MUSE - "By Request" Intimate Show

When I knew I will be studying in the UK, one of my bucket-list is to watch MUSE live in concert. By the time I got here, I never heard they would start their UK tour. Yea they haven't released any new songs as well. But after several months, they finally released a new single called Dig Down (which I do not really like), and they announced that they will play in Leeds (25 August 2017) and Reading Festival (27 August 201). In terms of location, Reading is much closer, so I immediately bought the ticket. Weeks later, They suddenly announced that they will play a London Benefit show. That means that the benefit from this show (19 August 2017) will be given to raise funds for homeless people at The Passage. Interestingly, this gig will only play "by request" tracks from fans who have the tickets. I WAS SO THRILLED OMG!! I would let go my Reading Fest ticket if I got this Intimate Show ticket-pass!! FYI, the date of Reading Fest is very near from my Dissertation Project deadline so it would be great if I just watch this special show. At first, I lined up on the ticket webpage for pre-sale, but didn't get it at all. I missed it as they were sold out in less than 3 mins! I had to wait until they sell it in normal time, but still I need to hurry and be very lucky as the venue is intended for 2000 ticket holders only. My second chance had come. After struggling from the first minute,  I finally got the ticket YAY. However, you can't choose whether you'll get a seat or standing ticket (it's a chance by luck only). And the tickets were sold out too in less than 30 mins. When I know I already got the ticket, I sold my Reading Festival ticket through Viagogo.

Ticket holders can submit up to 10 tracks of their own setlist and muse will play (eventually) 18 most selected songs. They sent me the code to submit my request a few days later. In case you wanna know my request: Futurism, Nature_1, Microcuts, Eternally Missed, Fury, Citizen Erased, Reapers, Do We Need This, Butterfly and Hurricanes, and Stockholm Syndrome. I actually wanna vote for Hyper Music as well, but the system didn't let me if I already chose Do We Need This. And my number 1 fav track is actually In Your World, but it's not available on the list. Seriously, most bands don't often do stuff like this, they normally hold big concerts to promote their current album only. Off course hardcore fans wouldn't miss this chance to submit some rarities.

I was this close

As the venue is at O2 Shepherd's Bush London, I went by bus from Coventry after lunch time. As I got there, I spent a bit time in a mall near there and I lined from 4 pm. When I was in queue, Dom Howard appeared to greet the fans. OMG I couldn't even take good quality photos of him (cries). After Dom left, Matthew Bellamy appeared. This time he was really close to me but there were many stronger and taller fans near me so I couldn't force them to move just to ask for a single selfie :((. I was devastated but yeah I was all alone there so I could only went back to my line, waiting for the gate to open. I thought the show would start at 7 pm, turned out that's the opening gate time. I need to buy another bus ticket as I already bought earlier bus ticket. After the gate opened, I bought an official t-shirt merchandise and went straight to the level 2 seating area (that's where I got my seat). I still need to wait for more than 1 hour until the band starts. This is where my heart started to pound. Tom Kirk (forever best friend and a road manager) always updated muse's instagram so I kept being updated with the information before the show. He said that there would be some rarities and old songs OMG. He also streamed the whole show via instagram live.

