I’m starting with the TL;DR version, because some of you may not know this, but I’m a strong proponent of Gonzo Journalism and I like to chronicle entire trips when I chronicle events. Therefore, to put it shortly, Muse in Duluth on 2-27-2010 were…let’s see…what were they, Johnny?

Now, if you want to read about how Pink Wota went, saw, got our faces rocked off, and in the process had horrible sinus colds and/or trouble navigating Duluth and I-75, read on.

THE PREHISTORY

Our tickets were a Christmas gift from my dad, back in December when I had just about enough money to use my phone to tell my friends I couldn’t go out or anything because I didn’t have any money. He was kind enough, as dads often are, to hear my lament prior to presale and give me his credit card to go buck wild so Ash and I could have a chance to see the one band we would both sell family members to see. No one was really in the family-member buying business at the time, though, so the surprise Christmas gift was stellar.

I hit presale on the minute, using the presale-fu I mastered during the NIN Lights in the Sky tour starting in 2008. I was immediately distressed.

Presale was all pit. I didn’t even have the option to choose “awesome seats”, just pit. I have nothing against pit, but there are too many mitigating factors at our ages and constitutions. I have low tolerance for drunk people, and Ash simply has the stamina of a gerbil when it comes to standing up in sweaty, crowded spaces for hours.* BUT, that’s all that was available. I bought them. Mentally, I tried to prepare myself for pit.

Two weeks before the concert, I decided “fuck that” and tried to swap out our tickets. Finally a fellow fan on the muse.mu forum traded me his fourth-row seats at the back of the house for my pristine GA tickets. It really didn’t make a difference to me at that point – I just wanted to make sure nobody from Pink Wota fainted.

(*Ash: Vee does not joke, here, in the least. I do, indeed, have the stamina of a gerbil in these situations. One day, if you ask nicely, I’ll tell you about how I became a ravaging Tazmaranian devil because I was in combat boots and a school girl’s skirt for eight hours without being fed my lunch on time.)

FRIDAY

After a tedious day at work, I headed off for Tallahassee, and very well expected to laze around Ash’s house, watch some ‘Ashes to Ashes’ episodes, and possible go get some Starbucks. But no. She discovered a gorgeous little hideaway that sold one of my favorite things in the world: boba tea. Or, as Ayumi adorably calls it, momi tea.

Since we’re strange, we both ordered ours with not only boba, but also red bean. The red bean ended up not being quite so delicious, but the tea was.* On top of that, the establishment was holding their monthly KARAOKE NIGHT, and if you know me at all you know that it was GAME OVER when that was said.

(*Indeed, not. While I love red bean ice cream and daifuku, I couldn’t get behind having red bean floating about in the delicious liquid that was my almond milk tea.)

See, there were only two other people there, and they ran the cafe. It’s called the ‘What? Cafe”, by the way. Trufax.

So, we pretty much got to sing anything we wanted for like three hours. It was madness. At one point a group of pretty normal college kids came in, and when I expressed interest in singing “Clint Eastwood” by Gorillaz, one of them joined me. Problem is, 2D’s part is very minimal, and he basically sat there singing the chorus while I went all Del tha Funkee Homosapien on the place. Sorry dude. Then I started to sing ‘Bills, Bills, Bills’ with the co-proprietor, Nick, and the normies left. Sorry, guys. As I said to Sume, the other co-proprietor, “I think it got too ethnic for them.”

BUT DON’T THINK THAT ASH DIDN’T SING ANYTHING. I mean, this girl never sings at karaoke.** Considering there were only three other people there, though, bitch was fierce enough to sing ‘Butterflies and Hurricanes’ (FUCK YEAH) and two other songs. One was ‘Tainted Love’ with Nick:

(**Ash: Yes, ’tis a well-known fact that I consider it a requirement of Ash-ness to refuse suggestion of karaoke singing at all costs. Until this moment, I had managed to do so without fail. But with only three other people in the place, and since Sume was just as terrified as I was, well…. I’ll admit that debuting with my crappy rendition of ‘Butterflies and Hurricanes’ was sort of fun times, if utterly embarrassing. My resounding “What, nnooo, you’re kidding me….” when all the normies came in as I started to sing ‘Baby Love’ was still in character, though.”)

We kept at it until the cafe closed at midnight. Fun times, leaving us with little time to sleep before my designated wake-up time of 6 a.m.

SATURDAY

Concert day started off innocently enough. We got the hell out of Tallahassee by 7 a.m., according to plan, and busted our way up into and through Georgia with little commotion. The weather was dreadful, but by the time we reached Duluth at about 1:30 the sun was rearing its beautiful head at last. Didn’t do much for the fact that it was cold and windy, but we got to the Gwinnett Arena just in time to make the trade-off with Jackson. Literally, just as the Arena attendant was asking to see tickets. Call that serendipity, I don’t even know.

