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| 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.
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.
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.
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| Be With You confetti |
We also got the live premier of Nightshift Superstar , a super danceable track, I only recorded a little of it, but it seems it's too long for Blogger. However, it seems I am under the limit for a bit of the last song, Take a Bow.
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| sweaty me by the box office |
Part 2 only required me to get to Rochester by myself and then we took Crystal's newer and roomier car the rest of the way. Jake and Janelle were sharing the room I booked but driving separately. I am always happy to let Crystal's GF app find restaurants because they are consistently better than what my kids pick on family trips. So lunch was at a Venezuelan place La Taguara and I had my first arepa, yum!
We also stopped at a cannabis dispensary not too far from our hotel. Illinois is a bit ahead of Minnesota on this stuff. I was gobsmacked at the sorts of things you could get there. We also lucked out on cheap gas, while most stations were at or over $4, this one 7/11 was $3.29! So we got in line and filled up!
After the short hop to our room for the night, we realized it was past normal supper time, and not having heard from Jake & Janelle in a while, we had some delicious salads from Avocado Theory delivered, but they arrived right after. Next order of business was strategizing for the queue for the show the next day. I had a seat and didn't need to, but everyone else was planning on it. Luckily we checked with Ariel via dms because we didn't know where to line up and she was familiar with the venue. Turned out you really could not queue until later in the day, so we told her to stop by our room when she got here,and we all got a bit more sleep than we planned.
Ariel arrived after breakfast and chilled in our room until we figured it was time to at least be near the venue in a nearby parking lot so they could move quickly. I caught up on a podcast which actually caused an extra nap! Checked on the folks queuing, the heat wasn't bad at all but it seemed there was more than one queue, never a good thing. I scheduled a Lyft to get me to Credit Union 1 Amphitheater at doors. Once again , merch first , especially since I was buying for others this time. The line was super fast , and the venue in general seemed well organized. Screens and texts informed me that it had some commitment to being environmental which is a definite plus in my book. There were more food choices than I expected, all kind of pricey, but my Korean dumplings were tasty.
Then came the unexpectedly complex journey to my seat. 105 EE turned out to be right next to a VIP box , but you couldn't get at it through there so I had to go the long way around. No one was sitting near me , let alone anyone I knew. My friends partially made it to the barrier, Jake and Janelle ended up right behind the first row of people thanks to the VIPS and weird queues. Never did find Amy this time, nor Mandy or Shauna. And for a while I was worried about the empty seats, but they actually did fill up before Muse came on.
This time we had the actual tour support acts, Temper Trap was decent and I enjoyed Bloc Party. I also caught some weird ads on the big screens, um, Dude Wipes? Thankfully it was soon twilight and Muse took the stage with Interlude into Hysteria this time. That threw me a little since I wanted to try for a full video of Hexagons and now I wondered if they'd dropped it. But no, it just came a bit later, afrer Cryogen and Supermassive Black Hole. Not sure which song this next photo is from though. I had better sight lines, but was perhaps too far back for my camera's zoom.
Then came the unexpectedly complex journey to my seat. 105 EE turned out to be right next to a VIP box , but you couldn't get at it through there so I had to go the long way around. No one was sitting near me , let alone anyone I knew. My friends partially made it to the barrier, Jake and Janelle ended up right behind the first row of people thanks to the VIPS and weird queues. Never did find Amy this time, nor Mandy or Shauna. And for a while I was worried about the empty seats, but they actually did fill up before Muse came on.
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| selfie with crowd |
This time we had the actual tour support acts, Temper Trap was decent and I enjoyed Bloc Party. I also caught some weird ads on the big screens, um, Dude Wipes? Thankfully it was soon twilight and Muse took the stage with Interlude into Hysteria this time. That threw me a little since I wanted to try for a full video of Hexagons and now I wondered if they'd dropped it. But no, it just came a bit later, afrer Cryogen and Supermassive Black Hole. Not sure which song this next photo is from though. I had better sight lines, but was perhaps too far back for my camera's zoom.
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| early in the set at Tinley Park |
So then I attempted getting nearly all of Hexagons on video. My camera work is awful, but the sound is OK so I put it on YouTube anyway.
