Simulation Theory World Tour

Summary

The Simulation Theory World Tour[2] was a world concert tour by English rock band Muse, in support of their eighth studio album, Simulation Theory (2018). The tour began in Houston on 22 February 2019 and ended in Lima on 15 October 2019.[3] Numerous acts appeared as the opening act, including Tom Morello, Walk the Moon, Nothing But Thieves and SWMRS.[4]

Simulation Theory World Tour
World tour by Muse
Promotional poster for the tour
Associated albumSimulation Theory
Start date22 February 2019 (2019-02-22)
End date15 October 2019 (2019-10-15)
Legs4
No. of shows
  • 21 in North America
  • 30 in Europe
  • 1 in Asia
  • 7 in Latin America
  • 59 total
Attendance1,308,531 (55 shows)[1]
Box office$102.3 million (55 shows)[1]
Muse concert chronology

The tour grossed $102 million, with more than 1.3 million tickets sold, based on 55 reported dates.[1]

Muse – Simulation Theory, a film containing live footage from the shows at The O2 Arena in London from 14–15 September 2019, as well as additional filmed scenes, was released on 17 August 2020 in IMAX cinemas worldwide with a digital download release on 21 August.[5]

Background edit

The Simulation Theory World Tour featured a new enhanced experience package that allowed access to an exclusive mixed reality pre-show party, powered by Microsoft. This included three original virtual reality games, inspired by tracks from Simulation Theory. Additional enhanced experience perks included a premium concert ticket, show-specific poster, interactive photo experience with props and memorabilia from the band's latest videos, and more.[6]

Staging and Production edit

The staging was similar to The Unsustainable Tour of 2013, with a few differences. It consisted of a main stage, two stage wings and a long catwalk to the B-Stage, where certain songs were played from throughout the show. Behind the stage there was a large LED screen displaying various visuals. During the Metal Medley near the end of the show a large inflatable puppet skeleton called "Murph", similar to ones seen in the music video for "The Dark Side", was featured as if it were towering over the stage. The show also featured 14 dancers performing throughout the show during certain songs – some again linking to the music videos for the album.

The show loosely told the story of being caged in simulations with the world battling back and defeating them with the "creator" at the end of the show. This narrative was expanded upon in the Simulation Theory film with additional scenes.

Setlist edit

  1. "Algorithm" (Alternate Reality version)
  2. "Pressure"
  3. "Drill Sergeant" + "Psycho"
  4. "Break It to Me"
  5. "Uprising"
  6. "Propaganda"
  7. "Plug in Baby"
  8. "Pray (High Valyrian)" (Matthew Bellamy cover)
  9. "The Dark Side"
  10. "Supermassive Black Hole"
  11. "Thought Contagion"
  12. "Interlude" + "Hysteria"
  13. "The 2nd Law: Unsustainable"
  14. "Dig Down" (Acoustic Gospel Version)
  15. "Madness"
  16. "Mercy"
  17. "Time is Running Out"
  18. "Houston Jam" (drum and bass jam, with "Futurism", "Unnatural Selection" and "Micro Cuts" riffs)
  19. "Take a Bow"
  20. "Prelude" + "Starlight"

Encore

  1. "Algorithm"
  2. "Metal Medley" (Extracts from "Stockholm Syndrome", "Assassin", "Reapers", "The Handler", "New Born")
  3. "Man with a Harmonica" + "Knights of Cydonia"
Notes
  • "Undisclosed Desires" was occasionally played at outdoor gigs from the European Leg onwards, being played after Dig Down.
  • "Bliss" was occasionally played at outdoor gigs from the European leg onwards, being played after Hysteria.
  • "The Void" was played on the 12, 14 and 15 September 2019, being played after "Dig Down".
  • "Showbiz" was played at a few shows at the end of the tour after "Hysteria", mostly due to high fan demand for the song.
  • "Metal Medley" was not played at the concert in Buenos Aires on 11 October 2019, due to poor weather.
  • "Houston Jam" and "Take a Bow" were both skipped in the Latin American leg of the tour, being only performed in Mexico City.

