Muse Live!

Muse
Aragon, Chicago
Thursday, July 27, 2006

Thursday night’s Muse show inside a sweltering Aragon may not have provided any relief from the unforgiving heat, but it did provide an oasis of sorts. It acted as a respite from seemingly like-minded alt-arena art bands who have since disappeared or abandoned what gained them their notoriety to begin with.

The focus and directness Tool could care less about at this point, the straightforwardness and classic riffs the Pumpkins ditched long ago, and the melody and outright hooks Radiohead can hardly be bothered with anymore. Muse not only pick up the slack so many have left behind over recent years, but does it without coming off derivative or unoriginal. They also remember that dark and foreboding rock can still be fun and celebratory at the same time. Which is part of what works so well for the group and why they’ve been able to work their way up to bigger rooms each time they hit Chicago. The other part? They bring the effing heavy. And loud.

So how did a larger room find the group this go-round? If anything, Muse could’ve gone bigger still. The group’s sound is first and foremost massive, despite occasionally wandering off into more experimental territory. But at their best, Muse are a monster onstage, with all-encompassing riffs and even ever-present keyboard flourishes that can hold their own against a room that swallows sound like the Aragon.

This is the beauty of Muse. A mixture of high-gloss, ’90s alt-rock inspirations, and UK art-rock hooks, they hit the stage running and didn’t let up. The evening’s set bounced around between the group’s different personalities, such as in the steady building, marching band beat-driven “Invincible.” Elsewhere, the hook-heavy and undeniable “Starlight” found a perfect middle ground between the heavy and experimental, while 2004’s “Hurricanes And Butterflies” served as one of the night’s best examples of a seamless blend between Muse’s powerhouse sensibilities and more foreboding restraints. It was a theme present throughout the band’s entire set, which only added to the evening’s overall impression. By the time the group hit “Stockholm Syndrome” and the recent “Knights Of Cyndonia,” Muse’s declaration of intent was unmistakable and impossible to ignore.

Most commendable, though, is the fact Muse wave the arena flag loud and proud and loud again. In such a minimal musical climate it’s both refreshing and renewing to witness such unabashed power and melody unleashed onstage. So long as the group avoid, or, at the very least, better handle, the pitfalls and experiments some of their aforementioned peers fell into, we should be in good hands while Muse are active. Now, here’s hoping their next graduation is to a better cooled room.

— Jaime de’Medici

Category: Live Reviews, Weekly