Muse's Matt Bellamy/ Star Tribune photo by Jeff Wheeler
All that London Olympics exposure and a burgeoning U.S. single ("Madness," on several Twin Cities radio stations right now) apparently didn't make Muse any bigger in the Twin Cities.
The British trio drew 8,000 to Target Center on Thursday; that's about the same size audience that attended Muse's 2010 show there.
As explained in my review, I preferred the 2010 show (more guitar solos, more jaw-dropping visuals) but this one was still pretty magical (despite a huge helping of tunes from last year's less-than-special "The 2nd Law.")
As frontman Matt Bellamy mentioned last time, he recalled playing at Target Center in 2000 with the Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Muse's opening act, Dead Sara, a rock quartet from Los Angeles, has a bad moniker, a forgettable and unfocused sound, and a fascinating vocalist in powerhouse Emily Armstrong, who benefited from Muse's most awesome sound system.
Here is Muse's set list from Target Center:
The 2nd Law: Unsustainable/ Supremacy/ Map of Problematique/ Supermassive Black Hole/ Panic Station/ Resistance > Star Spangled Banner/ Animals/ Knights of Cydonia/ Jam/ Follow Me/ Sunburn/ Liquid State/ Madness/ Undisclosed Desires/ Time Is Running Out/ Stockholm Syndrome ENCORE 1 Uprising ENCORE 2 Starlight/ Survival