Personnel edit

  • Matt Bellamy - lead vocals, guitars, piano, synthesizers on "Algorithm"
  • Chris Wolstenholme - bass, backing vocals, guitar on "Dig Down (Acoustic Gospel Version)", percussion on "Pray (High Valyrian)", harmonica on "Man with a Harmonica"
  • Dominic Howard - electric & acoustic drums, percussion, backing vocals on "Supermassive Black Hole", synthesizers on "Take a Bow"
  • Morgan Nicholls - keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals, percussion including cabasa on "Supermassive Black Hole", guitar on "Uprising", "Thought Contagion", "Mercy", & "Starlight"

Shows edit

List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, opening act, tickets sold, number of available tickets and amount of gross revenue
Date City Country Venue Opening act Attendance Revenue
Leg 1 — North America
22 February 2019 Houston United States Toyota Center Walk the Moon
24 February 2019 Dallas American Airlines Center
26 February 2019 Phoenix Talking Stick Resort Arena
28 February 2019 Salt Lake City Vivint Smart Home Arena
2 March 2019 Las Vegas Mandalay Bay Events Center 8,084 / 8,084 $656,610
5 March 2019 San Diego Pechanga Arena
7 March 2019 Sacramento Golden 1 Center 5,781 / 14,801 $468,832
9 March 2019 Oakland Oracle Arena 11,242 / 11,242 $960,794
11 March 2019 Inglewood The Forum 12,662 / 12,662 $1,096,514
23 March 2019 Austin Austin 360 Amphitheater
24 March 2019 Sunrise BB&T Center
26 March 2019 Atlanta State Farm Arena 6,513 / 6,513 $551,203
28 March 2019 Toronto Canada Scotiabank Arena 11,352 / 11,352 $682,726
30 March 2019 Montreal Bell Centre
31 March 2019 Quebec City Videotron Centre
2 April 2019 Washington, D.C. United States Capital One Arena SWMRS 13,516 / 13,516 $1,083,160
4 April 2019 Detroit Little Caesars Arena Walk the Moon 9,515 / 12,699 $623,914
7 April 2019 Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center SWMRS 10,557 / 10,557 $708,322
8 April 2019 New York Madison Square Garden Walk the Moon 12,496 / 12,496 $984,373
10 April 2019 Boston TD Garden 10,067 / 12,036 $827,792
12 April 2019 Chicago United Center
Leg 2 — Europe
26 May 2019 Prague Czech Republic Letňany Airport The Atavists
Imodium
32,987 / 35,093 $2,251,588
28 May 2019 Budapest Hungary László Papp Sports Arena Dinosaur Pile-Up 11,271 / 12,386 $868,582
29 May 2019 Graz Austria Stadthalle Graz 14,365 / 14,658 $1,029,318
1 June 2019 London England London Stadium Tom Morello
Pale Waves
72,721 / 72,721 $6,652,663
5 June 2019 Bristol Ashton Gate Stadium 23,579 / 23,579 $2,068,648
8 June 2019[a] Manchester Etihad Stadium 43,128 / 43,128 $3,732,041
12 June 2019 Riga Latvia Arena Riga Kiefer Sutherland 8,962 / 11,203 $902,904
15 June 2019 Moscow Russia Luzhniki Stadium 46,340 / 56,512 $3,683,656
18 June 2019 Helsinki Finland Suvilahti Kiefer Sutherland
The Amazons
15,979 / 15,979 $1,407,586
22 June 2019 Kraków Poland Tauron Arena Allusinlove[7] 14,222 / 14,222 $1,182,544
27 June 2019 Nijmegen Netherlands Goffertpark SWMRS
Andy Burrows[8]
65,004 / 65,661 $4,276,518
29 June 2019 Cologne Germany RheinEnergieStadion Andy Burrows
The Amazons
40,400 / 42,526 $3,113,013
30 June 2019[b] Werchter Belgium Werchter Festivalpark
3 July 2019 Zürich Switzerland Hallenstadion SWMRS 13,300 / 13,300 $1,792,981
5 July 2019 Saint-Denis France Stade de France Weezer
Mini Mansions
131,321 / 147,552 $12,225,296
6 July 2019 SWMRS
Mini Mansions
9 July 2019 Marseille Stade Vélodrome 55,330 / 55,330 $4,432,254
12 July 2019 Milan Italy San Siro Mini Mansions
The Amazons
89,619 / 103,010 $6,158,308
13 July 2019 Mini Mansions
Nic Cester
16 July 2019 Bordeaux France Matmut Atlantique 38,613 / 38,613 $3,063,978
20 July 2019 Rome Italy Stadio Olimpico 50,385 / 50,385 $3,506,064
24 July 2019 Lisbon Portugal Passeio Maritimo de Alges Miles Kane
Mini Mansions
26 July 2019 Madrid Spain Wanda Metropolitano Mini Mansions
Nic Cester
50,719 / 50,719 $4,083,636
7 September 2019 Oslo Norway Telenor Arena Des Rocs[10] 12,666 / 18,357 $937,001
8 September 2019 Copenhagen Denmark Royal Arena
10 September 2019 Berlin Germany Mercedes-Benz Arena 12,500 / 13.441 $1,055,850
12 September 2019 Amsterdam Netherlands Ziggo Dome
14 September 2019 London England The O2 Arena Nothing But Thieves 30,600 / 34,773 $3,032,640
15 September 2019
17 September 2019 Birmingham Arena Birmingham 13,191 / 13,741 $1,192,030
Leg 3 — Asia
21 September 2019 Singapore Marina Bay Street Circuit Fatboy Slim
Cardi B
Leg 4 — Latin America
2 October 2019 Mexico City Mexico Foro Sol The Ruse 94,400 / 122,597 $4,968,447
3 October 2019
6 October 2019[c] Rio de Janeiro Brazil Barra Olympic Park
9 October 2019 São Paulo Ginásio do Ibirapuera[d] Kaiser Chiefs 8,480 / 8,480 $452,603
11 October 2019 Buenos Aires Argentina Hipódromo de Palermo Airbag
Kaiser Chiefs
14,378 / 17,973 $660,211
13 October 2019 Santiago Chile Pista Atletica Kaiser Chiefs 15,701 / 18,692 $1,114,378
15 October 2019 Lima Peru Jockey Club del Peru 18,154 / 24,868 $1,447,698
Total[13] 1,308,531 $102,357,939 (55 shows)

