Muse – Coachella Stage

Muse triumphantly took to the Coachella Stage on at the peak of Saturday night. For Muse, this was the set to prove that they’re deserving of the same spot in America that they’ve been holding in Europe for a couple years already–that they belong at the arena rock level of success. And not surprisingly, they did prove it at that. With a backdrop of arresting imagery to accompany each song, lead singer/guitarist Matt Bellamy lead his band mates Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard through a climactic set. Opening early with the darkly groovy “Supermassive Black Hole” and built up audience pleasure through an awesome cover of “Feelin’ Good,” lightly hammering piano while cooing, “It’s a new dawn / It’s a new day / It’s a new life / and I’m feelin’ good.” Along with the explosive chant-inducing tracks “The Resistance” and “The United States of Eurasia,” the standouts included “Hysteria” (with Bellamy’s roar of “I want it now / I want it now / Give me your heart and your soul.”) and the “Time is Running Out” (with its snake-like distorted bassline). Curiously, the band incorporated snippets into of other classics throughout the set, including AC/DC’s “Back in Black” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child.” The band ended the only way they could, with the cathartic power of “Knights of Cydonia.” Bellamy’s closing lines “No one’s gonna take me alive / time has come to make things right / You and I must make things right / You and I might fight to survive,” bringing about the song’s epic ending riff.