Showbiz

I remember the day during my sophomore year of college when I went to the Blue Dog* with the intention of buying some new CDs for my drive to Richmond later in the day. I was heading down to meet up with my brother and Jobeth for some random techno show and knew that I would need some kickin' tunes to stay awake on the ride back. I bought:

Queens of the Stone Age "Rated R"
Caroline Spine
Muse "Showbiz"

I bought all three used and on a whim. I probably listened to QOTSA first and was immediately happy with my purchase. I would go on to buy all of their albums and see them live a few years ago.

Next up I put on Caroline Spine, a band I tried based on a recommendation from a fellow Foo Fighters fan. Eh...it was okay. I'm not sure I listened to the whole thing then...or ever.

Then I opened the bright blue** case of this band I hadn't heard much about and popped it into my CD player. Even as I listen now, I can remember being in my car and hearing the piano and wondering what the hell I was listening to and how it was possible to instantly love something so much. I was on my way to hear some jungle DJ and there I was, listening to Rachmaninov-inspired rock music in the car.

To say I was enamored would be an understatement. I went on to buy their next releases and have loved each and every song. I honestly don't think there is a Muse song that I have ever felt "eh" about. So here was this band I absolutely loved and yet I had never seen them live. It seemed as though they were never going to come back to the US until one day I was looking online and saw it: Muse touring with My Chemical Romance. I think I was on the phone with Ali immediately and she, being the amazing sister that she is, bought tickets for us as a birthday gift to me.

Fast forward to the show and holy hell were we two excited girls. I think we were the only two in the crowd there solely for Muse and it was obvious when we realized we were the only two standing in our section for the start of their set. But Muse wouldn't be the awesome band they are without gaining some fans and just a few songs in and more and more people were standing up to catch a better view of the show that was before us.

My only complaint about the show was that it was too short, but with that said, I would have the same complaint even if they had played every song they had ever written and even thrown in a few covers. They aren't called one of the best live bands in the world for nothing. Their show is stellar. At one point Ali looked at me and said, "Is this really happening?" It was impeccable, yet raw*** and had that indescribable "live show" feeling.

I think I was most impressed with Chris Wolstenholme's bass playing and Matthew Bellamy's falsetto and piano playing. But even as I write that I can't not mention the drumming and guitar playing. It literally was all amazing. It was just what I wanted and expected. We didn't even stay for all of My Chemical Romance's set as we didn't want to soil our ears. We mocked their fans and their cries of "MCR" while we wondered how anyone could like them over Muse.

Muse is Top 5 All Time for me. I love them, like whoa. And the next time I see them, it's going to be in the UK, bitches!

XO,
SVR






*RIP. Such an adorable used CD store in Fredericksburg, VA.

**Promo copy!

***It is my own pet peeve to describe music as "raw," but sometimes it's the only word that works.