Ever since a blessed encounter with the most perfect hotel in the history of creation in Savannah, 2007, Ash and I have made staying at Hampton Inns our little tradition. So when we saw a Hampton Inn less than three miles from the Arena and conveniently adjacent to the Discover Mills mall, we thought nothing less than “Score! Mall bonus!” and decided to fill our bellies up before heading over to get a room.

Well, not only was the Hampton booked, but they were rude as hell to us and effectively soured our perspective on that particular chain. Thanks, guys, way to go! :Db The Hilton Homesmeade (or whateverthefuck their high-end, country-style, rocking-chairs-outside subsidiary is called) next door was full up as well, but the gentleman behind the counter was kind enough to direct us to some other hotels several miles away, stating with dismay that most hotels were full in the area.

We were a bit fouled by this, yes, but we really shouldn’t have been. Much later we’ll get to why.

Eventually we found the hotels, and I was just, at this point, tired of driving, so I said “Fuck it, we’re staying at the Marriott”, especially when the clerk was extremely nice, informative, and courteous. Plus, my boss used to work for Marriott, and I thought it would be nice to give them a big-up based on his recommendation.

After parking what felt like several miles from our room, Ash slipped into a light coma and I proceeded to do my make-up and hair for an hour. Seriously. I was a little bored.

When we went to the mall pre-concert we somehow ended up in a Latina-centric store called ‘Divas Only’, and I almost bought a top there. Better judgment prevailed – where the fuck else am I going to wear something with white lace, silver hangy-things, a studded collar, that barely covered me? Besides, Ash FINALLY reminded me, didn’t I want to buy a shirt at the concert? SHIT, YOU’RE RIGHT. I almost blew that money on ‘Divas Only’.

Then we found a Japanese Import store that had several Ayumi CD’s, much to my shock and awe. However, the proprietor would NOT. STOP. TALKING. on the phone long enough for me to find out how much they were, or whether they were original Japanese versions, so away we went. We had a concert to line up for, and now that I’d been reminded of MERCH, the more time we had, the better.

I’m really glad we left the mall when we did, because I ended up driving right onto I-85 (with the Arena in sight, no less), which led to a massive turn-around, and a traffic jam of EPIC PROPORTIONS leading into the Arena. Very uncomfortable silence prevailed in the car, during that. I’M SORRY.

Oh! Oh! And if that wasn’t enough, when we were finally parked and on our way in, I realized I’d left my ticket in the car. I’M SO RELIABLE LIKE THAT. I ran the half-mile there and back, which was only the beginning of the night’s workout.*

(*Ash: The irony here, which I intentionally neglected to mention at the time, is that I had been about to ask her whether or not she had her ticket as we were just starting to walk away from the car. But, no, I told myself…that would be insulting to ask a concert veteran. XD)

THE CONCERT

This is where we begin the part you probably want to read, if you didn’t give a shit about any of that up there.

If you can gather the quality of my Blackberry’s camera from the above shots, you’ll understand why I have little to contribute by way of photos during the show itself. There are far better photos floating around already.

I should note here that this was our first Muse concert.

I’ll start with the setlist, courtesy of my Twitter:

- Getting drinks, waiting for Muse to take the stage. Set-up looks sick. :D :D :D*
- 1. Uprising 2. The Resistance – naturally. Stage is crazy awesome
- 3. NEW BORN. OH MY FIUUUUUUCK
- Oh my god Matt you sexy mofo. 4. Map of the Problematique
- 5. Supermassive Black Hole – of COURSE the crowd starts to care now. Ugh (love this song but not Twitards)
- 6. MK Ultra. The crowd has ceased to care again. XD XD Lame crowd, gotta say
- Extended intro, and of course 7. Hysteria.
- Hysteria was fucking EPIC. Chrrriiiiissssssss my god. Sorry I’m not replying as much. HAHA.
- 8. United States of Eurasia – shit is gonna get insane, as the girl two seats down just said
- 9. Feeling Good. Matt’s piano has a clear LED top
- 10. GUIDING LIGHT. My Master/Doctor song ;_____;
- Dom/Chris duet <3<3<3
- KEYTAR IS GO. XD XD XD 11. Undisclosed Desires babeeehhh
- 12.Starlight!!!
- Oh my god….13. Plug In Baby WITH THE POWER SLIDE
- Oh FAIL no one was singing the chorus of Plug In Baby except like ten of us. XD XD
- There are giant confetti filled eyeball balloons.
- 14. Time is Running Out - pretty good crowd singalong this time XD
- 15. Unnatural Selection – not my fave but they are rocking like fuck
- This song is about 200000x better live.
- OMG I think that song just became one of my faves from the album….encore calling now.
- NO SERIOUSLY LISTEN TO ME THEY ARE PLAYING 16. EXOGENESIS.
- just part 1 but OH MY GOD SO BEAUTIFUL…led into 17. Stockholm Syndrome
- Every song combo for the last hour has sounded like a finale, AMAZING.
- 18. Knights of Cydonia closed it out and it was off the chain. I just saw the best concert I’ve ever seen.