Before the show begins

Before the band starts, a guy from The Passage was giving speech saying thank you for muse to be involved in this charity matter. Approx 10-20 mins later, the band finally showed up. They came with the first song, Assassin (Extended version). As there were only hardcore fans in this building, they were all like singing the extended lyrics when muse play the outro. This track was first played again since 2007. The whole O2 Shepherd's Bush were ecstatic when they played Deadstar afterwards. This one's also every muser's favourite rarity. Everyone had bet that this must be played in this show haha. The next one is Muscle Museum. I was quite surprised this one's gonna be played. Not really my fav but this is one of muse's legacies. We got a heart attack once again. Easily. Yes that one had never been played before. The band also said that probably they won't play this again. This one is from Starlight's single. Not everyone's cuppa tea, but such a rare memory to witness this track is being played by them. To add the surprise effect, they were also playing Glorious. OMG this song is rarely brought, they sometimes played this in Japan but this time they specially brought to this intimate show. Last time they played it was in 2005, even before the track was released. It is a bonus track from Black Holes and Revelations (Japan version). Now I know why this stage was named an intimate show. You would definitely sing along although the rarest song was played during the show and wouldn't hear any beats like Starlight or Time is Running Out. The next one is Butterfly and Hurricanes. This is a unique one although they played it in Jakarta circa 2007. This song always has that magic, particularly when Matt played the piano part. The next one is my favorite song ever. Maybe you can guess if you know me from a long time haha. Yepp, Citizen Erased. This beautiful 7:19 min song, the only track with 7-string guitar, combining psychedelic and rock together in different parts, and is also included in the best ever album of muse, Origin of Symmetry. As I was born in 7:19 (July 19th), this song has always been on the list as my favorite (hahah). Nevertheless, I often feel (like most of the time) that I wanna be a citizen erased. I never like being a center of attention, and better get erased than being present but get abandoned. Yeah, just skip that part of my mumbling haha. After they tore our hearts with such mind-blowing tracks, they had a break by playing Munich Jam. It's so typical, but we never get bored to that tune though. They continued again with Showbiz. OH MY GOD. This is the best track ever, EVER in Showbiz, their very first album. I always get carried away with this song, not to mentioned in this show. They closed it with Ashamed outro, making this tune even more majestic. Additionally, this is the first time they played it again since 2006. They also played Fury after showbiz. Ughhhhh so many good quality, heart-melting, and such memorable yet touching songs they played for us. I don't think the audience will sing along like this if muse brought these kind of songs in their regular tour. Interlude was then heard slowly, we kinda knew that they might play Hysteria. This time I saved my energy by not really sing along. Turned out I recorded this one as a video that I only fully recorded from my cam-phone. They continued with the classic New Born. This one was played as well in Jakarta back in 2007. They still have that vibes thou with Agitated outro for a closure. The last one (before the band came out with encores) was Yes Please. This track is one of a kind from Hullabaloo (the album dedicated for fans who demand rarities). This one came with Reapers outro (a song which I voted but did not came out).

They turned back to backstage without any words and We all knew that this was sort of code for encore. After several minutes, they returned and greeted us again. They said that the next one is a song that they never thought would be much voted by us. Turned out they played Sing for Absolution. Yeah I never thought as well they would bring it up to the stage. They also played Plug In Baby, a masterpiece from Origin of Symmetry. The next one is unbelievable. A song that I loved so much when I was really really an alay hardcore fan (lol), Futurism! I once told Matt during a press conference in Jakarta (you can read my story here) that it was my fav song of all time. I am so lucky to have this gig in my life. Thank you scholarship, I wouldn't experience this if I didn't get you hahah. Then Chris started with his harmonica playing A Man With a Harmonica intro. Fans normally would have guessed which song that will be played after this melody. Yes, Knights of Cydonia. This must be the very last track they're gonna bring. We, fans, always have that goosebumps whenever this song is played during the concert. It is always a best closing, although when in Jakarta they put it as an opening. I never wanted this show to be over but it should have been. We all then scattered from the building, and waited outside near the fence, waiting for the band to greet us. After 30-40 mins waiting, they did not show up. I decided to go home as the latest bus will leave in a half hour. 

O2 Shepherd's Bush London

For me, this show has the best setlist EVER (call me lebay but I cried during Showbiz & Citizen Erased) compared to 2 muse concerts I've seen previously (Jakarta, 2007 and Singapore, 2015). However, I still have a project dissertation to be done, so I needed to go back to Coventry as soon as possible, and missed Leeds and Reading festival as the dates are not possible to attend. Moreover, I still wish to have more concerts of my #1 fav band in the future. This show is definitely scores 10 out of 10 (although with no confetti at all).

Red Hot Chili Peppers in Manchester

After having a tight term 1 course schedule, my friend who is also my flatmate, and I were going to see RHCP concert in Manchester. Why Manchester? Not only because it was the cheapest RHCP concert in the UK, the schedule suited ours as well. It was also a chance for my pal who is an MU fan to visit Old Trafford there. It took like 3 hours to go to Manchester by Bus from Coventry. By the time we arrived, we visited Old Trafford to have a stadium tour. Only him actually, I only accompanied him lol. We finished at 4pm, and headed to Manchester Arena, where the concert took place. The gate was already opened and we directly entered the concert hall.

