Muse excites fans with explosive performance at Marquee
By KELLY WILSON
Get Out
Dec. 13, 2004

The Brit-rock trio Muse made it clear that they were more than a one-hit wonder when they performed to a sold-out Marquee Theatre Sunday. The group — which melds electronic, rock and metal into haunting melodies — performed a breathtaking 75-minute set amid a fantastic light show and covered the majority of material from their U.S. debut CD "Absolution."

Singer Matt Bellamy demonstrated a flawless control over his keyboard (which was illuminated by a rainbow of lights) and guitar while constantly shuffling back and forth between the two instruments. The frontman was backed by equally solid performances from charismatic bassist Chris Wolstenholme, who smoked a cigarette mid-set, and drummer Dominic Howard.

The band kicked off its set with the keyboard-driven, end-of-the-world album opener “Apocalypse Now” and continued to wow the audience with tracks like “Sing for Absolution,” “Ruled By Secrecy” and “The Small Print” along with their two singles “Hysteria” and “Time is Running Out,” which had the crowd singing along to the latter.

“I'm in awe of them,’’ Justin Murphy, 24, of Tempe, said. “They're amazing to watch and have an incredible stage presence. There's really no other band like them around right now.’’

Murphy makes a point. It's hard not to notice the group's larger-than-life presence. At times Bellamy would crawl across the stage while strumming on his guitar, almost as if he was making love to his beloved tool, and would work the audience into a frenzy.
Unlike most bands, Muse wasn't much for small talk in between songs. In fact, Bellamy barely strung together a few sentences during the whole show, which is a shame because he has an adorable British accent. When he did talk, it was only to point out that they performed a song off an old album or to say good night.

Aside from the lack of small talk, the only other downside was that the band's set included a lot of slow and I mean slooow songs, which would sometimes result in looks of boredom and yawns from the fans. But the band's faster material was so explosive that it was hard to hold their more mellow stuff against them.

“There were a few slow moments,’’ Rob Estaks, 22, of Mesa, said. “But it's all good. I think they're such a good band. You can't take your eyes off of them up there. The next time they come back, I wouldn't be surprised if they're playing Mesa Ampitheatre or Cricket. They're really going to take off.’’