Both Cynthia and I are in love with their latest album “Black Holes and Revelations” so when we first heard that Muse is coming to Singapore, we bought the early bird tickets (priced at … gasp … S$85 compared to a full price ticket selling at S$110). Today Cynthia got home early and by 6pm, we arrived at Fort Canning. I have driven pass Fort Canning many times but today was the first time I stepped into this little nice garden near the CBD area.

6-ish, we found a rare parking lot right next to the entrance … 6.30pm, I was siting at one of the tables outside Dome waiting for the sandwiches (our dinner) while Cynthia was standing at the queue as a light drizzle was falling (I felt like, oddly as it sounds, a female penguin going out to hunt for food – Dome is sort of far, you know – while the male ones are left behind with the bad weather) … 6.45pm, I climbed the 135 steps from Dome to where Cynthia was. Luckily I found her as the queue was slowly disappearing into the entrance (she did not carry a phone). 7.30pm, we were standing right in front of the stage area. 8pm, the official start time and no sign of Muse. 8.05pm, a van reversed into behind the stage area and here came the crews. 8.30pm, a limo reversed into behind the stage area and the crowd went wild.

At 8.45pm, Muse was on stage. As anticipated, the entire crowd pushed to the front and everybody was jumping with hands high in air. Temperature was literally rising and the air was thickening with rising humidity. Bodies rubbing against each other and the music was deafening. I could hardly hear the vocals. The music was so loud and so was the cheering. The atmosphere I must say was very good.

Halfway through the show, Cynthia needed some fresh air and I needed some water. We made our way out of the middle crowd and gosh … how fresh was the air just at the rim of this crazy crowd. In fact, it was yet another experience standing from a distance and that distance was no further than where we were at one of Kuala Lumpur’s stadiums watching Linkin Park couple of years back. No body rubbing, mixing of sweat, no blockage of view, plenty of fresh air, and the music sounded a lot better from the back. The atmosphere was not as intense of course and that was the trade off.

We enjoyed the show as we got to see Muse’s front-man Matthew Bellamy displaying his talents in both guitar and piano. At some point, he was playing the piano with his guitar swung to his back and right after the piano piece, he stood up, swung the guitar to the front and started playing it. The bassist and backing vocalist Chris Wolstenholme looked really cool (wearing a tie) playing his signature fast melodious bass riff with heavy distortion. Second song of the set, when he stepped onto the center stage, everyone knew that the song “Hysteria” was coming up and true enough, his distorted bass solo began the song beautifully. Cynthia was most impressed with the drummer Dominic Howard. The patterns were rock steady and full of variations. The drumming was so full of energy. Occasionally they have another musician helping out with the keyboard but most of the time, they did it with 3 members.

One hour into the show, the band returned to the back stage and the crowd cheered for encore. They returned and played for another 15 minutes. The last song of the set was madness. Matthew was jumping in air, gliding across the stage, kneeling on the floor while playing his guitar. At the ending scene, he threw his guitar onto one of the amplifiers, said farewell to the crowd, and left the stage. Dramatic ending it was.

Just seconds after the band left the stage, the limo sped out of the free-standing area as that was the only chance to leave the scene before the crowd hit the same entrance.

One hour and fifteen minutes was a bit short. At home, I visited their official site and realised that Singapore is the first stop of their World Tour (practising on a smaller crowd first?). Perhaps that explains why I feel they could have given more. Will we be watching Muse again next year as they mentioned that they will be back then? Give us another “Black Holes and Revelations” and we shall consider!

Note: 6,500 people attended the concert.

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