Matt was putting in another brilliant vocal performance along with masterful guitar shredding. I did hear a slight crack in his voice once, so people who think he's lip syncing - you are nuts! He is just that consistently great. Some of the following pics are from the big screen, mostly not sure which songs.
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| the camera man was slightly less problematic at this gig, I think due to how far back I was Be With You- first my attempt to get the church window effect but it's not very sharp, then another view of the confetti.   |
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| probably Uprising |
Once again, I put down the camera and enjoyed the Uprising booty wiggling in the moment! 😁It was a little extra this night! Someone else caught it though! https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19FJuWjRBH/ I guess Dom is used to this by now, he carries on being the heartbeat of the band despite whatever nonsense or guitars Matt throws at him. Some of the new songs have some very demanding drumming, too.
This time my clip of Nightshift Superstar is short enough. Chris proving why he is the Wolstenbeast!
I scooped up some more confetti and a streamer, saw I was not going to be allowed anywhere near the barrier this time, so I headed out and messaged Ariel. This time the message went through fast enough for me to spot her and the rest of the gang coming out, then we squished into her Jeep and got back to the hotel. Ariel had to drive on right away, the rest of us all wanted quick showers and bed!
I was oddly the first one up the next morning, which is fine, because I move kinda slow! We actually got checked out by 10am ish and hit the road. Apparently my short night's sleep caught up with me, Crystal tells me I dozed off despite guzzling 3 cups of coffee.. I was very happy to wake up for our lunch break though, Madison area again, but a little off the beaten path. Ollie's was a truly restful break with a charming setting, we chose to enjoy it on the patio.
As in Milwaukee, Matt was enjoying getting the crowd to help with singing along, and Chicago did well. It seemed too soon when we got to the closer Take a Bow, my picture of that is at the top of this post. I really like it last instead of Knights of Cydonia, possibly because it was the first Muse song I ever heard, and also was uncharacteristically the closer at my first Muse gig in Minneapolis.
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| from Muse France |
I scooped up some more confetti and a streamer, saw I was not going to be allowed anywhere near the barrier this time, so I headed out and messaged Ariel. This time the message went through fast enough for me to spot her and the rest of the gang coming out, then we squished into her Jeep and got back to the hotel. Ariel had to drive on right away, the rest of us all wanted quick showers and bed!
I was oddly the first one up the next morning, which is fine, because I move kinda slow! We actually got checked out by 10am ish and hit the road. Apparently my short night's sleep caught up with me, Crystal tells me I dozed off despite guzzling 3 cups of coffee.. I was very happy to wake up for our lunch break though, Madison area again, but a little off the beaten path. Ollie's was a truly restful break with a charming setting, we chose to enjoy it on the patio.
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| patio at Ollie's |
This place really goes for being inclusive, besides gluten free options, I think I remember some vegan ones too, yet in other ways the menu seemed very "Wisconsin supper club" Restrooms were all 3 all gender. I am a big sucker for onion rings, so I got the onion straws with my falafel sandwich, they were the best fried onion thing ever! Crystal got a lovely fried fish , and our silverware was iridescent! Crystal also went for the chocolate mousse and made me try a bite- so rich and smooth! Hope I can get back here some day, maybe even next month..
That kept us fairly full the rest of the way to Rochester. We were a little behind after our leisurely lunch, but there was still plenty of daylight. So a quick pit stop and greeting to Crystal's kitties, and I was on my way to my own kitties. Thought I might grab some supper if I needed anoher stop but didn't see anything promising and before I knew it I was in St. Paul. So I figured I might just as well get my dinner ar Olive and Lamb, a Persian place right on the way home that is one of the few places I know that serves brown rice! Felt like I needed some fiber...
The cats were a bit unwelcoming this time, I guess leaving without permission twice within a week is too much, They got over it by the next day, Greg was back to snuggling and Julius had to inspect my loot. And yes, that is a hexagon bedspread! Made by my female relatives long before any of our Muse boys were even born.
Post Muse depression hasn't quite set in yet, maybe because it sounds like they will do more US dates in the spring, hopefully in arenas so I can go for barrier.
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