With the release of eighth studio album Simulation Theory last November, Muse incorporated more synth, electronica and ‘80s aesthetic than ever before; and though their accompanying world tour setlist features a few new tracks, it ultimately showcases the British trio as stalwart disciples of rock and roll.
That reverence for their roots was only magnified by the relative brevity of the band’s Saturday night performance at Austin360 Amphitheater, the main-event entertainment for the first ever Austin-based IndyCar Classic races held on the adjacent Circuit of Americas track. A setlist that ran seven songs shorter than this tour’s standard meant two of six new numbers got cut, so the bulk of the seventeen selections comprised a boisterous, best-of barrage.
All recently released material cropped up within the first eight songs: “Pressure” led the parade, its dance-worthy pulse enhanced by LED- suited horn players moving with superb synchronicity behind frontman Matt Bellamy and bassist Chris Wolstenholme. Then – after the militant march of “Psycho” and always galvanic anthem “Uprising – came “Propaganda,” an experiment in glitchier, industrial-electro vibes, which didn’t appear to engage as many fans. But mass-revival arrived swiftly with the riveting riffs of “Plug in Baby” (the oldest song of the set, off 2001’s Origin of Symmetry) and momentum never waned as the group thundered through the synth-metal meld of “The Dark Side,” searing sci-fi homage “Supermassive Black Hole” and “Thought Contagion,” which triumphed as the strongest of all new tunes by inspiring one of the night’s loudest crowd-sung choruses.
The audience roared as Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard conjured the rousing rhythm of “Hysteria,” and when Bellamy joined, his razor-sharp licks resonated at what felt like quadruple the volume. From there, a stream of fan favorites – “Madness,” “Mercy” (punctuated by a colorful confetti blast), “Time is Running Out,” “Starlight” and frenetic finale “Knights of Cydonia” – drove home the message that more than two decades on, despite any genre-bending forays, Muse remains a rock titan worth reckoning with.
