Getting tickets to the Olympia and its capacity of 2600 people was difficult, which is understandable. The 18,000 tickets of the Palais Omnisports did not change anything and it was the same for Bercy. The success of Muse in France has never been bigger. A second concert would not have been too much! It is therefore in a full to bursting Bercy that the band performed.
The Joy Formidable had the daunting task of open the concert and they did pretty well. They managed to liven up the atmosphere and engage the crowd. The energy of the band was very communicative, even if the length of the set, 40 minutes has exhausted a few.
Between Ola and thunderous applause, the interval only increased the joy of the crowd!
Muse has made its entrance on Unsustainable which, this summer had hit the headlines by its dubstep and electro sides. It is nowclear that it sounds good live! Then directly Supremacy, announcing the color of a great show. The public did not hesitate to accompany Matthew Bellamy on lead vocals, it gave chills.
The full extent of the decor was revealed at the beginning of Supermassive Black Hole when a pyramid of screens has been deployed since the ceiling. Other screens arranged in a circle around the stage diffused also videos and pictures of the concert. The Resistance, like Panic Station then received a hero's welcome.
After a beginning in fanfare, the band continued the concert with quiter songs like Animals, Explorers and especially Falling Down interpreted on the piano, nod to their debut album Showbiz. Fans of the first hour were also served with Host, B-Side Cave single, which had not been played in years!
The atmosphere reached its climax on Time Is Running Out, Knights of Cydonia and Plug In Baby. If in the pit it was a general jubilation, the bleachers were not just watching the show! They spent the concert standing, shaking seats by jumping. It was a pleasure to see!
The novelty on The 2nd Law is Chris Wolstenholme (the bassist) rather reserved, who sings two songs. At the Olympia we discovered the aerial Save Me and at Bercy we had Liquid State. It denotes from the other songs of the band and it gives off something that makes you want to move. Moreover, it is nice to see Chris highlighted.
Usually, Muse live is a powerful music, a delirious audience and little communication. Matthew Bellamy has not the reputation of being an extrovert on stage or should I say had not. In Bercy helped by a mobile microphone, he played with the public, did not hesitate to come down from the stage to get closer to his fans. It gave him a "showman" side that we did not know about and which surprised many of us.
If Chris had his moment of light, there are no jealousy with Muse. Dominic Howard also had his spotlight, a whole staging on a ninjas theme had been specially concocted. The drummer thus appeared dressed as the Japanese warriors, and screens were broadcasting a movie showing him fighting with his drum sticks.
The band began its tour two days before in Montpellier with a similar setlist. Nevertheless in Paris, was Hysteria replaced Map Of The Problematique and Newborn unfortunately has not been performed, Stockholm Syndrome was preferred.
As at the Olympia the concert ended with the anthem of London's Olympic Games, Survival. The band, delighted, thanked the parisian crowd and a few hours later Dom and Chris gave their thoughts on Twitter. "Paris, we love you as always! You know you're the best! Xx" for Dom and "Paris seriously rocks" for Chris.
Like it or not, this new tour is a milestone in the evolution of Muse. This corroborates with what Matt recently told the the Daily Star, he explained that the band's concerts would be the most impressive and imposing of their entire career. This in order to do as well or better than Coldplay that is "the only English group to have had real success there in the last 15 years". Chris agreed with "Initially you do not think about. You're just happy to be recognized in the United States. now it is much more. "
Few words about my impressions: I was seduced by the stage built for this tour which was very successful! I was surprised by Matt's behavior, sometimes it's too much and not natural enough (On Follow Me for example). To speak about the setlist, it is sure that it will become increasingly difficult to get the songs that made me vibrate at their begining. Falling Down was a nice surprise (although Sunburn would have been even more powerful), Host was a pleasure, I missed Newborn and Undisclosed Desires was too much. Despite these minor gripes my story with Muse is not ready to stop! Besides, I have other appointments with them and it starts on Monday in Nantes! So expect to hear me talk about them again.
You can watch my videos on
Youtube, have acces to my pictures on
Photobucket and discover the setlist below:
The 2nd Law: Unsustainable
Map of the Problematique (With Who Knows Who Riff Outro)
Monty Jam (Drum and Bass Jam)
Falling Down (Piano version)
The 2nd Law: Isolated System
Knights of Cydonia (Man with a Harmonica intro)
What about you ? Were you there ? What did you think of the show ?
