Feeling a little MUSE-ical.

Warning: This is not an April Fools Joke.

I could barely contain myself (& still really can’t) yesterday when my best friend, Elsie, told me that Muse was going to be opening for U2 on select US dates. In fact, I was so shocked, I didn’t trust her. But sure enough, after a quick google search, there it was! My proof! And as if that wasn’t good enough, one of those select dates includes a Florida one (Tampa to be exact)! I literally jumped all around our office and hugged everyone. If you don’t believe me, just ask any of my coworkers. I looked like a nut. But this is a momentous occasion. If I remember my history right, I’m pretty sure Muse has only played Florida about 3-4 times in their entire career and unfortunately were either never announced as openers or headlined very small shows like the MTV Campus Invasion tour. Although I am no longer a huge U2 fan (prefer their old stuff), I will be buying tickets on Monday when they go on sale only to finally see one of my favorite bands live. To think, this love affair all began with an obsessive rented satellite radio almost two years ago.

I had always known about Muse and had a few of their songs illegally downloaded from Napster back in the day (remember those days?), but never consistently followed them. That was until we were traveling from Las Vegas to Yosemite during our honeymoon in 2007. We lucked out by getting a vehicle upgrade at the rental place that included Sirius satellite radio. During the 5+ hours we were on the long desert roads, our satellite seemed to be obsessed with playing songs off of Muse’s new record, Black Holes & Revelations. I immediately recognized them (Matt Bellamy’s vocals are like none other), but to my surprise Augi did not. When I mentioned the band name, he had no idea who they were but knew he loved them. By the end of our roadtrip, we were singing along at the top of our lungs to Supermassive Black Hole, Knights of Cydonia and Starlight.

When we got home, we downloaded their entire discography and I was hooked. Badly. I immediately joined their message boards and became a pretty active fan. I adored everything about them and read up on the history of the band. I wasn’t surprised to learn that they were influenced heavily by The Smashing Pumpkins, my all-time favorite band and even mentioned that a certain Muse album was based purely off one Pumpkins song. I tend to be drawn to the overly dramatic. 😉

One year later, I decided to pick up Twilight during our one-year anniversary cruise to the Caribbean and was stoked to see Muse mentioned as Stephenie Meyer’s number one inspiration for the saga. It seems that the band got a whole slew of new fans thanks to the success of the books and/or movie (Supermassive Black Hole was featured on the soundtrack). Although a little saddened by the fact that tons of 12 year olds are now Muse fans because it reminds them of Edward Cullen, I’m glad the band is getting more exposure because they deserve every single bit of it.

I find them to be one of the most talented bands currently out there and hope I can score tickets to the Tampa show. You guys have no idea how much I have lusted to see one of their live shows. They have won awards for their showmanship and general “rock out with your cock out” mentality. They are supposed to be ridiculously amazing. Sure, it’s a bummer that we won’t get the full experience since they are only openers, but any taste will hold me over albeit temporarily.

So what do my rockin’ readers think of Muse?
Are you fans? Are you not? Had you not heard of them until right now?

Let’s make today Melificent Muse day!!!! 😉