REVIEW: Muse turned Toronto’s RBC Amphitheatre into a futuristic rock spectacle that never let up

Muse’s Wow! Signal Tour stop at Toronto’s RBC Amphitheatre last week (July 15) really was “wow,” as obvious and as easy a statement as that may be.

It had been a busy stretch at the waterfront venue for guitar greats, from Carlos Santana to Jack White, and Muse frontman Matt Bellamy belongs in any conversation about the instrument’s most inventive players — not to mention that voice.

Muse diehards know Bellamy’s Manson custom guitars are equipped with built-in touch controllers and MIDI technology, allowing him to manipulate effects on the body of the guitar rather than relying on stationary floor pedals, but others might be perplexed, wondering where those cool sounds are coming from.

Along with boundary-pushing bassist Chris Wolstenholme (who has a bass with an LED strip) and drummer Dom Howard, the UK rock act is astounding when you see just three guys onstage creating such head-spinning big — and often crazy — sounds — sci-fi-sparked, tempo-changing experiments that take rock to another dimension.

For this reason, Muse is one of those bands that consistently sells out arenas and amphitheatres, but many people still don’t know them, even though their first album, Showbiz, was 1999. But, convince any rock fan to check them out live and they will be converted and maybe even obsessed. “Musers,” the fanatics, are the breed that can have long discussions about each show, the set list, lamenting a song not being played or feel their life is now complete if it is.

Their new studio album, their 10th, The Wow! Signal, had been out a month before the UK band — Bellamy now lives in Los Angeles — officially laynched the North American tour July 5, flipped up to Canada for their only two Canadian dates, Toronto and Quebec City. The album is getting great reviews from critics and fans, but they only played a few tracks live: the ferocious and spirally Muse-of-old “Cryogen,” the odd spacey prog of “Hexagons,” the groovy “Nightshift Superstar,” and the soaring ballad “Be With You.”

The “wow signal” may sound like a trite phrase, but the album title refers to a radio signal from the direction of the Sagittarius constellation by the Bg Ear radio telescope — detected by astronomer Jerry Ehman who wrote down “Wow!” The reference fits perfectly for Muse’s sci-fi and otherworldly themes. Hence, the Aug. 15, 1977 date that appeared on video at the show (I could not have been the only one to look it up).

The set was simple, the guys often bathed in red — they wore black and red gradient attire —the cinematic “Interlude” gave way to the unmistakable bassline of their huge hit, “Hysteria,” immediately igniting the crowd, before throwing in the new one, “Cryogen,” complete with icey imagery, then another biggie, “Supermassive Black Hole.” Throughout the night, the new material, however few, fit comfortably into Muse’s catalogue.

Bellamy remained the focal point, saying little but mesmerizing through his trademark falsetto and futuristic guitar work which often sounded more like synthesizers than six strings.

Whether navigating the intense chaos and majesty of “Stockholm Syndrome,” the crushing heaviness of “Kill or Be Killed” or the biting hypnotism of the soaring singalong “Thought Contagion,” his playing constantly pushed songs beyond their studio versions. Wolstenholme’s distorted bass often functioned as a second lead instrument, while Howard’s drumming anchored the band’s controlled mayhem with machine-like consistency.

The Wow Signal’s first single “Be With You” was one of the set’s more melodic moments before the crowd shouted along to the rubbery snarling crunch of “Psycho,” while the slow and atmospheric love song “Madness” transformed the amphitheatre into a singalong. “Plug In Baby,” with its bright iconic opening riff, was a highlight of the night, far more pop-oriented than today’s Muse, but they’d be a riot if they didn’t play it. 

As the show neared the end, the band used the excerpt of JFK’s 1961 “Secret Societies” speech before “Uprising,” before playing “Knights of Cydonia” (with Ennio Morricone’s “The Man With a Harmonica”), the euphoric space-western finale.  The night ended with the pulsating apocalyptic “Take a Bow,” building to an ominous end.

Muse is one of those bands that over the years has pushed itself musically regardless of what their fans want or expect, and people have joined them on their experimental journey that is distinct, virtuosic and cinematic. At Toronto’s RBC Amphitheatre, Bellamy, Wolstenholme and Howard, as usual, turned their futuristic ambitions into one effin’ cool show. My only wish was that they’d play “Bliss,” of course.