RheinEnergie Stadion, Cologne, Germany9th June 2023
Muse - “Will Of The People World Tour” 2023 - Support: Royal Blood, One OK Rock
Following the chart success of their ninth studio album ‘Will Of The People’, Grammy winners MUSE are currently touring Europe. On Friday, June 9th, 2023, they were playing an exclusive German show as part of their “Will Of The People World Tour” at Cologne’s RheinEnergie stadium. Multi-platinum-selling MUSE are recognized as one of the finest live bands in the world with their disruptive shows and groundbreaking productions. They proved this again in Cologne. ROYAL BLOOD and ONE OK ROCK were opening this hot summer night.
One OK Rock
It was just 18.15 when Japan’s ONE OK ROCK (founded in 2005) entered the stage. The queues outside the venue were still very long and so, the stadium was not very well filled when the band entered the stage. Taka (vocals), Toru (lead guitar), Ryota (bass) and Tomoya 8drums) gave their very best to entertain the crowd and their show was well received. After big success in their home country, they toured Europe for the first time in 2013 with sold-out venues and came back in the following years. To choose them as opener for today was a very good decision. https://www.oneokrock.com / https://www.facebook.com/ONEOKROCK
Setlist
01. Save Yourself
02. Deeper Deeper
03. Taking Off
04. Renegades
05. Neon
06. Prove
07. Your Tears Are Mine
Royal Blood
Still many people were waiting outside to enter the stadium when ROYAL BOOD, consisting of Mike Kerr (vocals, bass) and Ben Thatcher (drums), started their show 19.15. Just two people on such a big stage might seem quite lonely, but they mastered it very well to rock the house. A huge wall of lights behind them filled up the space. The British Garage and Blues Rock duo was formed in Worthing in 2013. Unlike traditional Rock bands, ROYAL BLOOD consists of just two members. By using multiple effects pedals, Kerr emulates the sound of a distorted electric guitar, compensating for the lack of a guitarist. https://www.royalbloodband.com / https://www.facebook.com/RoyalBloodUK
Setlist
01. Out of the Black
02. Come on Over
03. Boilermaker
04. Lights Out
05. Trouble’s Coming
06. Mountains at Midnight
07. How Did We Get So Dark?
08. Little Monster
09. Figure It Out
Muse
British Rock band MUSE formed in Teignmouth, England in 1994. The band consists of Matthew Bellamy (vocals, guitar, piano and synths), Chris Wolstenholme (electric bass, vocals, synths) and Dominic Howard (drums and percussion). MUSE stylistically combines Alternative, Hard and Progressive Rock as well as Electronica with elements of Classical music into Rock ballads and is assigned to the subgenre New Prog. Over the years, the band released celebrated albums and played live all around the globe. In 2020, MUSE announced they were working on a new album. A first single, ‘Won’t Stand Down’, was released on January 13, 2022. Followed by second single, ‘Compliance’, on March 17, 2022, coinciding with the announcement of ‘Will of the People’, their ninth album. According to Matt Bellamy, the basic idea of the album is a “new song compilation album” since the band turned down the record company’s request to release a compilation. The album’s other main thematic idea is to be a map through various crises, such as wars in Europe and the storming of the Capitol (which ‘Won’t Stand Down’ is inspired by). https://www.muse.mu / https://www.facebook.com/muse
Music & Performance
It tool several attempts for me to finally have the opportunity to see MUSE live in concert. Announced for 20.30, the sounds of the intro finally were resounding through the stadium around 20.45. MUSE always promises a massive stage show and massive it was. Additionally, fans were celebrating the birthday of fronter Matthew James Bellamy. Under best weather conditions, fans were celebrating the concert season at RheinEnergie stadium. It did not matter at all that the stadium was not completely sold-out. Right from the start, fans in Müngersdorf were celebrating with the band and already during ‘Hysteria’, there was no holding back. MUSE are no newbies at RheinEnergie stadium. They played there already in 2019 and now, the show once more had everything you expect from MUSE… Lasers, pyrotechnics, fire, confetti and streamers, countless light effects, spectacular stage elements. It was just a pity that it was getting dark so late and so, the light effect did not come to full effect.
Show and lights are only one part of the evening… the fans just want to celebrate two hours of massive hits. There was a lot of space for dancing, jumping and one or another mosh pit. And so, the show moves through the almost 30 years of band history. ‘Hysteria’, ‘Time Is Running Out’, ‘Undisclosed Desires’, ‘Uprising’ - there is hit after hit. And in-between, the mobile phone lights illuminate the stadium grandstands during ‘Madness’. And there was of course a birthday serenade for singer Bellamy, who was very happy. “Cologne, how are you? - We always had the best shows in Germany.” Maybe that was reason for the band deciding to film the concert. Is it possible that the Müngersdorf evening will be released as a recording in the future? Or were all the cameras there for just displaying the action onto the screens besides the stage?
Of course there are songs with serious topics, but also such songs for pure escalation. During ‘Supermassive Black Hole’, ‘Plug In Baby’ and ‘Uprising’ people were jumping wildly, while ‘Starlight’ saw once again a sea of mobile phone lights, before the guitar aria ‘Knights of Cydonia’ concludes the exciting evening. Downer of the night? Not the show of the band, but several fans reported muddy sound, especially on the tribunes. They also were not happy about the slow entrance. Still, anyone was happy to see a fantastic show of MUSE that night.
Setlist
Intro: Chant (Tape)
01. Will of the People
02. Interlude
03. Hysteria
[Drill Sergeant] (Tape)
04. Psycho
05. Bliss
06. Resistance
07. Won’t Stand Down
Kill or Be Killed (Felsmann + Tiley Reinterpretation) (Tape)
08. Compliance
09. Thought Contagion
10. Verona
Interstitial ‘Parkour’ (Tape)
11. Time Is Running Out
12. The 2nd Law: Isolated System
13. Undisclosed Desires
14. You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween
15. Madness (Crowd sings “Happy Birthday” for Matt)
16. We Are Fucking Fucked
17. The Dark Side (Alternate Reality Version - Instrumental)
18. Supermassive Black Hole
19. Plug In Baby
20. Behold, the Glove (Matt Bellamy song)
21. Uprising
22. Prelude
23. Starlight
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24. Kill or Be Killed
25. Knights of Cydonia
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 10
Sound: 6
Light: 10
Total: 8.8 / 10
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com / http://www.facebook.com/blackcatnet)
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