(*Ash: Good god. Rushing up the stairs, then waiting 10-15 minutes to get water that cost me $3.75 a bottle…then waiting as they INSISTED upon pouring it into cups…. I swear, if I had missed the opening for that…IDEK what I would have done. Bonus, though: Having the ID check woman tell me my teeth were gorgeous. =D)

And now, Pink Wota presents:

~*ASH AND VEE BLACKBERRY TEXTING ADVENTURES DURING THE CONCERT*~

Vee: Can you see??
Ash: Yes.
(note: I couldn’t if I sat down. I’ll explain why, later)
Ash: Name this one???
Vee: Map of the Problematique.
(the interesting thing here is that, we discussed this phenomena. We tend to remember entire songs, lyrics, but just conveniently forget titles. I am the worst for this when it comes to Nine Inch Nails, but apparently Ash has the same affliction when it comes to Muse)
Vee: THIS CROWD IS LAAAAAAME.
Ash: Is he wearing a silver suit????
Vee: Yes because he is a GQMF.
Ash: (see above) Even when I can’t remember the song titles I still know which ones are older and which are from the new album.
Vee: For reals. I can always tell Hysteria because of that bass line. CHHHRRIIIISSSSS.
(guess my favorite)
Ash: What was the one before that?
Vee: MK Ultra
Ash: Just realized the top of that piano is clear!!!
Vee: I KNOW OMFFFFG LED PIAANNNOOOOOO. That is one sexy bitch. Granted, I’d hit Chris first. On pure physical attraction. But Matt can play piano during.
(the spotlights had a random moment of switching around all schizoid)
Vee: Sup spotlight dance.
Ash: I just took a picture of nothing…but now that he knows the fans will sing the chorus I think he’s taking a break.
Vee: BUT NO ONE KNEW THAT ONE.
(And now, regarding the guy standing in front of us, hindering my ability to see if I sat down:)
Vee: I LOVE THIS GUY!! Screaming the chorus in his girlfriend’s ear.
Ash: I somehow ended up with the perfect spot for sitting and still seeing…they must remember me from last time.
(I was referring, of course, to the previous two concerts I’ve been to…in which I mostly refused to stand up except when absolutely necessary)
Ash: Some of these interludes would make great songs on their own.
(AND THEY WOULD, TOO)
Vee: CHRIS PLAYS HARMONICA. FUCK ME.
(y’all know how I can be about harmonica. To add insult to the injury of not being in the pit, he then threw his harmonica in the pit. I cried on Ash’s shoulder)

We had some time to talk about the concert after all way said and done, and here are our impressions:

–

Vee: My favorite song has to be when they busted out with Exogenesis: Symphony. I wasn’t expecting that and I think I even cried a little.* Musically, I also loved Chris and Dom’s little duet on the rotating drum kit. Goddamn. Put that, and Chris’ harmonica solo, on an album plox.

‘English Wagon Song’, not so much.

That said, though, ‘Guiding Light’ didn’t translate well for me. That song is sonically stunning, and I just don’t think I was feeling it. Plus, the Gwinnett Arena has a sound system that can sound a bit tinny at times, which didn’t help. Ash and I both agreed that the sound was sort of…off…in certain aspects, but hell if we’re experts enough to determine how.

Ash: I liked Exogenesis, duh. ♥ Visual squigglies on black. Also, Stockholm Syndrome. A song that became a favorite of mine even though I didn’t originally care for it.

But I’m saying this because Vee is making me. I really liked everything. Except waiting in line to get water.

But Cinammon Almonds FTW!**

Also – Clear/LED Piano ZOMG for SRS.

(*Ash: Me too! Happy tears for ‘Exogenesis’…♥)

(**Ash: In all seriousness, I had been excited ALL DAY at the prospect of getting those cinammon almonds again. My god. When the vendor said “which size do you want?” I gave him a slight glare as I thought “which one do I WANT or which one can I AFFORD?”)