Visiting Manchester United

Manchester Arena

Babymetal 

The opening act band was Babymetal, a metal band from Japan. The performance was great and quite unique. This band is a next big thing I suppose. Red Hot Chili Peppers showed up on time, and they brought old hits such as Around The World, Otherside, Californication, and By The Way. One thing I love about RHCP, they never change the colour of their music though they had on and off band members, and high demands as well. Their current music and albums can always be enjoyed by people from their generation (including me). In the middle of their performance, Babymetal showed up and they collaborated once. It was really, really great ambience thou. Their best new songs were also played such as Go Robot, Dark Necessities, and Sick Love. They had like 3 encore songs, which I couldn't believe they did not perform Can't Stop, as it is my all-time RHCP song. The crowd was full-house, though they had several gigs going in the UK. For me, this concert is worth it as they also giving away free CDs from their latest album for all the concert participants. Nice advertisement indeed. This show I prefer to give 7.5 scale out of 10. Who can resist a good ol' band, can't you?

Full-House Crowd

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Starsailor

This is my first gig while I'm staying in the UK. I like the band, and the songs a lot, back in my days when I was a teenager on early 2000's. Starsailor follow the tone of Britpop, with their hits Four to The Floor, Alcoholic, Good Souls, and the phenomenon Silence is Easy. Despite the location, I didn't wanna miss this show. It's only 40 mins away from where I live, and term 1 of my course had just ended (not the exam thou). The concert was held in The Assembly, Leamington Spa. They played very well, and also the crowd was really enthusiast. None of the gig goers were teenager, I suppose, rather than late 30's I bet. It was also my first gig I went to by myself, since no-one gave an attention to this band in my radius lol. I did really enjoy the show, not to mention I did have a nice meal on Viallis (you should try it at least once when you're in Leamington Spa. For this show, scale 7 out of 10 is indeed the best rating. 

Front row again? yes please

MUSINGAPORE

I was rather shocked when some of my friends told me that muse were going to perform in Singapore on September 26. Actually I was confused whether I've to attend the concert or not. Since it was gonna be held on weekend, I decided to buy the standing-area ticket. It was 2 days after Eid Adha, so I didn't have enough time to exchange the money and so on. All I could think was my friends would be there so I didn't have to worry. The only flight straight to Singapore from Jogjakarta is Air Asia and it only has 1 flight each day back and forth.

My flight was in the early morning. By the time I arrived, I met my muser buddies at the airport and we went to the hotel first to pray and putting our carriers. We went to the concert venue at Singapore Indoor Stadium at 2pm and the queue was not really long (around 3 lines to be exact). We made 2 groups divided to tag a queuing place so we could have lunch first. Around 5pm, we were allowed to get in the inside queuing area. We just couldn’t wait any longer so we made some random jokes and trash-talks to break the ice. We were allowed to enter the standing area approximately at 7pm one by one. Finally the ticket was scanned, after 2-layer queuing before that wasn’t scanned at all lol. Our group ran so quickly (but still look for each other) to get into the front row and we sure made it on Chris’ view front row. Unfortunately, there was a couple kissing next to us along the concert and we were like, ughh… Inside the stadium, we had to wait again for the opening act, which is The Ruse to perform at 8pm.

Chris side front row team

This Canadian band brought like 9 songs that were unknown for me to be honest. They are actually good, but just don’t match my genre. At 8.50pm they finished performing and the audience started to ignite again. Muse’s crew came up for some details, and I assume they will perform at least 30mins later. My legs were actually aching, so I decided to sit instead while everyone was still standing for muse to come up (avoiding that kissing couple as well tho). I finally stood again at 9.30 and muse still hadn’t showed up. We chatted for seconds and the lights were suddenly off.

