I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: July 12, 2018] Muse: Drones World Tour

I really enjoyed the Muse concert that I went to.  I imagined that C. would have enjoyed it too.  He has been getting into some heavy melodic music and I thought Muse would fit into his tastes pretty well.

So when Muse announced the one-night only screening of this tour film, I decided to take him to Bethlehem to watch it.

I wasn’t sure what to expect.  Was it going to be concert footage and interviews?  Would there be interstitial pieces?  Would it be weird and stilted or would it just rock?  How long would it be?

Well, the last questions was answered first–it would be around 90 minutes.  Perfect.  The usher also told us that Muse would be giving us a special thank you for coming out.  But he also very kindly told us that it wasn’t that exciting–only about 90 seconds long.

The other questions were answered soon enough.  It was going to be all music.  They pieced together the best songs from several European shows and edited down the “dead air.”  There also was very little banter.  It was 90 minutes of intense Muse music.

I bought our tickets right away, so we were right in the center of the theater.  The sound was loud but not too loud.  But as with Muse in general, it was pretty relentless.  Especially if you look at the setlist and see that there’s not a lot of mellow songs.  I was worried that C. would find it overwhelming, but he told me he enjoyed it.

I thought the movie sounded quite good–the Alehouse speakers are top-notch.  But I had a problem with the editing.  It was so fast!  I know that that’s how the kids like it these days, but it was disappointing.  When I see a band, especially a technically proficient band, I want to watch them do what they are doing.  Focus on Mat Bellamy playing guitar for two or three minutes, that would great!  Hey, there’s a giant zeppelin drone floating around the stadium–film it for more than ten seconds at a time!

But that quibble aside, it was neat seeing a show like this with other fans.  We even sang along to a bunch of songs.  It was often just like being at the show (with better,more comfortable seats).

And in that respect I was glad there weren’t interview segments or interstitials.  But at the same time, I love commentary, so in retrospect, I kind of wish there was some of that as well (maybe on the DVD release).

I was glad that the usher downplayed the “gift” at the end of the movie.  It was the guys saying hi and thanks for coming and then playing literally 20 seconds of a clip of their new song.

One of the coolest aspects of this movie was that it was shown around the world only on this day.  C. and I thought it was pretty wild to be a part of something global at (sort of) the same time.

We were even all set to make it home at a reasonable hour (until Rte 78 was under construction and we were literally at a standstill for an hour).

TRACKLIST:

1. (Aftermath [studio] over introductory interviews)

2. (Drones Intro)

3. Psycho

4. Reapers

5. (Interlude)

6. Hysteria

7. (Vuilstamen)

8. Dead Inside

9. The Handler

10. Super Massive Black Hole

11. (Prelude)

12. Starlight

13. Madness

14. Time Is Running Out

15. Uprising [guitarless until solo]

16. The Globalist

17. Drones [Reprise]

18. Take A Bow

19. Mercy

20. (Man with harmonica)

21. Knights of Cydonia

22. Credits (split with band saying goodbyes and audience applause)

23. Something Human Teaser