Metric and Muse at Nassau Coliseum 10/24/10

I’ve been a fan of Muse for about three years now, getting introduced to their music when I left high school.  I remember picking up the H.A.A.R.P. CD/DVD set not long after it came out, and it was all I watched for a long time.  Even without the crazy camera cuts, the band seemed to deliver an energetic show that expanded on the songs they’d committed to record.  I was then sold on the idea that they were a phenomenal live band that I must see at the next chance I could!

Two years later, while I was getting ready for a KISS show, I saw an ad online that Muse would be playing Nassau Coliseum! Score! But who was opening, I wondered? Metric?! At that point I’d only recently become aware of Metric due to their ubiquity in soundtracks of the summer, but I loved what I heard.  It was the right kind of indie music.  Not pretentious hipster shit like Shiny Toy Guns or that like, more along the lines of The Main Drag, Freezepop, The New Pornographers: good songs and hooks with a larger than life sound.  I didn’t need  a second thought, I found great tickets online and had been excited for the months leading up to the show!

I got to the show around 7 with my girlfriend, and the tickets said the show started at 7:30.  Metric was very prompt getting on stage, and took no time at all making their presence known by opening their set with a killer version of “Black Sheep”, their contribution to the soundtrack for Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.  The band was in great form, with singer Emily Haines moving like the most adorable bunny you’ve ever seen and hitting each note perfectly.  Lots of good chemistry going on with the band, as they transformed the bridge of “Dead Disco” into a hypnotic jam that grew quieter until they kicked back into high gear to finish the song.  They concentrated mainly on songs from their latest release, Fantasies, and didn’t have that long of a set, but I can’t say that it wasn’t satisfying.  They played with virtually no breaks between their songs and gave off so much energy, even having some crowd participation with “Gimme Sympathy” and their closing number “Help I’m Alive”.  There wasn’t a big crowd, which is the curse of being an opening band, but the people who were there seemed to dig it and there was post-show chatter about them.  They took the stage quickly and left not long after, like a quick storm.

After a short break, Muse made their grand entrance performing their lead single from 2009’s The Resistance, “Uprising”, while each band member was on a separate lighted tower that displayed images and lyrics.  The projections on the tower throughout the show were stunning, ranging from footage of politicians, Galaga, and DNA.  During the third song, “New Born”, the band’s power shorted so they left the stage for a couple of minutes before picking back up where they left off.  Not surprising, since Muse had a light show you wouldn’t believe! Matthew Bellamy’s shiny clothes and guitar only added to the intensity of the light, as he aimed it off into the crowd during one of the band’s signature songs, “Plug-In Baby”.  Even the piano that he played on was fitted with lights, as Muse played a cover of the Broadway standard “Feeling Good”.  The night was ended with the epic, but assuredly exhausting “Knights Of Cydonia”, one of Muse’s biggest radio successes.  The crowd sang every word along with the band and violently swayed to the gigantic riffs that carry the end of the song.

Strange of a bill as it may have seemed, the show was excellent.  Both bands were in top shape and delivered engaging and memorable performances.  The crowd Muse attracted was unbelievably huge, with the exits being clogged when it was all over, but it was a testament to the fanbase that the band has accumulated since its inception.  All of the excitement from Muse’s live albums is no exaggeration or studio trickery: these guys are a band meant to be seen live.  Listening to the albums only tells half of the story.  Metric is also fantastic live, and I’m eagerly awaiting their return to New York.