Matt Bellamy on Psycho

a Chris' must-shot photo

I KNOW IT WAS MUSE!! I screamed like nobody cares, and then the sound appeared, it was Psycho that came as first single to be played when I heard Drill Sergeant intro. Then Reapers turned up. I couldn’t be more excited. This is definitely one of my favorite tracks from The Drones album. The last part was such an epic. Here Come The Drones!!! Muse never waste their time. Plug in Baby was next. The guitar riff said it all. I wasn’t particularly aware anymore with the surroundings. I didn't really notice what the band had done on the stage actually, for I just couldn’t handle this excitement no more. Plus, my view was always Chris and I had no ability to look at Matt or Dom’s side from where I stood. They continued the show with Resistance, a deep song that was played magnificently. There came the epic track, Unsustainable, one of the unusual tracks of muse. I followed the news anchor talking until the mind-blowing part came. Next they brought the deep yet sexy Dead Inside. The drum part was totally graceful, at least for me. The Interlude part of Hysteria was slowly heard after. The crowds were screaming as well for Hysteria. Probably it is compulsory for the band to put this song on every gig. The bass conquered the audience, until my favorite track of all time was being played. Yes, it is CITIZEN ERASED, the one with 7-string guitar, and with piano part at the end. I didn’t sing it loudly, but screamed at each lyric instead. I didn’t want this song to finish soon, though it is the longest track of all muse singles. They also played citizen erased at previous muse concert I’ve seen in Jakarta. Thank God I got it played at each concert. Next one we got the covered Feeling Good. This song calmed me down for some times. Dominic and Christopher started to punch the stadium with drum and bass solo. Eventually it was a starter for Madness. This song gave me a break to jump around and scream, except that one last part. Mostly each song that has official lyrics video will come out with the video at the background. Supermassive Black Hole came next, and I actually didn’t really spend too much energy on this, just sang the backing vocal part lol. Even worse, I didn’t sing at all when muse brought their all-time song Time is Running Out. Yeah, blame me for not being too muser. I thought maybe when approaching their last minutes, the tracks will be slowing down. This happened again in Starlight, when I was only humming for several times. Since I no longer have sufficient energy, it was an opportunity for me to rest a bit. Then Uprising came up. The tempo raised the goosebumps again. Many big black balloons were released in this part of the song. The audience, mostly in standing area snatched to stab the balloons which are filled by confetti. It was an incredible moment of a life-time.

full team from my view

I know this is not the end of the show yet. The setlist is completely the same as in Bangkok. The encore part didn’t really take a long time. Muse came again with Mercy, the touching one. On the halfway to the end of the song, the confetti was launched again. I felt my body was warm enough to be covered by these so-called cut-papers. Do you know what could be more ecstatic? Yes, it is Man with a Harmonica by Chris Wolstenholme. This melody was given as an intro for Knight of Cydonia. I didn’t stop moshing and head-banging over and over again along this song, AND I CAN’T. This beyond excited feeling, amusing sound, crowds’ hype, I couldn’t resist no more. This song is really a good booster to end the show.

And so it was. The show ended. As usual, they lack interacting with fans but it doesn’t matter. The security asked us to leave the indoor stadium. It was actually annoying but in the other hand they gave us drinking water during the concert for two times if I’m not mistaken. We took several pictures together before leaving the area. I was not just hungry, but already starving (every breast-feeding mother problem).

Indonesian Musers

I went to Jogjakarta the next day, with a post-concert syndrome. I mean, it is unlike other bands I’ve seen, there’s a feeling of wanting more and more. I can't distinguish whether it's an objective or subjective review if it comes to muse so I'm giving point to this concert 9.5 out of 10.

PS: I didn't take any proper shots so pardon my lack visual captures

Meet the boys of Boyzone

At first I didn't know that these guys were gonna take a concert in Jakarta. My sister in-law told me that they'd be holding a show at May 22 this year. Boyzone is one of my favorite boybands when I was a teenager. I looked for the tickets but it turned out we run out of presale tickets (yea off course, you were late to know the news as well so yeah) so I had to look at kaskus forum to get the tickets. Luckily I found the buyer who sold the tickets as affordable as the presale ones. Yeayy!!

I went to the Istora Senayan at 6.30 pm. The crowds were already flooding. It is funny since the audience who watched the concerts share the same age with us hahaha. Probably they also wanted to reminisce good old days as we did when they were in the 90s. We already got into the venue at 7 pm and the show started soon.

