The bar for stage shows has been raised so high now, that at this point only Muse themselves could raise it further. I honestly cannot remember most of that night because I was just in a state of pure bliss and amazement. I felt as though my life had been fulfilled by seeing them while at the same time, my life had started anew from that moment. I do remember that confetti-filled eyeball balloons fell during Plug In Baby, Matt was wearing LED sunglasses, and he was holding a mirror to direct the green light effects at the crowd. He also had an amp/mirror to do the same later in the show. The only “downfall” of this show for me was a lack of Sing For Absolution or Take A Bow, but the rest of the show was so amazing that I didn’t even notice. I actually caught myself just staring out at the crowd in front of the stage and seeing the lights dance across the audience, I was awestruck.

As a final note, if you heard a female saying she would have Matthew Bellamy’s children, it might have been me or the thousands of other awestruck and enlightened fans.

image credit: wombat_714

image credit: .Muse..

Setlist

1. Uprising
2. Resistance
3. New Born + Headup riff
4. Supermassive Black Hole
5. Interlude + People of the Sun intro + Hysteria + Back in Black riff
6. Bliss (extended)
7. Nishe
8. United States of Eurasia
9. Ruled by Secrecy
10. Helsinki Jam
11. Undisclosed Desires
12. Starlight
13. Unnatural Selection
14. Burning Bridges + Time Is Running Out
15. Plug In Baby

Encore

1. Exogenesis: Symphony Part I (Overture)
2. Stockholm Syndrome + Township Rebellion riff + riff + riff
3. Man with a Harmonica intro + Knights of Cydonia

Thanks to MuseWiki for the setlist

I was not impressed at all with Sheryl’s performance. First off she could barely walk in the high heels she was wearing, which made her look like she was walking around drugged or drunk. The sound was atrocious. They blasted it trying to fill the not-even-close-to-a-sellout-crowd-in-the-arena. It was just horrible! Add to that, Sheryl tried within the first two songs to get crowd interaction. Wrong! You need to build up your bond with the crowd before you can ask things of them. Plus when you have a less than stellar opening band you have to work extra hard to earn the $60-$100 ticket price.

Now onto the review. Merchandise was awesome! I picked up a white Ghosts t-shirt (which I love and have worn out already). I sadly missed Crystal Castles due to the merch lines, but I could hear them. I seem to have a knack for that, but I love my merch and it will always win out over anything! Well except for the headliners, but that’s why I pay the big bucks to see them.

The show was just wow. I did not take photos as I had no camera, but thanks to NIN art director and all around awesome guy, Rob Sheridan, I can post three photos taken at the show.

The light show was just amazing! Truly an interactive set. I honestly got my money’s worth out of this show, and the next time NIN come near my city I will be buying up tickets to bring others and let them see the utter beauty and imagination offered on stage. I wanted to jump on stage and play with the set. The hanging lights, the mesh screens of light, the drumbeat boxes for “Echoplex”, etc. It was an amazing show and I knew every track except for maybe two and that is pretty good considering I’m not really a big fan of anything prior to “With Teeth”.

The lights went down, the crowd started to cheer, The Black Parade was about to appear…

One of the stage crew rolled out the stretcher, the opening heartbeat of The End began and then a red light began flashing on the stretcher in time with the heartbeat. Gerard started singing and sitting up, slowly getting off the stretcher and with the lines “I’d encourage your smiles, I’ll expect you won’t cry,” he threw off his gown and showed his parade outfit, as well the curtain pulled back and revealed the rest of the Black Parade!

Now for the rest of the show I was just enjoying being there (with my boyfriend first of all) and living in the fact that wow I was watching one of my favourite groups perform, so most of my review will be what little I remember technically. But let me say that all through the night, the guys performed spectacularly, they were just beautiful. Also during some of the performances the drum riser platform was spinning around with the two separate sets for each of the songs.

