Big Bad Concert Rankings: No. 4
I was in Detroit for The War on Drugs, and now we’re back in Detroit for the next show. Getting there, however, was a task and. half. I should really know better by now, but tougher journeys typically mean better experiences.
4. MUSE [Walk the Moon]
The correlation between my favorite bands and the best concerts I’ve seen is fairly weak. Until we get to the Top 5, where three of the five are among my favorite artists of all time. The War on Drugs is certainly in the mix, but Muse is very much my runner up.
The best I can describe what Muse is to people is to paraphrase from my favorite character on The Office — Robert California. In one episode he described The Black Eyed Peas as “It's rock and roll for people who don't like rock and roll, it's rap for people who don't like rap, it's pop for people who don't like pop.” Well, Muse is rock and roll for people who like rock and roll, it’s pop for people who like pop, and it’s punk for people who like punk.
Throw in varying styles over a couple decades and Muse is a band that can really stand the test of time, despite not being huge in the US. Sure, they can nearly sell out an arena in a major US city, but I don’t have a whole lot of friends into the band.
Which was my major conundrum finding someone to go to this show with me after my mom came down with a severe cold.
I found three candidates. All coworkers at 20 Monroe. I told each of them that I already had the ticket, it was free to them, and that I’d be driving to Detroit and back the same night.
I went in order of the requests received, but the first one opted out. The second one did not. And that’s why this show is so high up. Had things gone to plan and the seats we originally had were the only ones for the night, we’re looking at a Mid-20s show.
My friend AfC agreed to go for the ride on Thursday. I took the day off from work because I needed more time to park and eat and destress than I gave myself the first time I went to Little Caesar’s Arena. So, we headed out around one and got into town a little after 4 o’clock. Traffic wasn’t much of anything on the way there, but the show was during Opening Day week, so downtown was getting full. AfC and I got something to eat before the show and we also hit up Third Man Records (Jack White’s company) and had a cool time checking things out. With de-stressing complete and parking handled (always pre-pay if you’re visiting Detroit), it was off to the arena.
Which is beautiful until you have to sit down. Then, it gets cramped.
When I took my dad to the Bucks/Pistons game a few years back, we thought we’d be safe in Mezzanine seats. We were wrong. At only 5-foot-10, my dad was cramped. Going into the Muse show, for the price I paid, I knew my mom would be fine and I could just stand. The seats were high enough up that it didn’t matter who was behind us because of a landing where you could stand by the seat section, and the seats were in the front row, which gave us some foot room.
That was mostly true.
AfC and I run through the merch line and find our seats just as Walk the Moon starts playing. Just the hits, no filler, playing while most everyone isn’t in the building. A couple Snapchat stories and Instagram pics later and AfC is buried in her phone. It was her birthday so it was a little expected.
We get to Shut Up and Dance and AfC has some news.
One of her friends saw her social media posts and tells her that her dad is in the suite. The half-court suite.
I was already onto the second step in the aisle before she could get her “do you want to move seats?” question out of her mouth.
Half a mile later, or whatever the distance is inside that place, we arrive at the suite entrance. Like a boss, AfC acquired the screenshot tickets and now we’re ascending the stairs. The suite is stacked with pizzas (obviously), wings, salads, other foods, beverages, adult and otherwise, and it’s a party. AfC is treated like a queen and I was all for it. It took us 40 minutes to go from penny slots to the high-stakes room. As the driver, I did not partake in anything that wasn’t a few wings and maybe a slice of pizza.
One slight drawback — no seats were open and AfC is a small human being. I was fine with standing in a suite watching the opening numbers, but something was missing from the experience. Luckily, the first third of the setlist was … fine. Simulation Theory is a synth 80s throwback with ultra-modern lyrics that makes for an awesome, Tron-inspired tour. While visually stunning, we spent maybe half an hour bantering between the suite life about possible seating. It took 14 songs to claim some squatters’ rights. And it was so worth it. Practically a La-Z-Boy, these plush, pillowy seats were just what the doctor ordered. Yes, we missed a fair amount of the new stuff and Hysteria, but we’re at the home stretch of pre-encore songs. Both AfC and I have past set lists on our phone to figure out what we can expect in the next hour, and it’s basically flawless.
The absolute surprise of the evening was how well Muse shows off some of its underplayed songs. The cover photo for this edition is from Mercy, a middling, poppy track on one of their latest albums. A fine song, yet in full panoramic view, in comfortable seats, with full bellies, and phones at the ready, it’s a stellar snapshot of what the night was — some hard work and a lot of luck.
As soon as the confetti hit the lights, changing its colors for 11,000 people, I knew this would be a Top 5 show. That’s also why I chose it for the cover photo.
After that, it was just enjoying the moment. During the encore medley of Stockholm Syndrome/Assassin/Reapers/Handler/New Born a giant tech-ravaged skeleton tried to devour the band. I mean … that’s cool for any show, right?
I started the video below from their Houston show. It was stop No. 1 on their US tour. Detroit was 15th. Not only was their performance honed over that time, the show in Detroit was a good 10 minutes longer than their kickoff.
An added bonus of going with AfC was the killer mixtape she was configuring with my CDs on the ride back. We had some Khalid, some Beyonce, a lot of Front Bottoms. Yes, it’s my music, but an outsider validating your musical tastes is bar none one of the most gratifying things you can experience at 1 a.m. while slingshotting around the I-96/I-69 interchange.
