Muse photo by Hello Universe, the Strokes' photo by @aloysiuslim + @alvieisalive

Fresh from the wake of the Matty Healy incident, Muse’s return to Malaysian shores was the first international concert post-Good Vibes Festival 2023. Many, if not all parties were jittery about the concert, understandably. We even spoke to the organiser about his thoughts on the incident a couple of weeks ago.

The National Stadium compound was painted in black as early as 12:30pm as thousands of Muse fans arrived early and lined up for their wristbands. The crowd ranges from older millennials down to Gen Zs, so there were stark differences in energy and style. But they were all there for the same thing; to watch their favourite band.

Some were even caught singing "Starlight" at the gates of the stadium, which reminded me of local Ultras and their passionate chants during football games against SEA rivals. The loudness of the chants was only a glimpse of the passion Malaysians have towards their musical acts; a positive indication, if you ask me.




Photo by Hello Universe

The passion continued when Muse played their first song. Many were in absolute awe and only when Hysteria started playing that they were finally able to digest Muse’s presence. The UK rock band performed over 20 songs and ended their set with their cult classic; “Knights of Cydonia”, which summoned the last bit of energy from their 50,000-strong audience at the edge of that glorious night.

Just a few days after the show, thousands of Malaysians travelled to Singapore to end their 20-year yearning for New York-based garage rock band the Strokes. The Strokes announced a second date after their first sold out, solely to accommodate Malaysians who were left dismayed by the cancellation of Good Vibes Festival 2023. On top of that, The Strokes even offered a 50% discount on all merch items, exclusively for Malaysians.

So in a matter of days, Malaysians pulled in their personal resources, arrange accommodation and transport only to experience a euphoric hour with Julian Casablancas and friends. It seemed insane on paper, but it meant the world to the ones who were present.



That night, Malaysians showed the kind of love and passion that stunned a Grammy-award-winning band. They sang, yelled and screamed at every lyric, every guitar line and solo. ‘Jesus Christ, you’re louder than yesterday!’ was the only thing vocalist Julian Casablancas could conjure after a massive singalong of “What Ever Happened?” at Marina Bay Sands. The concert went on in a similar fashion; and ended with the loudest cheer when Julian asked “Did anyone actually come down from KL?” before playing their most popular set-ending song, “Last Nite”.






A post shared by Shazwan Ze (@shazwanze)



Out of these two concerts alone, Malaysians have shown that they are worthy of getting more concerts in the near future. Within the same week, Hello Universe, the organiser for Muse, also sold out the whole of Axiata Arena with One OK Rock. Malaysians do not want to slow down as it seems.

At the moment, Matty Healy’s incident may leave a sour note in everyone’s mouth. But if shows and concerts keep getting sold out, there might be a future after all for the Malaysian live entertainment industry. We deserve concerts because we invested in them, we stayed through the delays and we contributed to the numbers; because we are the numbers.

And despite the controversies, we might not be in the gutter after all, for as long as we follow and face the music.