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ShareLeaving Toronto’s Air Canada Centre exhilarated Monday night, feeling like we’d witnessed one of the very best demonstrations of rock and awe, I had a mild regret: for years I hadn’t given Muse enough attention.
Muse’s stream of radio hits since 2003 have registered, but I had no real idea they could be so towering. Literally. The Devon, England trio’s “The Resistance Tour” has been their most ambitious ever. Since October, singer and lead guitarist Matthew Bellamy, bassist Christopher Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard have stood atop three colossal towers—each seemingly constructed from video screens, lasers and smoke. Howard has his own rotating kit. During “Plug In Baby” a dozen giant balloons resembling eyeballs were dropped from the ceiling. In the show’s most epic, and theatrical, moments the band could exude Queen, Radiohead, or even Supertramp.
Leading off with “Uprising”, the group slowly descended onto the stage while a mesmerizing array or lasers consumed the space. As on 2009’s The Resistance they followed with the title track before pulling out classics like “New Born”, “Supermassive Black Hole”.
The band completed their stunning set with encore performances of “Exogenesis: Symphony, Part 1: Overture”, “Stockholm Syndrome” and “Knights of Cydonia”.
Setlist
Uprising
Resistance
New Born
Map of the Problematique
Supermassive Black Hole
Guiding Light
Interlude
Hysteria
Nishe
United States Of Eurasia
Feeling Good (Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley cover)
Helsinki Jam
Undisclosed Desires
Starlight
Plug In Baby
YYZ (snippet) (Rush cover)
Time Is Running Out
Unnatural Selection
Encore
Exogenesis: Symphony, Part 1: Overture
Stockholm Syndrome
Knights of Cydonia
Photos by Dave MacIntyre
