The doors finally opened and we followed a guiding path that lead us into the arena, down the flights of stairs, onto the floor level, and straight to the barrier. Up until this point my mind and self wasn’t getting anymore excited than I already was. My brother asked me several times if I couldn’t wait, but I always found myself calm and tame. It was now that I was walking that my heart started pumping. I took advantage of my long legs and took leaps of a giant all while the security crew was yelling and demanding that we decide to walk. Having had people in the other line already get ahead of us and fuel my adrenaline of rage and anger, I was too concerned for following rules. At one point this mother and her daughter were on the left side of the stairs, going down, and I looked to her and told her she was on the wrong side of the stairs. I ended up standing right next to that lady the whole concert. It worked out that when we got to the barrier, most everyone that already walked in had chosen the middle and stage left, opposite of what we had in mind. We, Avery, Tim, Cody, and I, all lined up on the barrier and sat down against the barrier when we got there,
The Silversun Pickups weren’t scheduled to play until 7:30pm, which meant we had to sit and chill for another hour and thirty minutes. Everyone slowly trickled in for the next thirty minutes and pretty soon the floor was covered. I didn’t look back again until the middle of the show when Muse was performing, but it was quite a sight. Eventually, a few of us decided to get up and talk to the bouncer that was stationed near us. He was a cool guy with several interesting stories and reasons he moved to Atlanta that only involved the name of a woman whom he called his “ex wife”. The bouncers have a pretty good concept and system that they have seem to have mastered over the course of experience. As the show progressed, there were people surprisingly dropping due to locking the legs as well as being dehydrated and other strange reasons. I’d be looking up at the stage and I’d see the bouncers through my peripheral vision pointing fingers and trying to communicate with the crowd off in distance. About thirty seconds later I’d see one bouncer stand on his step and lean in the crowd, grab a limp person, then lift them over the barrier and toss him to nearby bouncers. Poor kids; one of them didn’t even make it to the Muse performance. Lastly, during the show, the bouncers would have water bottles and offer it to people that wanted it or looked like they were going to pass out. It was fascinating seeing society function, though it was for individual desires of the youth, that the bouncers helped out by hydrating people. Sure, I know you’re thinking that they get paid to do that, but it gives me hope in society. Let me be narrow-minded and be surprised doing events like this.
I can’t say that I loved the Silversun Pickups, but I didn’t hate them. Of course most all songs by a band sound the same if you don’t know them, so I won’t say that all the songs sound the same without the disclaimer of understanding that there is a difference that I can’t find over the course of a thirty minute performance. I did enjoy Lazy Eye, the only song I knew from the band with special thanks to Rock Band for introducing it to me. That being said, Lazy Eye was their last song, they said the usual thanks and what have you, then we waited around thirty minutes for Muse to come on. And so, we waited.
I won’t go into too much detail pertaining to the Muse concert, seeing as I don’t want to spoil any surprises for anyone looking to attend a concert. Of course after I say that, I go on to say that it was the same setlist that was played in the European Tour. I was slightly disappointed when I found this out, but the majority of me was stoked to be there and didn’t care what they played. I don’t know how people explain an experience of their favorite celebrity and/or band without coming off as obsessive and perhaps gay. While I am not gay, I can admit to having an obsession. To be roughly ten feet away from a man that creates music that you have listened to and claimed as your favorite band for the past four years is quite mind blowing. For a few minutes I sat there and stared at the man. It was almost comparable to one of those moments, such as in the movie Saving Private Ryan when Tom Hanks was storming Normandy Beach and everything went muffled and voices couldn’t be understood. I stood there and realized that this is a man that I’ve obsessed over for four years. I’ve claimed him as a genius, creating more than just lyrics in his music, having fascinating theories and ideas about government conspiracies, and being unique with his lyrics and making bold statements about government, gods, and people. I talked about him to others all the time, trying to convert them to be Muse loving hooligans. Wow, I sound like one of them religious folk trying to convert people to anmother religion, which is a whole different situation and blog post that I’d love to share my feelings about. But that will be later, so I digress.
The show was great and I got some decent pictures with the point-and-shoot camera that my father let me borrow. I might have focused a decent amount on the pictures, but in no way was the show inhibited by it. I honestly loved every single song. There are hundreds of people that talk trash about songs they hate that Muse play live, especially Guiding Light and Feeling Good, but I don’t care the song; it’s the appreciation of the band and all that they’ve created. If I do give a personal opinion that judges Muse, it would be that I prefer their old style from the days of Absolution and Origin of Symmetry. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love The Resistance, because I do.
It was great to see the demographic of the concert be of all ages. There were people that said they came because Muse opened for the band U2 and they liked them, there were original Muse loving fans, and of course there were the Twilight fans. The show was rumored to be sold-out, and perhaps it was, but there were a few empty sections of seats. Perhaps not everyone could make it. The show lasted around an hour and forty-five minutes and ended on such a great note. The crowd was cheering so loud that my ears got to the point that it felt like too much was trying to get in and it wouldn’t go through that fast. The show ended, the band left, and the stage lights came up. Pleased by the great ending, we walked up the stairs to the lobby and sat in a corner, waiting for the worst traffic jam I had ever seen in my life clear up. Todd came around and kicked us out about twenty minutes later. We shared our last laughs and goodbyes and went on. We then separated from Tim and Cody, then got in the freezing car and drove to Aaron’s house. No doubt one of the nicest set of parents I have ever had the privilege to come across and meet. We sat and talked for a bit, then proceeded to sleep. I got my first shower in almost thirty-six hours. I can’t think of much else to say about the experience. If you made it this far into a story of a life that isn’t yours, then I congratulate you. It was an experience that I wouldn’t pass up if given the opportunity again. Not just because Muse is my favorite band, but I highly recommend anyone and everyone debating on going to one of their shows and go ahead and do it. Don’t even think about the situation. Personally life changing; absolutely. Until next time, I leave you with a few pictures from the concert.