Dead! had the entire crowd jumping especially during the infamous “la-la-la-la” portion of the song, and ended with Gerard putting his hand together, making a gun and a gun shot right at the end instead of the usual “Dead!” line.

When the crowd heard the first notes of the piano intro for Welcome to The Black Parade, they started cheering. Near the end of the song, the crowd was shot full of black and white confetti (some of which was stuffed into my pocket ) and in the lull between the next song the confetti was still falling in a beautiful shower around us.

At Cancer the entire show was slowed down as Gerard dedicated the song to those affected in any way by cancer. I admit that even I teared up during this song, as I was one of the thousands who this song was dedicated to, and to hear Gerard perform it live for us all.

Sleep was a song I was always curious to see a music video for, and at “Just sleep” nearer to the end they started the strobe light and I could see a bit better the vision for a possible video.

Teenagers was as expected pretty crazy mostly with the energy coming off of the crowd. No one was getting hurt thankfully, and mostly everyone stayed in their spots as we all jumped to the chorus.

Disenchanted is the song that is now known as “the song that Ray Toro screwed up because the guitar was out of tune as far as we could see, and he and Gerard were laughing during the opening”. I figure that I will find a shorter title one day, but until then this will have to do.

Famous Last Words was perfect! From the pyrotechnics to the amazing fact that Gerard was on my side of the stage for my favourite line of the song, it was amazing!

So at the end of that The Black Parade left the stage and quite a few people left thinking that the show was over, when Blood began! Nearly the entire crowd was singing along to the creepy and morbid (according to my mother) hidden track.

After this we began to chant “MCR, MCR, MCR” calling out the band we once knew and they came out to meet us. Gerard back in a leather jacket and Bob in his shorts.

They ‘opened’ with I’m Not Okay (I Promise), and then (I cannot remember the order, but I remember most of the tracks) Thank You For the Venom, Helena, The Ghost of You, and You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison.

Sadly the only reason why this performance did not receive a perfect score was due to the fact that nothing from ‘I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love‘ was played and/or the b-side Heaven Help Us.

By the end of Ok Go‘s set I was nearly in fits of laughter just from their tribute song for the road crew that had been working with them and the other bands for this entire tour with the dance to their track A Million Ways. Absolutely beautiful the way that they all moved so fluidly to express their appreciation to the crew, so much that they even were able to salute and bow to the crew. The rest of the set was excellent, but sadly I do not know their album well enough to tell you all the songs they performed, but these are the ones that I remembered:

Do What You Want
Oh Lately It’s So Quiet
Invincible
Here it Goes Again
A Good Idea At The Time
The House Wins
Television, Television

Snow Patrol came on and started with a long intro of Spitting Games, followed by It’s Beginning to Get To Me. The lead singer, Gary Lightbody then commented on how Edmonton was the best stop on the tour so far and how Ok Go was a “tough act to follow because [they] can’t dance at all”. Then they went into Chocolate and Headlights on Dark Roads which was dedicated to we Canadians who unknowingly brave the cold and crazy weather that was currently around us (and as Gary said the only way he would go out in this would be covered in goose fat), and How to Be Dead.

During their U.S. hit single, Chasing Cars I was frantically dialing my coworker to share in the experience since this was her favourite song. Next were Shut Your Eyes, and Set the Fire to The Third Bar where Nikki Monninger from Silversun Pickups joined Gary on stage to perform the duet with him in place of Martha Wainwright who was featured on the album. Well unbeknownst to the band and the crowd, halfway through the song flame handlers came out. They rubbed the flames against their bare inner arms, and then proceeded to spit the fire and finally eating the flame to snuff it out.

Next they played my favourite track, Somewhere a Clock Is Ticking where Gary made everyone restart as he was trying to play in tune tonight for once. The rest of the set went as follows: Make This Go On Forever (if any song could make me almost want to join a choir it would be this one), Ways & Means, Run (my cousin Tessa’s favourite track), and closing out with You’re All I Have.

