If you were anywhere near Bukit Jalil last Saturday (29th July), it was hard to miss the electrifying atmosphere as more than 50,000 concert goers were gathered in Bukit Jalil National Stadium to rock out to International sensation Muse. It was non-stop head-banging from the moment the trio came on stage at 9:25pm. The theatrics had lasers, strobes, confetti shower, and fire – yes, lots of fire.
It’s been 16 years since lead vocalist Matt Bellamy, bassist Chris Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard made their live debut in Kuala Lumpur. Since the “Will of The People” concert was the one and only stop in Asia, we noticed many international fans had showed up to experience Muse live as well. If anything, we’re super please that the organiser had decided to move the concert to Bukit Jalil.
As soon as the trio burst unto the stage donning geometric metal masks (that reminded us a little of “Squid Game”), we were taken on a journey. The concert was a visual theme of the rock band’s latest album “Will of The People” and the messages conveyed long-standing concerns such as global catastrophe, technological horrors of war and thought control, rising authoritarianism, and the lack of democracy these days.
Many of Muse’s songs like “Hysteria”, “Compliance”,“Time is Running Out” and “Uprising” are made for arenas and it was reflected in the stadium-strong energy last weekend. Although we personally are less familiar with their recent material as compared to their ’00s-era work, the audience at Bukit Jalil were living for all of it, even singing along to every performance. After performing approximately 20 songs that night, Muse closed the show with “Knights of Cydonia” during their encore.
Malaysian fan Azrul Anwar shared on his Facebook that this Muse concert was “one of the best show he has ever watched in Malaysia”, adding that he was pleasantly surprised to see Matt Bellamy donning the lighted bomber jacket for his solo number, “Behold, The Glove”. He added, “Typically, the sound of the audience singing along tend to overpower the singer, but not in this case. His vocal and instrument were top notch. I spent RM1,000 for the concert but it was so good that I felt the ticket price was cheap.”
MMO caught up with Indonesian concertgoer Fitri from Jakarta to get his take after the concert. “Although we’re missing some of the songs that were promised by the organiser via social media, we enjoyed the whole setlist. A 10 out of 10 for me,” Fitri said. Mohd Syukry Anuar had flown in to KL from Kuching, Sarawak with his friends. He commented, “We still haven’t slept yet, after checking in at the hotel, we immediately came here. We even managed to catch some sleep during the one hour delay. Overall for us it’s eight out of ten. The missing two points are mainly because of the lack of crowd interaction, I guess and the songs choice.”
Prior to leaving the country, the organiser got Muse to say a short farewell message to the Malaysian fans. Matt added that he hopes to return to Kuala Lumpur for another concert within the next 3 years. Hopefully we won’t have to wait so long to see them again.