Notes edit

  1. ^ Due to a medical emergency, Pale Waves were forced to cut their set short. As a result both Tom Morello and Muse were delayed.[citation needed]
  2. ^ The concert on 30 June 2019 at Werchter Festival Park in Werchter was part of Rock Werchter festival.[9]
  3. ^ The concert on 6 October 2019 at Barra Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro was part of Rock in Rio festival.[11]
  4. ^ The concert in São Paulo on 9 October 2019 was originally scheduled in the Allianz Parque but it was moved to the Ginásio do Ibirapuera for undisclosed reasons.[12]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Box Office – Update: November 12, 2019". Touring Data. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  2. ^ "Upcoming Events". Muse. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  3. ^ "NEWS – 2019 Simulation Theory World Tour". Muse. 5 November 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  4. ^ Snitch, Event. "Muse – Simulation Theory tour coming to an end – Tickets, Show Details & Reviews for Concerts, Sports & more – Event Snitch". Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  5. ^ "Muse Simulation Theory Film". 11 August 2020.
  6. ^ "2019 Simulation Theory World Tour". Muse Official Website. 8 November 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  7. ^ "Krakow Support". Muse Official Website. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  8. ^ "Mojo Concerts – Muse". Archived from the original on 28 June 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  9. ^ "Muse à l'affiche de Rock Werchter 2019". RTBF (in French). 10 October 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  10. ^ "September Support". Muse Official Website. 30 August 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  11. ^ Oliviera, Luccas (30 October 2018). "Rock in Rio 2019: Muse, Imagine Dragons, Nickelback e Paralamas encerram a próxima edição do festival". O Globo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  12. ^ "Show do Muse em São Paulo muda do Allianz Parque para o Ginásio do Ibirapuera" [Muse concert in São Paulo is moved from Allianz Parque to Ibirapuera Gymnasium] (in Portuguese). Uol. 12 September 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  13. ^ "Muse". Pollstar. Retrieved 24 March 2019.