Finishing up the North American leg of their latest tour, Muse stormed Boston’s Agganis Arena with the most massive rock show the venue’s ever seen. On Saturday, August 11th, the trio blew the doors off the place with an explosive sixteen-song set and visuals intense enough to give everyone in the place a seizure. They took their performance from a year ago to the next level with an all-out, politically-charged effort.
Starting the show with a speech by John F. Kennedy about freedom, Muse gave a real purpose to the force that would follow. That meant opening with “Take a Bow”, the accusatory opening to their latest album, Black Holes & Revelations. Another track off the album, “Map of the Problematique” came next to further incite the crowd. The “fight back” theme continued with tracks from Absolution, “Hysteria” and “Butterflies & Hurricanes” making a sandwich of “Supermassive Black Hole”, which featured video of dancing robots on the massive screens behind the stage.
Matt Bellamy busted out his acoustic guitar for “City of Delusion”, and their trumpeter accompanied them onstage. “Stockholm Syndrome” and “Feeling Good” were next, then the first track off their debut, “Sunburn”, in which Bellamy played the dizzying riff on piano. His piano featured lights that corresponded to certains, and reflected off the open top in some futuristic digitalization. “Invincible” and “Starlight”, two huge singles off of BH&R shifted the crowd into sing-a-long mode. They finished the main set with “New Born”, “Time Is Running Out”, and the massive balloons that bounced through and showered the crowd during “Bliss”.
They were naturally welcomed back for an encore, which consisted of “Plug In Baby” and the apocalyptic closer, “Knights of Cydonia”. As Muse is one of the best live bands in the world, they truly broke Agganis Arena in as a rock venue, and gave one of their best performances in Boston ever.
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