Muse's Simulation Theory Tour; an unexpected cyber trip

 Sometimes spontaneous and amazing things happen and more often than not for me they are connected to music. On March 9th 2019 I was invited to a Muse concert by a neighbor I pet sit for. Apparently her son works with the band Muse! This is how I ended up with VIP tickets. The opening band had just ended (we got there late). So there I was at the packed Oracle Arena, the atmosphere (in terms of lighting and sound) felt akin to a John Carpenter movie. I could tell we were in for something special and the ending result was YOU HAVE NO IDEA. Part of why this blog has taken so long to write is because I don't know how to truly articulate what I experienced. This is probably one of the first or few of the concerts that I've been to that was an experience.

Let me explain...
The band came on stage to an enthusiastic crowd opening with some of their new music from "Simulation Theory." Unfortunately for me I haven't kept up with Muse's music and am only really familiar with their old songs. However after seeing them live for at least the 2nd time, they have definitely evolved, matured and elevated themselves. I don't know if you guys know but they have been doing so much more than music... and I'll get to that later!

 So much thought was put into the stage performance it's hard to detail everything I saw. In summary: There were dancers in coordinated LED covered suits climbing and descending the walls, men in large intricate robot suits, Matt Bellamy wearing LED jackets and sunglasses with the song lyrics, confetti, balloons, John Carpenter-esque light colors, lots of lasers, and my most favorite part...a giant inflated skeleton robot!

 My mouth literally dropped when I saw this thing ^! I can easily say that was the most impressive thing I've seen at a live concert! I think the last time I saw Muse was in 2007 and I remember them being incredible then. They have improved so much from greatness it's hard to put into words. I came away incredibly impressed by their performance. They did all the songs I wanted to hear "Knights of Cydonia", "Hysteria", "Starlight", "Uprising", "Time is running out" and more. 

 At parts the lead singer encouraged the audience to sing. I also really love seeing and hearing the fans in the audience sing to the music in unison. It feels like a bit of world peace for just a moment. Like I've probably said a million times before, I love how music unifies people. It's a beautiful thing. I was in the upper stage right area with a great view of the stage and auditorium. The band had a moment where they referenced Close Encounters of the Third Kind by using a guitar to make those communication sounds in the movie. The stage lights responded back to him with light and sound, again just like from the movie, very cool!

 Another cool thing that happened during the show was parts of the stage lowering down and rising up again to reveal different things, weather it be the band or one of the suited performers. It was the kind of show where you are looking all around the auditorium and don't know what will come from where next. It was incredibly immersive (which was obviously the point!), and I feel like simply calling it a live concert is not doing it justice. It was like a concert combined with something you'd experience at Universal Studios. Anyways, the show ends with no encore which might be the first time I've seen that. Once we left our seats I thought the night was done. 

 As we were leaving the crowded auditorium, I had no idea I was in for more! We made our way to the BMW Lounge with our VIP badges. We entered this room with Muse images and signs everywhere. In the entrance was a young lady taking pictures of guests posing with the Muse background and these purple gremlin things. As I look around the room I notice a lot more.  The show atmosphere continued into the lounge with the pink and purple lights, feeling a lot like Stranger Things. There are a bunch of virtual reality games, racing games and more over in a section of the lounge. Interestingly, these games were developed by the band and our connection to the band. Apparently the games go along with their music to top it off. Honestly at this point I was kinda stunned because I wasn't expecting any of this. 

 I'm looking around the room, noticing more and more things. "Hey there's a dog", "Hey there's the opening band..." "Hey, is that the drummer?", "Oh shit that's Matt the lead singer of Muse?" Everyone from the show I just saw was all in this one room mingling around the bar and games. I decided I would rather just observe and not bother the band members, although in retrospect I think I should have. We spent the next hour in the lounge, it was already about midnight before we came in. I got a massively overpriced gin and tonic and sat with my boyfriend taking in the scene. I looked around and thought, "this is really fucking cool" and I just acted like a normal human and didn't bother anyone. Special thanks to Jesse Stout for getting us in the show! If you haven't seen Muse recently, you need to!