You can't tell me the set designers haven't been to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Muse. Them boys is goin' places.
Memo to headliners around the globe: This is how you treat your opening acts...lend them some of the power of your production, get the crowd into them, and they'll continue to be into you. Memo to Muse (and every other opener on this tour): Don't get used to it.
Yup. It's a keytar.
This is Ground Control to Major Tom...
Breathing.
"Man at the door says if I want to stay alive a bit longer, there's three things I need you to know..."
I've been on my feet for eight hours at this point, and Hewson's already sitting down? Hmmm.
The catwalk parked right over my head for "Mysterious Ways." Thought we'd picked a bad spot after all...until a few songs later...
Reflection.
Still haven't found...
"Now look to the right..."
The goal is still soul, right?
Something to be said about stillness in the midst of such a huge production...
In the interest of full disclosure: Completely lost my $#!+ when they started playing "Until The End Of The World." Don't know why that song has vaulted to the top of my personal favorites list, especially since I don't really like the recorded version, but it has. Then they parked the catwalk on top of us again, which irked me, until somebody started taking a stroll...
What I saw/what 70,000 others saw
The show within the show.
The reach.
The aid.
The embrace.
The dormant live production geek in me takes over.
Seriously, who thinks, "You know what we need here? Thousands of oblong, hexagonal LED screens! And double the order because we've got two different stages leapfrogging one another!"
"Oh, yeah...let's make it accordion up and down over the center of the stage!" Seriously...Willie Williams? You're a madman. And we love you for it.
The bassman, unfazed by it all.
The much-maligned "I'll Go Crazy..." remix did serve a good purpose...allowing all the boys to take a walk around the spaceship's perimeter.
"Hey...haven't seen you all night..."
"I'll take this side, you've got them over there..."
You gotta wonder: Does it ever get old for them?
How do you learn to pick *your* moments with tens of thousands of adoring fans in front of you?
This one is for the ladies. You're welcome.
Good to let the rhythm section share in the love.
"Paul." "Adam."
There's nothing revolutionary about four guys on a stage. They've known this all along.
It's what you do when you get there that counts. They've also known this all along.
And sometimes that involves putting your frontman in a jacket full of lasers.
"And in this corner...Ultraviolet..."
With/Without
Surrendering to the moment.
"I did not notice the passersby, and they did not notice me..."
Thank you and good night.
"Nice job, boys...where's the pub?"