Boyzone brought several new songs and many old songs as well. The show went into sorrow when they sang several songs that were sung together with the late Stephen Gately. Unlike their golden era where Ronan Keating dominated most of the singing parts, now they share equal parts of singing. They brought like 22 songs, including 2 of Ronan’s hits Life is a Roller Coaster and When You Say Nothing at All. I, and probably most of the audience just couldn't go back to the reality that we missed those good old days in the 90s after attending this very concert. I rate this show 7.5 out of 10 since they still maintain good vocals and are still solid.

 me and sister in-law

Setlist:

Love Is a Hurricane

Picture of You

Love You Anyway

Baby Can I Hold You (Tracy Chapman cover) 

Everything I Own  (Bread cover) 

Ruby

Words (Bee Gees cover)

You Needed Me (Anne Murray cover)

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going (Billy Ocean cover) 

Gave It All Away

Every Day I Love You

When You Say Nothing at All (Keith Whitley cover)

The Tracks of My Tears (The Miracles cover) 

Reach Out (Four Tops cover) 

You Can't Hurry Love (The Supremes cover) 

No Matter What

If We Try

Love Will Save The Day

Who We Are

Encore:

A Different Beat

Love Me for a Reason (The Osmonds cover)

Life Is a Rollercoaster (Ronan Keating song)

Sugar Ray at Java Rockin' Land 2013

Actually I wasn't really excited to come to Java Rockin' Land (JRL) 2013 this year. The Line-Ups aren't too interesting. I finally sold my day-1 ticket cause I was too lazy to go outside hehehe. But for Sugar Ray, well it is not that bad to see them live, since they are one of the 90's band icons :p

I met Adit and Koko at the venue. Sugar Ray came up on time, at 22.15. They started the show with Speed Home California. I was so happy when they continued with Someday and Answer The Phone, my favourite songs of them. What made us, 90s generation thrilled was when they played Every Morning. That is soooo 90s hahahaa.. Falls Apart and When It's Over were played as well, and the goosebumps were still in the air.

Photo: Courtesy of Mahdesi

 

Mark McGrath, the vocalist, joked a lot. Even when the band wanted to give us encore, he said "I wanna give you all the encore part. I'll leave and go back to stage. Let's just fake the encore" He surely has a good sense of humor. The show ends with three songs. Well, it wasn't a bad show though. I was enough satisfied. I scale this performance 6.5 out of 10.

BLURIOUS

What would you say when hearing the band, Blur? Well I couldn't say anything more when finding that they're gonna have a gig in Jakarta. Actually I was a bit disappointed when I knew they will be performing with other 3 bands. It's not that I don't like the bands, But it made the ticket price go higher. Thankfully Simpati offered discounted price for their users so I took this opportunity and went to buy the regular ticket.

So I went to the gig with my college friend, Teo. He is also a britpop geek as I am :D. We hit the venue at 8 pm, and took pictures on the venue. The venue was set to have 90's britpop ambiance, with so many british ornaments within the area. I could hear the sound of The Temper Trap buzzing, but my friend and I weren't really interested in the music. Then we entered the festival area on 8.30 pm while The Temper Trap had already stopped performing. The show was actually on-time. Blur popped out at 9 pm and the crowd was yelling and screaming so loudly. Finally, the band we've been waiting for almost 20 years had come.

The band surprised us with Boys and Girls. The song is really catchy. My favourite one to be sung hehe. After a few songs, I suddenly realised the sound was a bit awful. I couldn't believe for a band like Blur, the promoter should have provided more appropriate sound system instead of taking profit too much from the audience. But whatever, I already told myself I gotta enjoy this gig. That mind-blowing moment is when they brought Coffee & TV, continued with Tender, Country House and Parklife. ohhh my goodness. That 90's sensation! I knew that they would stop performing when they already played This Is A Low. I knew that there will be an epic encore after this.

Photos above are courtesy of Mahdesi

The encore started with Under The West Way. They also brought the super hits For Tomorrow and The Universal. The most epic part was when they ended the show with Song 2. Just imagined what happened to the crowd :D. Blur played really well. No wonder, they are one of the most influential britpop bands in the world. Too band the sound system didn't perform well. I can say that this gig is scaled 8 out of 10.