1. Originally posted by LikeASong:God, is the Bologna show really an amateur recording?!?! It sounds almost like an broadcast one, what an amazing sound&performance&crowd


    I think so, can't find back from where I downloaded it (muselive, musebootlegs, dime...?)
    Sergio, I really hope you will enjoy Madrid'show as much as I did in Paris (maybe with a better setlist...), already waiting for your feedbak... Have a great time...
  2. Plug In Baby, Bologna, Repeat, Awesome
  3. Just in case someone misses me (mostly for Aaron, Lurking and a few others!), I want to inform you: tomorrow 16th of June (nice Breathe coincidance ) I will attend Muse's only concert in Spain, which will take place on the sacred (for me, since I saw U2 there in my 15th birthday) Vicente Calderón Stadium. Me and my friends will be queueing since 8AM with beer and guitar, you are all invited to join us
    So, I won't be around here until mid-thursday - if I survive.


    Apocalypse Please.


    MUSE!!! See you all
  4. Originally posted by LikeASong:Just in case someone misses me (mostly for Aaron, Lurking and a few others!), I want to inform you: tomorrow 16th of June (nice Breathe coincidance ) I will attend Muse's only concert in Spain, which will take place on the sacred (for me, since I saw U2 there in my 15th birthday) Vicente Calderón Stadium. Me and my friends will be queueing since 8AM with beer and guitar, you are all invited to join us
    So, I won't be around here until mid-thursday - if I survive.


    Apocalypse Please.


    MUSE!!! See you all


    I'm sooooooooooo happy for you!!! I just read they played Bliss!! I hope it's true I know you were dying for them to play it! Hope u have (having) a great time
  5. Ooh Man, they played Bliss! You lucky basterd!
    Now they probably don't play it saturday
    Let's pray then for Citizen Erased!
  6. Oh,

    Fuck.

    Oh,

    God.




    Detailed review obviously coming later... now let me some time to assimilate it all.


  7. I know what you mean, been there before...
  8. hope they play Bliss in melbourne
  9. haha lol Sergio sounds like you had a good time looking forward to your review
  10. Well, I'm alive. I survived. I thought I wouldn't, though



    Last night show was probably the most awesome (musical-related) experience I have ever had, in the same stadium in which I attended the U2 2005-8-11 Madrid show, on my 15th birthday... That concert was too much for me and it doesn't rate into the musical experience, but in the spiritual ones. It's above everything. But yesteday's MUSE show beat all the previous concerts I had ever attended (Bruce Springsteen, Red Hot Chili Peppers, U2-2009, The Police, Sting, Santana, etc-- included). From the first to the last songs, the 50.000 people gathered there was vibrating and singing and crying and shouting and singing and enjoying together.


    My friend Daniel queued since 10AM, and I joined him on 12AM (I had an exam and coudn't get there earlier); we played guitar and so, but the queueing was pretty boring, people didn't seem to be very "into it". They opened doors at 18:15 and we got into the stadium and into the GA walking; there were security guards each 10 or 15 meters telling everyone not to run - I had never seen something similar!! We eventually got a great spot just in the left-centre of the stage (we knew Matt is on the left most of the time!), about 4-6 meters (~6th GA row) away from the main stage, and 2-3 meters left from the central rail. A fucking great spot, probably the best on the GA - we weren't too far from the band, but we could see the screens anyway!! (unlike the 360 U2 concerts, when you miss the screens if you're near the band, and viceversa).



    The first support act was The Big Pink, which were just boring and mediocre. Nothing special. I rather would have heard the DJ songs for 45 more minutes (they played from 19:30 to 20:15) About the 60-70% of their sound was pre-recorded synth and drum stuff, and the drum player (a quite wonderful Chinese girl) was just fooling around with the drums most of the time. The guitar and the backing voices were barely heard and the keyboards+synth player was fooling around a lot more, what a dumb guy.
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    The main singer/guitar player and the bass player were good though, they knew they had a tough audience (15.000 dehydrated people craving to see their beloved band are not always pleasant to play for, I guess) but they pulled out a quite good performance. They even requested some audience sing-along in their most known song (I don't know the title but I knew the chorus lyrics and so), and they got it. Overall = 5 / 10.


