The Spin has never exactly been a fan of Muse, but we figured it would at least be fun to see them once. Surprise! We weren’t wrong.
While Sturgill Simpson tore the proverbial roof off of What Stage earlier in the evening with bare-bones production, Muse’s set was about as maximal as you can get. Dystopian animated sequences and spread across a dozen LED panels, every light in the place firing in sync with the music, confetti cannons — you want more? Here’s a streamer cannon! We wondered how the hell they fit all of this (or even half of it, really) into downtown Nashville’s Ascend Amphitheater last year.
And the band was its own spectacle. Frontman Matt Bellamy strutted and crooned and peeled off pyrotechnic lead guitar lines like Jimmy Page and Freddie Mercury rolled into one, while drummer Dominic Howard and bassist Chris Wolstenholme laid down a muscular, thunderous foundation. The production elements made it so that many of the moves had to be choreographed, but there was enough room for spontaneity that it still felt like, y’know, a rock show.
We love it when songs that discuss important social and political issues are subtle and nuanced. In that light, the bombast of newer Muse cuts — like “Thought Contagion,” about the spread of misinformation, or “Dig Down,” a very U2-esque piece about not getting discouraged in this tumultuous time — isn’t our bag, so much. Regardless, this is not a band that does anything halfway.
Overall, the set felt like an action adventure film with us cast in it, and a compelling one at that. It would take a lot of effort not to get swept up in the shout-alongs to “Supermassive Black Hole,” a clear fan-favorite and mid-set highlight, and the encore-closing “Knights of Cydonia,” a performance for which an overused adjective like “epic” isn’t inappropriate.
Maybe Muse doesn’t have a global influence on music and culture like some previous Bonnaroo headliners (say, Paul McCartney or Jay-Z). But they’re getting thousands of people to sing along with them about love, acceptance and resisting evil, and we can certainly get behind that. As the band left the stage and gave their thanks, the lights dimmed and a sound like a cassette being ejected from a VCR came over the P.A., and we moved along.
See more photos in our first and second slideshows from Friday at Bonnaroo.
In The Spin — the Scene's live review column — staffers and freelance contributors review concerts under a collective byline.
