For the second time in the past week, I read a Muse concert review which lauded the band's musical performance and light show, yet showed disappointment in the band's stage set-up.
In both these reviews, the critics claimed that this tour's stage set-up lacked in comparison to the band's 2009-2011 Resistance Tour, in honor of their 2009 album The Resistance. While I'd agree that the stage set-up for that tour was visually impressive at times, it was limiting, and the overall spectacle of the shows on that tour, while still great, were inferior to those on this - the 2nd Law Tour.
During the Resistance Tour, the three band members were situated in the middle of giant skyscrapers for the first couple songs or so, before being lowered to the stage. This was visually striking, especially at first, however, it limited the mobility of the band members, and while drummer Dominic Howard and bassist Chris Wolstenholme don't move around a great deal, singer and guitarist Matthew Bellamy is known to do so. The light show was visually stunning, and the music was spot-on, as usual.
In the band's current tour, there isn't that visually striking component at the outset of their shows. However, the light show is just as, if not more visually stunning than that displayed during the Resistance Tour. Also, just preceding the band's third song in their set - "Supermassive Black Hole" - what appears to be a UFO of some kind drops down from the ceiling, with red lights cast all around it. Once the opening riff of the song is played, the UFO lights up as an inverted pyramid, displaying a vast array of changing colors and images, before altering its shape at times during the remaining 17-18 songs as well. To me, this was the more visually impressive of the two set-ups. It allowed more flexibility for the band members, which is of vital importance, especially in Bellamy's case. It also provided more flexibility as far as colors, images, shapes, and lights go. The Resistance Tour may have been visually more striking at first, but the 2nd Law Tour was more visually striking throughout the course of a full set. What American critics (people in general) sometimes forget, I think, is that bigger doesn't always mean better.
In both these reviews, the critics claimed that this tour's stage set-up lacked in comparison to the band's 2009-2011 Resistance Tour, in honor of their 2009 album The Resistance. While I'd agree that the stage set-up for that tour was visually impressive at times, it was limiting, and the overall spectacle of the shows on that tour, while still great, were inferior to those on this - the 2nd Law Tour.
During the Resistance Tour, the three band members were situated in the middle of giant skyscrapers for the first couple songs or so, before being lowered to the stage. This was visually striking, especially at first, however, it limited the mobility of the band members, and while drummer Dominic Howard and bassist Chris Wolstenholme don't move around a great deal, singer and guitarist Matthew Bellamy is known to do so. The light show was visually stunning, and the music was spot-on, as usual.
In the band's current tour, there isn't that visually striking component at the outset of their shows. However, the light show is just as, if not more visually stunning than that displayed during the Resistance Tour. Also, just preceding the band's third song in their set - "Supermassive Black Hole" - what appears to be a UFO of some kind drops down from the ceiling, with red lights cast all around it. Once the opening riff of the song is played, the UFO lights up as an inverted pyramid, displaying a vast array of changing colors and images, before altering its shape at times during the remaining 17-18 songs as well. To me, this was the more visually impressive of the two set-ups. It allowed more flexibility for the band members, which is of vital importance, especially in Bellamy's case. It also provided more flexibility as far as colors, images, shapes, and lights go. The Resistance Tour may have been visually more striking at first, but the 2nd Law Tour was more visually striking throughout the course of a full set. What American critics (people in general) sometimes forget, I think, is that bigger doesn't always mean better.
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