    Later on, Editors got up the stage, and they fixed the mess that The Big Pink had done. They played an excellent set: In This Light And On This Evening / Bones / An End Has A Start / Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors / Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool / Bullets / Munich - pseudo-encore - The Racing Rats / Papillon. I knew 6 of the 9 songs and sung along to most of them. People seemed to know Munich and Papillon the most, and I went a bit crazy during Smokers..., my favorite song of them.
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    The singer looked like he had snorted a big amount of cocaine - he has doing strange faces and gestures, and looked pretty skizophrenial (is that the right word? lol). I do'nt know if he acts like that always, or if he was under drugs yesterday. Anyway, a tremendous performance that got people's attention, and even got the GA crowd jumping for 2 or 3 songs. They plaved for 45 minutes set + 10 minutes encore (from 20:40 to 21:35). Overall = 7'5 or even 8 / 10 (not bad at all for a support band!!!).


    And after their set, Editors left the stage and the Muse's crowd took it over.
    The crowd cheered every single move that was made on the stage. They brought the black, big piano, and they got an ovation; the guitars were tuned and they got cheered too; etc. By the way, the guitar tech who was tuning the red Manson guitar played In My Life (by The Beatles), Heartbreaker (by Led Zeppelin) and Where The Streets Have No Name main riffs. The latter ones were hugely cheered by the crowd too The guy who tested the drums did the Starlight distinctive bass drumming (Ta - tata - Ta - tatata) and something that sounded vaguely similar to Sunday Bloody Sunday too! The DJ was playing some horrible songs in the meanwhile, and only a few of them were good enough to be celebrated. One of them (and the second-to-last one) was Vertigo by U2....... I cried, I must admit it. Hearing that song, in that very same stadium 5 years later, and remembering that epic concert that meant so many to me (which started and ended with Vertigo, by the way)... And everyone around me (everyone!!!!!!!!!!! I really mean everybody!!!!!!) was singing it really out loud, and jumping and cheering. The DJ cut the volume out during the chorus "Hola" and "Donde está?" parts, and the crowd sound was enormous. And well, after another song (that nobosy knew - and it helped to relax a bit the ambient) there were a few minutes of unconvenient silence, and then..... Stadium lights went down. It was a shame, it wasn't late enough and there were still a bit of daylight, but it was amazing anyway.



    -



    Some sort of intro song started to sound (some sites call it We Are The Universe... I didn't know the song anyway), and suddenly over 30 people waving many different flags and signs with Muse lyrics ("We will be victorious", "They will not force us", "You and I must fight for our rights", "They will not control us", "We are not afraid to die", etc) took the stage, and started to walk down by the centre rail.....

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    It was a tremendous and incredibly surprising warming up, and while there were still two big signs on both sides of the stage (The big "We will be victorious" and "They will not control us" signs), MUSE got up the stage, and started to play Uprising. Matt was playing a two-neck guitar (fan-named "Casinocaster") with which he did a slide intro while the last signs were leaving the stage.
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    From then on, you can imagine, a general catharsis and incredible amounts of joy. Uprising featured the first singalongs of the night, with the second chorus not being sung by Matt. We would have drowned him anyway, so ...


    The song finished and quickly Matt said "Goodnight, Madrid!!" and Dom made the countdown to Suppermassive Black Hole. It sounded terrific, with the whole GA jumping in time and drowning out Chris on the "Glaciers melting..." and the "Suppermassive black hole!!" parts. Great version, with an extended outro by Matt.


    After the first two big puches in our faces, came in the piano intro for New Born (which was surprisingly not played ive by Matt), that was hugely cheered by the crowd. Another terrific version of a great, great song, probably my 3rd favorite on Origin Of Symmetry, and with a long and different solo, and a extended outtro too, by Matt and joined by Chris and Dom. Awesome version, really. Check it out:



    And then, the brutal Map Of The Problematique, which I could barely sing (my voice craked during New Born and I was trying to save a little for the rest of the concert) - therefore I heard the huge crowd roar during the chorus, and the great vocals that Matt delivers in this song. It finished very similar to the album and, while Matt was taking some feedback off his black Manson, I told my friends "Oh, damn, they don't play the Heartbreaker outtro, which I love! Fuck!!"... and then... Matt faced the audience again and started playing the Heartbreaker riff!!!!!! We all went mad then! Dom and Chris joined him and did a ~1:30 outtro/cover of the song (there were even people singing along to the original Led Zeppelin lyrics). It was freaking awesome.


