Helen Herst

Following pretty voluminous article is dedicated to the concert of Muse in Olympiahalle Munich on 12.11.2012

I can’t find the words to say, When I’m confused, I’ve travelled half the world to say, You are my muse (I belong to you. Resistance. Muse)

  English rock band Muse was formed in 1994. The band consists of the drummer Dominic Howard, bassist Chris Wolstenholme and the irreplaceable front man, Matthew Bellamy who plays piano, guitars and is also the vocalist. For today, Muse have released six full-length albums, the latest of which named «The 2d Law» was officially released in October of the last year. My first Muse-experience was the video for the song New Born. Yes, exactly, that clip. Short before the creation of Youtube, when the clips were copied on CD-RWs from some friends and then watched at home till they didn’t work. Since that time I started following the Brits. Almost every band has an album that is not accepted by old fans who are used to to the «good old stuff.» Just like Muse trying to keep up with fashion, along with the already familiar choruses and melodic passages in style of my precious Queen, found place on their new disc even for dubstep. Indeed, “The 2d Law” is not “Absolution” (2003). The more valuable and brilliant is the second one, the more meritorious is the constant musical progress of the band. From album to album, form song to song there’s an indescribable musicality and sincerity. When the music is perfect, when the melody says more than words. The news of Muse coming with two shows to Germany reached me already in August. But already then almost both of the stadiums (Munich and Hamburg) were almost sold out. Nonetheless, after an hour of desperate searching in the world wide web I’ve been rewarded a “standing” ticket for the show in Olympiahalle in Munich on November the 12th. For some reason November is a very rich on concerts month. 2011 I saw Kasabian in Hamburg, 2010 – Interpol in Madrid, 2008 – Oomph! in Bremen. More than this, November 13th is birthday of my beloved mum, who accidently lives only 170 km from Munich. Well, this was just another reason to combine pleasure with pleasure. So, on the 12th of November, I went by car to Munich. Along with the standard pre-concert excitement I was worried about the fact of parking near Olympiahalle, and even more that I could have come too late and got a place too far away from the stage. After parking my precious at a surprisingly empty parking lot in the Olympic village, I went to the concert hall. It was about 16:30, and there were already some people waiting. Luckily I met some Russian guys, so that the waiting time till 18:30 didn’t seem long, despite of November chill. And here it is: a quick search for dangerous objects, ticket control… and Ready, Set, Go! Clutching my open bag and the ticket, I rushed after my new buds. We ended our sprint shouting, and I’m telling you these were cries of victory — we got up to the front row.

Our delight knew no bounds — and that’s before the concert – seeing Muse, known for their great live performance from the front row… I didn’t count on it even in the most optimistic dreams of mine. In order to avoid crowding, the security guards forced everyone to sit down on the floor. Well, I can tell you it’s pretty comfortable to sit, leaning against the barrier of the first row and look how the hall with a capacity of 14 thousand people is quickly filling.

Short after 20:00 the opening band Everything Everything came to the stage. The guys have been playing together since 2007 and also came from England to support Muse tonight. The first two songs were even quite endurable, then, in spite of the high performance quality, all melodies merged into a single motif. But this motif has luckily had an end (in something like 40 minutes). The stage, which at first seemed pretty small, was rebuilt for Muse. Around 21:20 it was darkened. We heard the instrumental track from the new album called “Unsustainable”. And then came Muse. And the hall exploded. “Unsustainable” was followed by “Supremacy”, and afterwards was, what do you think, — “Hysteria”.

Suddenly, a huge screen in form of a pyramid has been moved out from the ceiling. And here they are, the special effects, which are expected from Muse.

With drive and dances we lived “Supermassive Black Hole”. This one was followed by the one of my favorite songs from the new album of Muse “Panic Station”. Somehow, this song reminds me of “Back Chat” of Queen from their album Hot Space. Something is telling me that Freddie himself would like to sing this particular song. Generally, Muse don’t hide that Queen are their great example and call them the best band on earth (well, I definitely agree on that one!). From Queen Muse borrowed many choral effects and Matt’s guitar sometimes resembles a perfect piece of wood of Mr. Brian May. Also the new songs like “Explorers” are little reminders of their majesty.

Explorers, just like the song from the first album (Showbiz) “Falling down”, Matthew played on the piano which popped up out of nowhere.

The bassist Chris tried himself as a singer of several songs on «The 2d Law». “The liquid state” was also included in tonight’s playlist.

Of course, they played the first single from the new album, “Madness”. Matthew even put cool glasses on, and the laser beams penetrating the room, repeated in their movement every note of Matt’s guitar.

