It was Wednesday, the middle of the work week, but that still didn’t deter some 11,000 rock fans from swarming the Singapore Indoor Stadium for Big Night Out 2010. The varied line-up for the night included Californian post-hardcore band Saosin and veteran punk rockers Rise Against as opening acts. English alternative rock band Muse was the night’s headlining band.

Easy Breezy

Saosin, fresh off their concert in Kuala Lumpur, kicked things off with their blend of emo and hardcore rock performing numbers like ‘Voices’ and ‘Changing’. The quintet were certainly in an easy Californian mood.

“Put on more light, people paid to see us,” joked lead singer Cove Reber as he kept things light with easy banter between songs. Saosin then made way for the Rise Against who played a high-octane, energetic set.

Giving it Their All

From the get-go, it was clear that the band was focused on giving the best performance they could muster. From guitarist Zach Blair’s split jumps to frontman Tim McIlrath’s microphone-flailing antics, Rise Against kept much of the crowd entertained with hard-hitting numbers like ‘Ready To Fall’ and ‘Collapse (Post-Amerika)’. 

“Rise Against certainly did a good job. I reckon that they’ve earned a new fanbase after that performance,” said Nicholas Ng, 20, student.

The Cult of Muse

As Rise Against closed with ‘Ready To Fall’, the stadium was set abuzz as it finally came down to headliners Muse to take the stage and wrap up the night.

And boy, did the Devonshire trio do a fantastic job at that.

The air of anticipation broke and the crowd was set into rapture the moment they took to the stage. Wasting little time, the band broke into ‘Uprising’, whipping the entire stadium into a fine frenzy.

It was a sight none more epic as frontman Matt Bellamy commanded the stage and got the entire stadium pumping their fists to the chrous. I clearly felt shivers sent down my spine.

By the time the 5-minute opening number ended, Muse had the crowd eating out of the their hands.

Combining high definition graphics, a top-notch sound system and a laser show, the trio had pulled out all the stops to give a world class performance and the rambunctious crowd was more than happy to lap it all up.

“It was awesome, just out of this world. There was little banter but yet the communication was there. You could feel the bond. Even if I had to pay twice the amount I did, I wouldn’t mind,” said Kamarul Bahrin, 40, a Malaysian TV host who drove from KL to Singapore just to catch the band.

Muse played several of their hits throughout the night including ‘Map Of The Problematique’, ‘Time Is Running Out’ and crowd favourite ‘Starlight’ before finishing the night with ‘Knights Of Cydonia’, which began with a harmonica introduction by bassist Christopher Wolstenholme.

As the fuzz from Matt Bellamy’s distorted guitars died out over the amps and the stadium lights came on, I couldn’t help but take a moment to soak in what I just witnessed and think to myself: “Yeah, this is the cult of Muse.”

WORDS HOONG WEI LONG PHOTO RUEVEN TAN

Wei Long won our first Fan Reviewer Contest. You can follow in his footsteps and earn a free pass to catch the concert of your dreams by following Junk’s exploits on www.junkonline.net.