Muse lights up Houston as band opens U.S. tour (Review)

Fans of Muse at the band's Toyota Center concert on Dec. 1. Fans of Muse at the band's Toyota Center concert on Dec. 1. Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 51 Caption Close Muse lights up Houston as band opens U.S. tour (Review) 1 / 51 Back to Gallery

British rock trio Muse opened the U.S. leg of its current world tour on Tuesday night at Toyota Center.

Muse's militarized-U2 sound has proven to be extremely popular since the band's breakthrough album, "Black Holes & Revelations," which was released in 2006.

They've surely learned something from touring with Bono and that crew of Irishmen years back and it's all on the stage.

The band, now two decades old, came to the Bayou City armed with a heavy artillery light show, lasers, and material from seven studio albums of radio hits and fan favorites.

Muse is touring behind "Drones," the album it released over the summer. The album has managed to make it onto a handful of 2015 "best-of" lists already in a year that's seen hits from Adele and Drake.

Drones figured heavy into the band''s stage show, with spherical drones descending from the top of the stage rigging to spotlight fans. One of those "drones" somehow made it into the general admission crowd on the floor and had to be ushered off backstage.

The band's stage was plotted on the floor of Toyota Center, taking up the middle of the floor, cutting the venue in half. Great for the people on the east and west sides of the venue, but the north and south end was somewhat detached until a band member got closer.

It wasn't rare to see bassist Chris Wolstenholme and lead singer and guitarist Matt Bellamy playing nearly 100 yards apart from each other. Drummer Dominic Howard and jack-of-all-trades instrumentalist Morgan Nicholls were nestled in the middle.

Paranoia is in full bloom visually and lyrically at Muse shows, with the band raging against the machine nightly but making it look really beautiful. Think of them as a band for the Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks era. A clip of John F. Kennedy railing against the military industrial complex even made an appearance right before “Revolt” from this year’s “Drones” release to drive all previous points home.

Rock music directed by Stanley Kubrick from a script by Philip K. Dick, although Dick would not have even been able to imagine the band’s industrial lights and digital magic.

The band’s older singles like “Bliss” from 2001’s “Origin of Symmetry” got new life among the band’s newer metallic, arena-ready hysterics. Muse was always destined for arenas, even when they were opening for emo bands in the early ‘00s here in the U.S.

Lead singer Bellamy is able to reach the astonishing vocal heights of Freddie Mercury, but Queen was never this dour or troubled. Muse makes revolt against government intrusion catchy and something you can gently headbang to.

A highlight from the past year, “Reapers,” comes with Eddie Van Halen ripping solo intro. Jock jam “Uprising” – you’ve surely heard during Sunday afternoon football – was delayed by bass troubles. Once it got going, it soared. For the first show of a major U.S. tour there were few of the usual hiccups.

The show closed with the hyper-sweet “Mercy” and the galloping ride of “Knights of Cydonia,” complete with a recorded Ennio Morricone harmonica outro.

Surely some eyes were still burning on Wednesday morning from the visual workout. So married to technological wonder, we wouldn't be surprised if they become the first living band to tour as holograms.

Muse Set List:

Psycho

Reapers

Dead Inside

Bliss

The 2nd Law: Isolated System

The Handler

Interlude

Hysteria

Supermassive Black Hole

Prelude

Starlight

United States of Eurasia

Munich Jam

Madness

Undisclosed Desires

[JFK]

Revolt

Time Is Running Out

Uprising

The Globalist

Drones (Reprise)

Encore:

Mercy

Knights of Cydonia (Ennio Morricone's 'Man With a Harmonica' Intro)