    Then came Neutron Star Collision... It's a mediocre song, but even then it sounded amazing, with Chris all over the place, and a very wonderful set of visuals.
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    They surely realized that the crappy Neutron Shit Crap-ission had let the audience down, and they decided to fix it with a tremendous version of........ Bliss. Yes, BLISS. I fucking couldn't believe my ears and eyes. It was played with the arpeggio intro (like in Glastonbury, for example), and in the moment I heard the first three notes I screamed "BLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSS" to the top of my lungs; nearly anyone had recognised the song at the moment, and about 30 people turned down and looked stranged to me....... then the arpeggios finished and the full bass+drum combo came in, and everything had sense again. It was a general party, it featured two small and different solos from Matt, and the famous extended outtro........ I really couldn't believe it was finally happening. I was so incredibly fucking happy.... "Give me all the peace and joy in your mind" suddenly acquired its full meaning and I felt myself connected with the 50.000 people there, and with the 3 great musicians on stage. It was truly a fantastic moment, at the end of the song (I don't remember if it was the 4th or the 5th chorus) tears were streaming down my face, and I was complete and absolutely happy.




    Then came a bunch of songs of which I can't barely remember anything, I actually was shocked by the previous song. And I mean I was REALLY shocked. Anyway, Guiding Light was much better than on the album, and featured a great confetti releasing (very Coldpllay-ish, but great anyway!)
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    Then Interlude+Hysteria turned on the crowd again. I've read that the outtro featured the Back In Black riff... I think I went a bit mad again, or not - I'm not sure

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    Nishe was as boring as always for me. Sorry, I really can't get into it. It's surely a fantastic demonstration of Chris' and Dom's skills, but I can't see the point of playing a relaxed instrumental in a stadium.

    I eventually enjoyed Nishe, since I knew that United States Of Eurasia was surely coming after it, and indeed it was. It was a great version (great visuals too) with the crowd drowning Matt on the "eura SIA, SIA, SIA" chants at the end... And after it, the awesome Nina Simone cover that they made a lot better: Feeling Good. Hugely cheered by the crowd and played virtually the same as the album version, it featured one amazing experience: I had never seen so many people trying to do a such high falsetto!!! It was awesome, and most of the crowd (who obviously didn't reach the note) burst into laugh - it was funny


    Then came the MK Jam, which reminded me a lot to the Crazy Tonight remix of the 360 tour (mostly because of the funky beat and the extra coolness of the performance itself). They played it in the mobile platform that moved along the central rail - an awesome thing that no one expected, and the audience loved. Dom was wearing a hat that some threw at him, and Chris was laughing all the way (probably realizing that they were being the most cool people in the whole planet, performing 10 meters above a packed GA). It was fantastic, people clapping and jumping all the way... Funny moment for sure.
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    The platform went back to the main stage just for a few moments, Matt joined them and it went backwards again, to the middle of the stadium (and even higher than before), where they performed Undisclosed Desires. This song has been sounding in the Spanish radio over and over for months, and it's some kind of hymn here. Nevertheless, I found it quite wattered-down, it lacked something. The song itself is not a world wonder, but I don't know... it sounded quite empty.
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    Then the b-stage (or "B-Spaceship stage" as I like to call it) returned to its original position, and Matt took its mirror Manson and started to play a beautiful slide intro...... which was the intro for Resistance. General delirium again, specially in the "It could be wrong, could be wrong..." parts. Awesome version with an awesome "Re - sissss - taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaance" final scream by Matt, quite longer than the album one.


    The platform went once again to its place, and Dom asked us to "Please clap along to this beautiful song" and then started Starlight, one of the general favorites, which featured an awesome singalong in the first "Our hopes and expectations, back holes and revelations" part that sent shivers down my spine, absolutely amazing. I never liked the ending of Starlight, it sounds too much like a coitus interruptus, if you know what I mean. But it was a fantastic rendition of a fantastic song, with the correspondant phone call to someone important, you know


    And then... Matt picked his black Manson and started to pick some strings... Hell, yeah, that is the House Of The Rising Sun riff!! Yeah!!! The WHOLE audience sung it instead of Matt, I'm sure that I will find some video to prove it, it was probably the most awesome moment of the concert so far. Everyone singing out loud a non-released, 50 years old song without being encouraged by the singer or anyone....... Simply awesome. And I was extremely thrilled because I knew what was coming after... and it was, of course, my beloved Time Is Running Out. The first Muse song I ever heard, the first I learnt lyrics of, the first I learnt to play on guitar and the first I listened to in a bootleg (it's still the song from which I decide the quality and my persona rating of a bootleg). It's so special for me, and I enjoyed it so much that I can't say anything else.


    Unnatural Selection and it's great "No (HEY) chance (HEY) for fate (HEYY!!!)" chorus closed the main set, after which they left the stage for a quite long encore (over 3 minutes I think).