–

I timed it – getting back on the road after the concert ended took exactly one hour. People were getting pretty pissy in the parking lot. As someone next to us commented when someone nearly slammed into another car: “Whoa, getting aggressive in a Prius.” That provided some much-needed lulz.

After driving around Breckenridge for about thirty minutes* in a state of sleepy delerium, we finally found the magic IHOP for post-concert noms. IHOP post-concert is a tradition, y’all, seriously. We joked about maybe running into Muse at IHOP, Ell Oh Ell, right? Hm.

(*Ash: This is hilarious only because I didn’t help us get lost or killed with my crappy, half-delirious direction giving. By the time we left IHOP, my eyes were practically sealed shut of their own accord. Back at the hotel, Vee had the survival instinct to let me get ready for bed before her…this instinct has been honed through many trips to hotels with me. XD)

SUNDAY

First of all, by this point Ash was sick as fuck. It started out as a bothersome sore throat the night before but had developed into full-on plague by Sunday morning. Nonetheless, we were jazzed that check-out for the Marriott wasn’t until noon, giving us ample time to bitch and moan before getting the hell on our way. While Ash printed up the driving directions to get us back to Florida, I checked out. A lovely clerk named Daisy checked my ID, prompting the following conversation:

Daisy: “Florida, huh?”
Vee: “Yup.”
Daisy: “Were you here for the concert?”
Vee: “Yeah.” (considering the fact that I was wearing my new Muse t-shirt, not a stretch)
Daisy: “Oh, great. I heard it was excellent.”
Vee: “It really was.”
Daisy: (has a short conversation with the other girl behind the counter, who had been at the concert, too) “They were all staying here, you know.”

Vee: (to Ash) “Are you hearing this?”
Daisy: “I just checked one of them out about ten minutes ago.”
Vee: “Which one?”
Daisy: “Um…I don’t know. He was very cute. He was blonde.”
Vee: “Oh my god. You just…(turns to Ash) she just checked out Dom Howard.”

Daisy: “Yeaaaahhh, and on Thursday, you should have seen it, we checked them all in. They’re from England! And I’m from New York. I couldn’t understand a thing the one guy was saying. (I am laughing my ass off already) He’s asking me for a (approximation of Matt’s accent) “twelley”, and I’m going “what? A what?” “A twelley! A twelley!” “A TROLLEY? We have buses and taxis…” “No, for my bags!” “OH. OH. You mean A BELL CART.” It was funny.”
Vee: “Oh my god. Oh my god. (can’t breathe, laughing) Honestly, that is going in my blog.” (the part where I tell them I have a blog)
Daisy: “Well, the name’s DAISY…” (shows me her nametag)

THANK YOU, DAISY. THANK YOU FOR MAKING OUR SUNDAY SORT OF AWESOME BUT ALSO SORT OF SUCK.

When we ate at Einstein Bros. Bagels for breakfast (lunch?) directly following, rippletv was playing on the television. The “word of the day” was IRONY. I had to note that “Irony is being happy about a noon checkout time and then missing Muse by about ten minutes in the lobby of the Marriott.” We laughed together but were secretly crying on the inside. Regardless, it gave us something to talk about.*

(*Ash: On considering what might have happened had we actually stumbled upon them in the lobby, Vee decided she would have managed to be pretty cool about it. I, however, postulated that I would have done the same thing I usually do when I’m “flirting” with someone–which is to ignore them completely and pretend they don’t exist. This might have prompted Vee to apologize on my behalf with something along the lines of “Please don’t mind my friend. She just likes you a lot.”)

(*Ash: Two purchases that I deemed more than worthy for the fact that Muse is the only actual BAND I care about, and also because I’ve never bought anything (besides cinnamon almonds, yo) at ANY of the concerts I’ve been to.)

It was a good thing that we had Muse-was-staying-at-our-hotel to talk about, because when we hit I-75 it looked like this:

All told, between driving, traffic back-ups, stopping for food, stopping for medicine (Ash seriously you guys you guys seriously was sick at this point)*, getting turned around on I-75, me getting a little sick, and stopping every thirty minutes because Ash has a bladder the size of a peanut, it took us until MIDNIGHT to get back to Ash’s house. We spent a lot of time just dicking around, really, so it was all-in-all enjoyable, and led to these two unfortunately very true macros:

(*Ash: No, SERIOUSLY. I spent $20 on medicine at both Walgreens AND Publix during the course of this trip. What?!)

(Ash: See what she did there? She made me want a poster to put next to my Namie one. Oh noes…guess I’ll have to get to another Muse concert. ;D)

I honestly have nothing more to add. One more photo, for posterity. Keep in mind we were either 1) sick or 2) sort of nauseous and very tired when this photo was taken, in the Publix parking lot in Macon: