a bunch of giant eyeball balloons descended upon the crowd full of confetti. But really, the whole show was a highlight. It reminded me how much I really dig Muse and that I can still love them even though they are one of the biggest bands on the planet right now. I think even though a lot of us are jaded and against big rock shows, it really can be good for the soul every now and then.

All in all, despite the less than ideal venue, I feel like that’s really the only type of venue where Muse can really be felt to the fullest. All of their music is so loud and powerful that it only seemed appropriate. There’s a rumor that they’re going to be playing a small show at SXSW this coming week, and I can’t even imagine how that’s going to work out. I hadn’t been to a show at the Palace since Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2006, so I’m glad that Muse was able to exceed my expectations yet again. It’s tough to have a bad time at a show with so much continuous energy, unless you’re a terrible person.

Here’s the full setlist:

Uprising
The Resistance
New Born
Supermassive Black Hole
MK Ultra
Interlude
Hysteria
Nishe
United States of Eurasia
Feeling Good
Helsinki Jam
Undisclosed Desires
Starlight
Time is Running Out
Unnatural Selection
Plug In Baby

Encore:
Exogenesis: Symphony, Part 1: Overture
Stockholm Syndrome
Knights of Cydonia

I couldn’t help but thinking the entire time what could have been if I were able to bring in the good camera, but hopefully these crappy camera pics can provide some sense of what was going on. And we make the best with what we’re given.

And now one of my favorite Muse songs, one that they sadly didn’t play last night but that I think sums them up pretty well.

Muse – Map of the Problematique

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