    They returned to the stage, and while Matt was doing another beautiful and long slide intro, Dom asked us to take out our phones and "give this song some light"... Yes, it was the almighty and gorgeous Unintended, in which there were some audience members asking for silence, and others doing singalongs... Finally we agreed and there was a slight singalong that allowed Matt to be perfectly heard ... It was wonderful, and Matt delivered another amazing vocals for this one. Seeing that stadium lit up with phones 5 years after Bono asked us the same during One was truly emotive and moving for me.
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    And then lights went suddenly off (I mean that every light was off) and.... and..... a breathtaking moment took place: a 25 meters of diameter UFO appeared from the right of the stage and started to fly over the GA. Yes, it was as amazing as it sounds. Exogenesis Part I was being played, but anyone (and I mean no one!!! ) was paying attention to it (I recall that Chris sounded better during Exogenesis that on the rest of the concert - the whole ground was shaking with his bass lines!)... Then the UFO opened and an acrobat went off it (together with a considerable amount of confetti), and started to do a beautiful air dance that got us all impressed...

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    It was a truly wonderful moment, with an UFO suspended 10 meters above our heads, a great song sounding over the PA and everyone in some kind of alucinogen and relaxed state that didn't exactly end when the UFO left the stadium again............ It ended when Stockholm Syndrome started!!!!! I don't remember a lot of this song because I literally went mad during it (the girl who was besides me asked at the end of the song if I was fine - she was scared!)... It wasn't one of my favorite songs until last month or so, when I got a lot into it... And oh God, what a great version they delivered. The whole stadium was levitating, it was something really similar to the feeling that you get when Streets plays at a U2 concert, really. Everyone jumping and singing and whoa, it was amazing.


    They did a second encore (shorter than the previous one) and returned in the absolute dark, Dom sat at its drum and Chris picked up his bass... And then apppeared him. It looked like a futurist musical astronaut, with a full suit of lights (of course - it reminded a fucking lot to Bono's Ultraviolet laser suit of this tour, but... this was even cooler because of the two colours!!) and a bright guitar... They started to play Take A Bow, which is nothing special to me, and therefore I spent looking mostly at Matt, who was performing alone on the platform, in the highest position it had reached so far... it was very high above the GA and it was extremely cool.
    This two pictures are specially cool in my opinion!

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    And then, and then, and then........... Then another intro by Matt with huge distortion announced that the next song was Plug In Baby... General eargasm, Matt left us singing the second chorus (the crowd roar -even with the slight delay produced by the people on the back of the stadium- during "My plug in babyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy" was the best moment of the show, even better than the aforementioned House Of The Rising Sun singalong, and the UFO, and everything else. Awesomeness at its best).


    Chris took his harmonica and did the fantastic A Man With An Harmonica, and then, as most of us knew, came Knights Of Cydonia. It's probably their best song when it comes to close a show, but since last Wednesday I deeply hate it. I hate it, because it meant the end of the show. Epic, great, astonishing and a big bunch of adjectives, they all run short to describe how it was. But it was the end of a fucking great show, and I will never like it the same because of it
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    Knights Of Cydonia ended with a big bang, and the band cheered us and left the stage, leaving everyone in some kind of paranoia+happiness+shock state, from which some of us still haven't woke up.


    -


    It was an awesome show, plagued of great performances, anecdotes and moments, and I enjoyed like it was the last night of my life.
    I truly, heartfully recommend everyone who's reading me to see them at least once in their lives, it doens't mind if you're a hard die fan or a casual listener, even a hater. MUSE playing live in front of you won't disappoint, I guarantee it. Maybe they don't choose all the songs you wanted to hear, or they play other crappy ones... But if you analyse their musical skills, their live sound and the energy they pull off in every performance, you'll realize that they are the true heirs of the throne. They will be the biggest band in the world in a few years (if they're not now, which I doubt - the problem is that the world hasn't realized yet), I'm sure. And I'm happy to having witnessed the shift in the very same stadium where I sealed and swore my love for U2. Now, I can proudly say that I have seen MUSE take over everyone else.




    Sorry if I bored you, I just needed it

    If someone wants any of the photos in high resolution, just let me know.



  11. Sergio,
    Your feedback almost made me cry... I thought there were no words to describe a Muse concert but you did perfectly...
    The last sentence on Muse/U2 is exactly the same one I wrote a year ago when I said that when I experienced Muse at Wembley they took over U2 10 years after Popmart tour...
    I will let you know if I find a decent bootleg...