Archives > Absolution Era > Olympia Theatre, Dublin - 23/02/04
Fan review of Olympia Theatre, Dublin gig
Author : Steve Hogarty | Date : 06 Mar 2005 17:28 | Submitted by Jamie | Comments : 
(2) | Rating :
6.37
(2) | Rating :
6.37
I had to get a bus from Navan to Dublin, but when I'd finished the 30 minute walk from my house into Navan I realised I'd forgotten my contact lenses and the bus would be arriving in FIVE MINUTES! I was really angry at myself and had a little fit of depression, I wouldn't be able to see Muse play... it'd just be like listening to a radio while being pushed around by sweaty people. I called my mam and told her to drive into Navan and bring me my contact lenses. She literally made it just in time, and then off my mate and I went to see Muse in the Olympia. Hooray for everything.
At 7:15 the bus dropped us off on the mainstreet. I went into Supermacs' toilets and, ignoring everything they taught me in Specsavers, put my contacts in without cleaning them first. Pah, Muse are worth it. Then my mate and I ran into the Reverend Jack Daniels (who was later revealed to be Professor Jameson instead), after meeting him we felt happy and warm, and thus continued on towards the Olympia. It had been ages since I'd touched spirits, and my 9.5 stone body soaked up that alcohol like some spongy alcoholic. No, I haven't gotten to the bit about the concert yet, I'm building up to it.
My friend and I arrived at the Olympia and we made our way towards the... bit... where the crowds.. do be... flashing my ticket as if I was important. I bought an oversized and overpriced t-shirt (XL, €25) and pressed onwards. I walk into the theatre, and by pure chance, the first person I meet is another friend of mine. We briefly indulged in witty rapport, I stated that "I just wandered in to see what all the commotion was about"... and then I wandered off.
Soon enough, the support band arrived on stage. Future Kings Of Spain, an up and coming Irish group who are also adept at sucking ass. They played for a few years and then finally pissed off, probably to suck ass somewhere else. (In all fairness it's hard not to suck ass when you're supporting the best band ever.)
So we made the voyage towards to stage, and when we were firmly lodged in between the biggest, sweatiest guys... we waited for our beloved Muse to appear.
And waited....
Then waited some more.....
Then.....
All of the lights in the Olympia went out... and one by one these bright lights sparked to life on the ceiling with tremendous THUMPS of high-powered bulbs turning on, then scanning the crowd before coming to rest on the stage. Then and invisible Matt Bellamy began to smash out the piano intro to Apocalypse Please from somewhere on the stage. Suddenly all of the lights came on, lighting the theatre with brighter than bright light... and Muse were doing there thing on the stage. Jumping and moshing ensued, and I lost all sense of time as Muse filled the arena with their music. It was probably the single most greatest thing I have ever had the pleasure to experience.
You'd think that with all my crazily detailed details I'd be able to better describe what went on for two hours in the Olympia tonight. I can't. It was just constant brilliance. I'll try and give you some highlights of the night....
Citizen Erased was played excellently. When it came to the soft piano ending, three screens descended behind the band and showed a really nice sunset, which suited the music well. They played Space Dementia, which isn't a song I particularly like, but when played live, any and every Muse song is just fantastic. To accompany Space Dementia they had a movie of flying through lots and lots of stars, finally coming towards a huge star which then formed into the live feed from the edge of Matt's keyboard, just in time to see the awesome piano solos he pulls off at the end of that song. Time Is Running Out stuck with its military theme, showing lots of soldiers' feet marching along. They deviated from their usual set list (thankfully) and played Dead Star (hell yeah!!), and New Born had footage of an actual car chase playing in the background. Muscle Museum had those old 70s robot toys on the background screens. I know, I'm a sucker for the little light shows and movie screens.
Before Muse had arrived on stage, we had noticed a net full of black balloons on the ceiling. Muse are well known for releasing these huge, white, confetti-filled balloons at the end of their concerts. So when we saw these empty, black, regular-sized balloons my mate and I were pretted disappointed. Although when they released the little balloons we were more than happy to injure several people just to whack one.
Then Muse left the stage.
"Wot no Stockholm Syndrome or Plug In Baby?" said some idiot, not realising that the band always come back to play their best songs last. Okay, so it was me who said that.... but their little fake exits get me every time. Muse glided back onto the stage, some black balloons had landed on the stage... lucky balloony bastards. Cheering was abundant. Butterflies & Hurricanes calmed the crowd down nicely, and Matt almost made me sex-wee with his frickin' awesome piano skillz0rs. Then they played Stockholm Syndrome, much to the delight of the crowd, who had produced enough sweat to drown several Chinese immigrants.
Then.... then they appeared.
I had almost lost all hope of seeing them... those beautiful, round, rubbery bits of heaven. Time almost slowed down as the collosal entities emerged from backstage. There they were...... The White Balloons. A sphere.... one big curve.... full of little bits of celebratory paper. And it was coming towards me. Over the undulating mass of bodies, and towards me. It knew who I was, it knew of my longings to touch it's quasi-existant edges. And unto my grasp it came. And yae, many hands did grab. And yae, brief was the existance of the Balloon. And yae, confetti did fly, and a bang could be heard above the sound of....
Plug In Baby.