The crowd was wildly clapping at the end of the show, we were on our feet calling for more and after a few minutes of steady cheering, Snow Patrol came back out for an encore with The Finish Line, Open Your Eyes, and during Hands Open they were joined by all the members of Ok Go and Silversun Pickups. Once more a standing ovation from the crowd of 4500+ and they stood all together and gave the last stop on their tour a bow and applauded to us.

Spitting Games
It’s Beginning to Get To Me
Chocolate
Headlights on Dark Roads
How To Be Dead
Chasing Cars
Shut Your Eyes
Set the Fire to The Third Bar
Somewhere a Clock is Ticking
Make This Go On Forever
Ways & Means
Run
You’re All I Have

Encore
The Finish Line
Open Your Eyes
Hands Open

I cannot for the life of me remember the set list, but I can tell you what tracks I remember:

This is How It Goes
Try Honesty
River Below
The Ex
Prisoners of Today
Nothing to Lose
Sympathy
Devil in a Midnight Mass
Red Flag
Worker Bees
Fallen Leaves
Where is the Line
Living in the Shadows
Line & Sinker
Standing in the Rain
This Suffering

Anthem 2
Instigator
Creeper
Go Away
Digging Deep
Screecher
Pretty Life
Throw It Away
Star 24
Get It Back
Feel It
Upside Down
Code 4

For the first encore we were treated to Tell Me Why, Don”t Cry (my favourite track off of It Dreams), and Bad Dream, and for the last encore Katie came on stage and sang Unsaid without Jeremy Fisher, but with the support of the crowd when she would forget the lyrics. It was so cute when she would say, “Oh I forgot!” and a few girls in front would sing the lyrics to her. What I enjoyed as well was Dave’s performance during Bad Dream when he accidentally pulled the cord out of the microphone, had to plug it back in and start up again. It was great, since he just laughed at himself and plugged the cord back in

After the show there was much merch to be bought as well as autographs to be asked for. I purchased one of the new zip up hoodies with the Jakalope logo and I plan on buying a new t-shirt next time as well as a tuque. I was lucky enough this round to get both Dave and Katie to sign for me. I had Katie sign her poster from the Born4 insert and I asked Dave to sign the liner of my Born4 cover. (my real name has been blurred out for my own purposes, if you correctly guess my name and you do not know me or my friends, then email me and maybe I will make you a gift)

So I got in and then decided to make my way to the merchandise table as per the notice in my email from last week. I spent 20+ minutes in the line and made it known that I was getting my merchandise and then getting out, and I was even nice enough to help a guy get to the front of the line (he didn”t want to push and be mean to get to the front of the line, so I told him to follow me and I even placed him in my spot after I got my merchandise).

Then I waited by the table and ended up harassing the Idle Sons merch guy to find out about my Three Days Grace meet and greet. It is a shame that I did not get to see Mobile and Idle Sons perform. I did however hear Idle Sons while I was waiting in the merchandise line and waiting for my meet and greet, and they were awesome just like they were at OokFest 2006. And I stared at Mike from Idle Sons through the crowd while they were signing CDs beside the merchandise table. I admit it, he was damn good looking from both far away and close up

Finally I found out information about the meet and greet and helped some other fan club members get to the right place. Then we were led away by the lovely manager upstairs to the upper area overlooking the mezzanine and lined up. I met two very nice girls while there (I am not going to say their names because they are underage and I have not received permission as of yet) and we literally squee”d out while waiting. One of the girls had written Adam a little booklet with some stories and a letter to him and a red rose for him. When he got it he told the other guys ”hey look what she gave me! A rose!”. We were last in the line and so by the time Adam, Barry, Brad and Neil got to us we were a little bit calmer. One girl had her poster signed, the other her shirt, and myself I had my One-X cd signed. I asked Adam if he liked the weather and how his voice was doing since it had sounded scratchy on the radio during an interview. I just said hi to Barry, because I didn’t want to say ”hey how’s the new baby?”. It was either Brad or Neil who I bugged about him carrying a bottle of Coors Light while signing autographs and I asked about his alcohol preferences. He had none really, he liked anything. Then it was time for photos with the band! So the two girls and I all took a photo together with the guys. I stood between Barry and Neil, and Barry put his arm around me and so did Neil Then we grabbed our stuff and stood by the table where they told us to go. We took photos of the empty beer bottle and the band photo beside one another and then while we were all leaving, we strayed back a back and while the guys walked by we told them we loved them.

