12 Nov 13 - Muse Live from Olympic Stadium in Rome

All natural and technological
Processes proceed in such
a way that the availability of the
remaining energy decreases

In all energy exchanges, if no energy
enters or leaves an isolated system
the entropy of that system increases

Energy continuously flows from being
concentrated to becoming dispersed
spread out, wasted and useless

New energy cannot be
created and high-grade
energy is being destroyed

An economy based on endless
growth is unsustainable ~ "Unsustainable" by Muse

SouthSide's attending her first Muse concert! Well ...not actually live up close and personal, blogspot readers, but it felt like she did once this movie had concluded. Underneath the starry skies inside the legendary cinema palace Music Box Theatre (located in the Lakeview neighborhood), this reviewer among many other Muse fans recently attended a screening - Muse Live from Olympic Stadium in Rome. Filmed live on 06 July 2013 using 4K camera technology by Omniverse Vision, this movie took the audience on a musical experience featuring pyrotechnics, digital screens and animation, actors and a 20-song playlist selection of songs from The 2nd Law, Uprising, Supermassive Black Hole, Time Is Running Out, Straight and Plug-In Baby albums. It also gave everyone an in depth look at Muse - Matthew Bellamy, Dominic Howard and Chris Wosltenholme performing on stage (with some behind the scenes) in front of a crowd over 60,000, blogspot readers.

SouthSide enjoyed how director Matt Askem at times used a split sequence to not only capture the action on stage but also the fan reactions as it simultaneously happened at that exact moment. His cameras are there filming precious moments of fans singing along with Muse ...the flaming pyrotechnic columns (used during certain songs like Supremacy) and the animation on the digital screens (Jib Jab of world leaders in Panic Station and animated choir for Survival) and much more. She enjoyed the use of this technique during the song Animals where you watch a creepy video of corporate greed on side and Muse performing the song on the other. Adding more creepiness to this particular was the actor portraying the Wall Street-like executive who tossed money into the crowd and then receiving a haunting harmonic funeral march in the end. Also, there are moments where he capture certain scenes using black and white for more of a dramatic effect in order to connect the audience with Matthew as he sings songs like Feelin' Good and part of Follow Me (before returning to color shots). 

The digital surround sound inside Music Box almost puts you in the middle of the action inside Olympic Stadium ...capturing every scream from the thousands of fans to the many voices singing along to the chorus in Resistance, Madness and Time Is Running Out. You won't miss a single moment of having personal face time with Matthew, blogspot readers, especially when he grabs the camera during Madness or looks directly into it while running around the stage at ground level (with security flanking him). There's a rush that comes with viewing this Muse movie in which diehard fans will instantly feel the moment they hear their favorite song or watching the intensity of the guitar riffs during Knights of Cydonia ...or feel the emotional plea with Matthew and crowds during Explorers. Compared to other concert movies that this reviewer has seen, Matt Askem (with the use of this camera technology) gave the audience a better non-grainy digital movie resolution in which might have you thinking you're in Rome not in your seat inside a movie theatre.

SouthSide highly recommends Muse fans checking out this movie when it comes out on DVD Dec 2nd ...just in time for holiday gift giving.

For more information about Muse and its music, visit http://www.muse.mu.

Until next time, support your local scene,

SouthSide