This one was followed by a sincere “Follow Me”. Matthew pompously walked across the stage, Chris shook his head in tact with the songs rhythm, and smiling Dominique drummed his parts. Three people. A huge stage. A full concert hall. But in each cell there were Muse who have filled everything. Turning in all directions, sending beams of spotlights on the most faraway places, the musicians, I‘m sure, were able to reach everyone.

In the middle of their performance, Muse took a short break. At this time the pyramid went down to the stage, engulfing the musicians and hiding them from the audience’s eyes. Within a few minutes, we heard the guitar of Matt again and the band appeared on the stage and burst with new power.

During the song “Undisclosed Desires” a miracle happened. Matthew jumped off the stage and went to shake hands with his fans. When he was close to the spot where I stood, I tried to reach my hand out as far as possible. And Matt himself shook my hand. You know — nothing with a short clap – he even looked in my eyes and gave me a smile. I know, he is just a man, as we all are. And yes, it’s stupid and childish. But I shook hands with Matthew Bellamy of Muse standing at their concert in the front row! How can you avoid any fanaticism here? ;)

In their track-list Muse gave us the perfect mix of songs from all their albums, the newest of which was played almost entirely. Well, what should I say about the divine “Resistance”, rhythmic “Time is running out”, furious “Plug in baby”, marching “Uprising” and “Knigts of Cydonia”. And each of them was supported by the choir of several thousand spectators.

Of course, my favorite was the song mentioned before “New Born”. It is difficult to describe the feeling of absolute happiness and delight from every note, every second, spent this evening in the Olympiahalle. After “New Born” musicians thanked the audience and left the stage. And it seemed that it was over … But it wasn’t, a few minutes later we heard the second instrumental melody from the new album “Isolated System”. The guys came back to rattle off their blockbusters “Uprising”, “Starlight” and the anthem of the London Olympics “Survival”.

Normally, after a good concert you want more. It seems that the band could play a bit longer. You want to shout, calling them to the stage and require more “bread and circuses”. Wonderful Muse gave us almost two hours of great music, love and unreal inspiration. This concert was perfect. There was nothing to add.

Satisfied people began to empty the hall. And I was glad about spending the next two hour driving back to mum’s and shouting the songs of the band you may guess, aloud. So off I went to the parking lot in my very best mood you can imagine… And here I felt like someone whacked me with a stone on my head. The gates of the parking lot were closed. Being a new and a rather inattentive driver, I parked my precious at a private parking lot at the local university, ignoring a bold sign with opening hours of the university and its parking. Already during the concert I had a weird feeling that it cannot be all so perfect … somewhere must be a catch! But I didn’t count on the opportunity of standing alone in a strange city at midnight near the closed parking lot, seeing my car, but not being able to reach it. The first thought I had was to climb over the fence and ram it with my cat at full speed. Still, the fear of losing my driver’s license not long after getting it overpowered my action-movie hero ambitions. The second idea was more peaceful — climb over the fence and spend the night in the car. Then I saw another sign prohibiting entrance to the campus outside the working hours with the threat of prosecution. After 15 minutes of walking around, I finally came to a decision and called my wisest counselor, my mum. At the end, I spent this night in one of the hostels of Munich, and the next morning, as if nothing had happened, I took the car from the unlucky parking lot and went to my mum’s place to celebrate her birthday. Despite the whole stress and additional costs, positive emotions from visiting Munich won over the negative ones. The “parking case” will stay with me as an experience and now I’ll probably watch a hundred times before parking in an unfamiliar city. As one of my best friends says, there are two types of experiences — positive and funny. An unexpected night in Munich certainly applies to the «funny» ones. Again, I’m glad that everything in my life is going the ascending line – I call this concert once again the best I have visited. With one difference -this time, I would claim that I have visited the concert of the best band in the world nowadays. My inspirers. Muse.

The complete foto-gallery from the gig you’ll find here. Here’s the playlist of the concert of Muse in Olympiahalle München 12.11.2012 The 2nd Law: Unsustainable Supremacy Interlude Hysteria (Pyramid Reveal) Supermassive Black Hole Panic Station Resistance Animals Monty Jam (Drum and Bass Jam) Explorers Falling Down (Piano Version) Host (First Half) Time Is Running Out Liquid State Madness Follow Me Undisclosed Desires Plug In Baby New Born (Headup Riff Outro) Encore: The 2nd Law: Isolated System Uprising Knights of Cydonia (Man with a Harmonica Intro) Encore 2: Starlight Survival