After that we went into the venue and hit the floor running (literally). We had so much stuff to carry though, I had my coat and they had sweaters and bags and cameras. To put it nicely we saw all of the Theory of a Deadman performance and most of Three Days Grace. The only times we were not in the pits was halfway through the Three Days Grace performance and at the end when I was hit by 5 people at once, and ended up biting my lip. Thankfully I did not bleed, I just have a mark on my lip. Theory of a Deadman were excellent, Tyler was looking really good and they were right on the mark. They had the crowd interaction down pat, they pitted the girls against the boys in a loudness contest. Tyler then announced that the girls won, and that the guys might have been louder but girls always win, and they are prettier so they win.

A little later Three Days Grace came on and we were working our way to the bar right up front and we were less than two feet away, when the mosh pit started up again and then the crowd surfers came up and we were getting hit in the head and crushed to the point of not being able to breathe. So then we moved off to the side and hit the bar and security and another guy outside lifted us all out to safety. We were very grateful to them, because the amount of sweat, bodies, spit, fighting, and the lack of air just was waaay too much for us.

I would love to tell you the full set list, but I did not pick one up and my head was just crazy to remember. It was an awesome concert and I would definitely go again, but next time I am not bringing a jacket or a bag unless there is a coat check.

Also I am expecting pictures as soon as I call one of the girls I was hanging out with, so she can send me my pictures, so stay tuned for more!

First up we caught Idle Sons on the Molson Canadian stage and they were not bad, Tessa and I agreed that the lead singer was hot (and oh he was!). Then after being approached and hit on by some guys during the set we ran off and told them we were going to get drinks and then made sure to avoid them the rest of the day.

Next was Danko Jones (Coors Light stage), and his set was okay. Tessa and I laughed at his commentary throughout the set, especially about the smoke machine smelling and that they were not Coldplay or U2 so they did not need it.

Then Thornley (Molson) came on and they just ripped their set, they went into an extended version of Come Again with a Sunday, Bloody Sunday (U2) medley in between.

Next was Yellowcard (Coors) and they were not bad, we loved the violinist Sean and his stage prescence aka him hopping around the stage and dancing and making faces.

Last was Metric (Molson) (the one band I really wanted to see) and Emily was so awesome. I had never heard her speak before and she has this little girly voice that throws you off especially when she says “How are all you mother fuckers in the fight doing?”. That little girl has a dirty mouth They started with Empty and then they did (in no particular order): Poster Of A Girl, Patriarch On A Vespa, Rock Me Now, Glass Ceiling, The Police And The Private, Rock Me Now (and a few others) and they ended the show with an extended Dead Disco. Emily kept telling the crowd to look at the moon (it was seriously yellowed and low) and then she would retort with “okay don”t fucking look at the moon”. She also got to take a big smelly shoe and a credit card home with her since they got tossed on stage during their set.

Tessa and I were pretty close to the stage, we were right on the outside of the pit and everyone kept asking us to go up or help them up. One guy fell right by me and he hit me in the head with his leg. By the end of the show Tessa and I were holding hands to not be seperated or hit on. All in all it was pretty fun, but next year we are going to leave our bags in the vehicle and go into the pit, so look out OokFest 2007. Sorry no pictures this time, since my camera is shit and I couldn”t steal my company’s new digital cameras.