Concert review: Muse supports U2 at Raymond James Stadium (with video)
Before judging their latest album The Resistance too harshly, I wanted to hear how Muse’s poppiest, most ambitious album to date would sound live. The Devon, England quartet (lately touring with a fourth member so frontman Matt Bellamy can focus on guitar and vocals, and not worry about keyboards anymore) wasted no time launching into the bass-driven protest anthem and current single, “Uprising.” (Video after the jump.)
Whenever I like the opening band more than the headliner, I worry about several factors. How long will they play? Will the sound be mixed right? If it’s an arena or stadium show, will there be video screens? In Muse’s case, I wondered if U2 would share their high-tech toys with the other children. In this respect, U2 and their the 360 Tour management deserve lots of credit. Muse sounded home stereo-clear and made liberal use of the giant videoscreen attached to U2’s “spaceship.” In fact, Muse sounded even better than U2 because Bono’s vocals were distorted throughout the entire evening.
The only other time Muse hit Tampa, they played eight songs over 45 minutes in an opening slot, never hitting any material written before their U.S. breakthrough, Absolution. U2 alotted Muse the same timeframe and Muse drew from their past three albums evenly, again eschewing their first two records. Read the rest of this entry »
(click button for feed)
(follow us on Facebook)
(follow us on Twitter)