A week of WOW with Muse

Matt's glasses during Take a Bow, the closing song

 Gigs Sweet 16 and 17!! The leadup began in the spring with the release of more singles from "The WOW! Signal" and the news that the release date would be June 26. I had not originally planned to go to Summerfest though Milwaukee isn't too far, because I don't do well at festivals. But when I realized it would be the first show after the album release, I looked at tickets. There were no pit tickets left anyway so I would not need to deal with queuing in the heat. And there were a few seats left very near the front on Matt's side, so I went for it.  A few weeks later I also got a ticket to the "Chicago" show, though the actual location of Tinley Park made it impractical to stay with my family in Chicagoland.  The Summerfest decision was also swayed by knowing there would be Musers I knew attending, though none would be near my seat. For the Chicago show I was able to make travel plans with previous co-conspirators 😊

We were fortunate to have listening parties at local record stores a week before the official release of the album. It was stunningly good, and heartbreaking in spots.

 I thought I might find someone else looking for a ride or a passenger to Milwaukee there, but nope. I am getting old enough that driving alone isn't the best idea, but I figured I could still do it with enough coffee.  My sister also recommended staying hydrated, maybe that helped a bit, but then I had to visit a few more rest stops than I intended! So I hit Milwaukee rush hour + road construction and didn't reach my hotel until 5ish. Luckily The Marc Hotel staff were great about getting me checked in fast so I could get to the bathroom and have a quick shower. They also recommended taking a rideshare as the festival grounds were a 30 min walk , that would have been OK if I had been on time. Barely made it in time for the openers after snagging one of the new red t-shirts at the merch booth and a quickly gobbled bratwurst. 

I got to my seat and then tried to figure out where my friends were. Security wasn't too keen on me looking around, but I finally did get to say hello to Amy , who was also celebrating her birthday. Ariel was on the barrier, but I couldn't actually see her even though she is tall. I reached some others by text but never did find them. The middle support act had a good female vocalist, kinda wished I'd paid more attention, but I was getting to know the folks next to me, the big fan was a Navy man stationed in Tokyo but home for Summerfest, and he got the rest of his family to come along.  

The sun started to set while equipment was moved, then when the lights came up we were all screaming because Muse opened with one of the new songs, Hexagons. It has some crazy falsetto in it, but Matt nailed it. I only had my phone on this trip, and one of the camera crew was hovering ridiculously close to Matt, so I don't have many good pics. 

The band seemed in good spirits and sounded flawless until Unravelling blew out the power! They soon got it back and resumed like the pros they are. Here is a bit of fan favoirte new single Cryogen. I gave up when the camera man got in the way. 

Knowing Matt has been through some difficult personal stuff this past year ( it's pretty much all in the album lyrics), it was a big relief to see him having so much fun getting the crowd to sing along on Madness and Plug In Baby and others. Be With You, another new single, is now the song for the big confetti boom. 

someone else's photo, snagged it for the smile