Possibly the best song ever written on the subject of electronic women. And it was the theme tune to my victory, the confetti falling all around me. I had touched The White Balloon and killed it with my unworthy snatching. Oh yes, this was definitely the pinnacle of my existance on this fine planet. There's nothing more I can tell you after that point, apart from the fact that my ears "still ain't quite right", and that Matt's keyboard stand had LEDs on the front that lit up depending on what keys he touched. Excellent.
At 7:15 the bus dropped us off on the mainstreet. I went into Supermacs' toilets and, ignoring everything they taught me in Specsavers, put my contacts in without cleaning them first. Pah, Muse are worth it. Then my mate and I ran into the Reverend Jack Daniels (who was later revealed to be Professor Jameson instead), after meeting him we felt happy and warm, and thus continued on towards the Olympia. It had been ages since I'd touched spirits, and my 9.5 stone body soaked up that alcohol like some spongy alcoholic. No, I haven't gotten to the bit about the concert yet, I'm building up to it.
My friend and I arrived at the Olympia and we made our way towards the... bit... where the crowds.. do be... flashing my ticket as if I was important. I bought an oversized and overpriced t-shirt (XL, €25) and pressed onwards. I walk into the theatre, and by pure chance, the first person I meet is another friend of mine. We briefly indulged in witty rapport, I stated that "I just wandered in to see what all the commotion was about"... and then I wandered off.
Soon enough, the support band arrived on stage. Future Kings Of Spain, an up and coming Irish group who are also adept at sucking ass. They played for a few years and then finally pissed off, probably to suck ass somewhere else. (In all fairness it's hard not to suck ass when you're supporting the best band ever.)
So we made the voyage towards to stage, and when we were firmly lodged in between the biggest, sweatiest guys... we waited for our beloved Muse to appear.
And waited....
Then waited some more.....
Then.....
All of the lights in the Olympia went out... and one by one these bright lights sparked to life on the ceiling with tremendous THUMPS of high-powered bulbs turning on, then scanning the crowd before coming to rest on the stage. Then and invisible Matt Bellamy began to smash out the piano intro to Apocalypse Please from somewhere on the stage. Suddenly all of the lights came on, lighting the theatre with brighter than bright light... and Muse were doing there thing on the stage. Jumping and moshing ensued, and I lost all sense of time as Muse filled the arena with their music. It was probably the single most greatest thing I have ever had the pleasure to experience.
You'd think that with all my crazily detailed details I'd be able to better describe what went on for two hours in the Olympia tonight. I can't. It was just constant brilliance. I'll try and give you some highlights of the night....
Citizen Erased was played excellently. When it came to the soft piano ending, three screens descended behind the band and showed a really nice sunset, which suited the music well. They played Space Dementia, which isn't a song I particularly like, but when played live, any and every Muse song is just fantastic. To accompany Space Dementia they had a movie of flying through lots and lots of stars, finally coming towards a huge star which then formed into the live feed from the edge of Matt's keyboard, just in time to see the awesome piano solos he pulls off at the end of that song. Time Is Running Out stuck with its military theme, showing lots of soldiers' feet marching along. They deviated from their usual set list (thankfully) and played Dead Star (hell yeah!!), and New Born had footage of an actual car chase playing in the background. Muscle Museum had those old 70s robot toys on the background screens. I know, I'm a sucker for the little light shows and movie screens.
Before Muse had arrived on stage, we had noticed a net full of black balloons on the ceiling. Muse are well known for releasing these huge, white, confetti-filled balloons at the end of their concerts. So when we saw these empty, black, regular-sized balloons my mate and I were pretted disappointed. Although when they released the little balloons we were more than happy to injure several people just to whack one.
Then Muse left the stage.
"Wot no Stockholm Syndrome or Plug In Baby?" said some idiot, not realising that the band always come back to play their best songs last. Okay, so it was me who said that.... but their little fake exits get me every time. Muse glided back onto the stage, some black balloons had landed on the stage... lucky balloony bastards. Cheering was abundant. Butterflies & Hurricanes calmed the crowd down nicely, and Matt almost made me sex-wee with his frickin' awesome piano skillz0rs. Then they played Stockholm Syndrome, much to the delight of the crowd, who had produced enough sweat to drown several Chinese immigrants.
Then.... then they appeared.
I had almost lost all hope of seeing them... those beautiful, round, rubbery bits of heaven. Time almost slowed down as the collosal entities emerged from backstage. There they were...... The White Balloons. A sphere.... one big curve.... full of little bits of celebratory paper. And it was coming towards me. Over the undulating mass of bodies, and towards me. It knew who I was, it knew of my longings to touch it's quasi-existant edges. And unto my grasp it came. And yae, many hands did grab. And yae, brief was the existance of the Balloon. And yae, confetti did fly, and a bang could be heard above the sound of....
Plug In Baby.
Possibly the best song ever written on the subject of electronic women. And it was the theme tune to my victory, the confetti falling all around me. I had touched The White Balloon and killed it with my unworthy snatching. Oh yes, this was definitely the pinnacle of my existance on this fine planet. There's nothing more I can tell you after that point, apart from the fact that my ears "still ain't quite right", and that Matt's keyboard stand had LEDs on the front that lit up depending on what keys he touched. Excellent.