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Last night I caught my first performance at The Tivoli Theatre, getting to hear and witness the excellent performance of Eskimo Joe with Ben, Sarah and Troy. Though we were unfortunate to be pushed slightly left of centre (causing slight ringing in my left ear today), the night was still excellent. Everything about the night just went perfectly as Eskimo Joe played all the songs from their latest album, A Song Is A City but also played many from their previously album, Girl, and topped off the night with a B-Side from one of their early EPs. The support act, Dogs Die In Hot Cars, also played a pretty decent set which seemed to get everyone ready for the main act. I even ran into Claire from my University days, who was standing just a few people behind me! To top the night off, Sarah noticed that the whole venue was smoke free making for an excellent time where the air was actually nice to breath (Suz, you might have been able to make it after all!) All in all an excellent event.

The last time Muse visited Australia was earlier this year for the Big Day Out. Unfortunately I did not get the chance to listen to their awesome act as I had spent my time at the Green Stage to watch the packed out crowd marvel over Jet. Thankfully they considered coming back to Australia. Muse were scheduled to play two shows (Saturday and Sunday) at the Arena but merged the two about a month before the gig. The change of venue to the Riverstage was not appreciated by all the people I know because a venue that holds 5 times as many people as the Arena was bound to change the atmosphere. In the end Muse’s excellent set made the night an awesome experience.

They came on pretty early (8:30pm) by other concert standards (perhaps it was the Sunday show as well as the fact that people under the age of 18 could attend) and they played continually for a little over a decent hour and a half. The one support act, who were pretty bad, played for far too long at the start. A definite indicator of this was when they annouced their last song and the crowd cheered for them (to get off).

For most of the night I managed to stay right in the middle of the frenzied crowd down the front (about 10 people deep away from the security barriers). The crowd ebbed and flowed back and forth as everyone was pushed about by everyone else. My feet were stomped on quite heavily, but I’m sure I dished out a bit as well. Everyone had an an awesome time as Muse pumped out songs from all three of their albums (Absolution, Showbiz and Origin Of Symmetry). They had a backdrop that mirrored their latest album cover and looked spectacular under the lights. I didn’t notice when it was drawn up but upon doing so, revealed three screens that projected fantastic visuals reminiscant of video clips from their songs. Their last song (before their encore) was accompanied with ten or fifteen giant white beach balls that bounced around in the crowd. Upon bursting the balls exploded with their payload of white confetti that made the crowd go wild. Definitely one of the best performances I’ve seen this year.