Grammy award-winning alternative rock band Muse brought their A game to the Simulation Theory World Tour at Golden 1 Center on Thursday night.
Before the futuristic British group took the stage, vibrant and high-energy Walk the Moon got the crowd on their feet with hits like, “Shut Up and Dance” and “Anna Sun”.
When the lights went dark in the arena, an army of Muse dancers wearing LED lit costumes marched out from backstage in a single file line. In perfect unison, they made their way to a circular stage in the center of the floor which was illuminated by lasers outlining its circumference. They began playing a taste of “Algorithm” on trumpets as they encircled the platform, creating a barrier to prepare to introduce their king (Matt Bellamy) who then emerged from underneath the stage with impressive vocals.
Following this entrancing entrance, the band played hits like “Pressure,” “Supermassive Black Hole,” (made especially famous after being featured on the Twilight soundtrack back in ’08), and of course, the alternative rock anthem for the ages, “Uprising”. In fact, Bellamy was so confident in our knowledge of this classic banger that he held the mic out for the audience to shout the entirety of the first chorus. Unsurprisingly, not a beat was missed.
Ironically, just as the song “Mercy” neared its chorus, glow-in-the-dark confetti rained down from the sky and shot out of cannons placed on the outskirts of the floor. Fans spun in circles and danced in the decorations as Bellamy dropped to his knees and shouted the dark lyrics to the song. “Show me mercy, can someone rescue me?” He sang. The juxtaposition of this image left a chilling effect on the crowd that perfectly set the mood for their next song, “Time Is Running Out”.
The lengthy setlist included many fan favorites from most of their eight studio albums, including the fast-paced “Hysteria” and “Madness,” as well as slower jams like “Dig Down,” and “Starlight.” It was during the chorus of “Starlight” that audience members in the mosh pit had their time to shine as video cameras captured their smiling faces and flashed them across the screen for the whole arena to see.
Having had drones fly over crowds at shows in the past in addition to pyrotechnics and video screens depicting shape-shifting graphics, there was quite a spectacle surrounding how Muse would top themselves for the Simulation Theory show. As if the lasers and dancers dressed as robots, zombies, and special agents with steam guns weren’t enough sci-fi excitement, there was more.
During the band’s full performance of “Algorithm,” a supermassive (pun-intended) monster robot rose up from underneath the stage and remained the centerpiece for an entire medley of metal songs, creepily opening and closing its mouth and reaching its giant fingers out as if it was longing for a victim. It felt as if we had been transported straight into an episode of Stranger Things and thrown into The Upside Down. Needless to say, our hopes and expectations were exceeded.
.@muse pulled out ALL the stops tonight 🤯🤖 pic.twitter.com/4jFfOuvqFh— Golden 1 Center (@Golden1Center) March 8, 2019
Bringing us back to reality with what was perhaps the most traditional move of the evening, the band kicked around light-up balloon balls tossed into the mosh pit by their dancers during the final encore performance, “Knights of Cydonia”. Fans jumped up and down and clapped as the performers thanked the crowd for a fun night.
“Thank you so much! We love you Sacramento, thanks for coming!” Beamed drummer Dominic Howard.
Muse’s Simulation Theory World Tour was an otherworldly experience that we are so glad Sacramento got to witness firsthand. See photos from our wild night with the legendary rock band here.
