Every arena band should take note: Confetti and streamers are undefeated, and Muse deployed both like they meant it recently in Columbia, Maryland. It also didn’t hurt that this was the band’s first Merriweather Post Pavilion show in 19 years — the last time they played here, “Knights of Cydonia” was still new.
The crowd reflected the gap: metalheads next to goths next to glam kids next to your standard-issue indie/alternative contingent, all of them somehow at the same show for the same reason. Muse has never been shy about genre tourism, and this set leaned into it. “Madness” came off less like the arena ballad on record and more like a full trip-hop song, all sub-bass and slink. “Supermassive Black Hole” was outright funk — with the bass doing most of the talking. And “Knights of Cydonia,” teed up with Ennio Morricone’s “Man with a Harmonica,” turned into a spaghetti-western fever dream that somehow also qualified as prog. Three songs, three different bands, one Matt Bellamy.
Watch the official music video for “Knights of Cydonia” by Muse on YouTube:
The night moved between eras without much friction. “Hysteria” and “Plug In Baby” sat comfortably next to newer material like “Cryogen,” “Hexagons,” and “Nightshift Superstar,” and nothing in that stretch felt like a bathroom break, while “Kill or Be Killed” and “Psycho” kept the middle of the set heavy.
Speaking of Bellamy — he spent a healthy chunk of the night just wanting to shred, and the band let him, solo after solo stretching past where a tighter setlist would’ve reined him in. No complaints here. The stage cameras did their job too, cutting close on faces mid-riff and mid-scream, making a shed-sized crowd feel like a club show for a few seconds at a time.
By the time “Take a Bow” closed the encore, I’d mostly stopped taking notes and started just watching. That’s usually how you know that was a great gig.
I missed Temper Trap due the monsoon I had to drive through on my way to Merriweather Post Pavilion, but I did manage to catch Bloc Party. I think we can all agree that Silent Alarm was and is still goated, but to be honest, they’ve lost me since then. This show did nothing to change my mind.
Setlist:
Interlude
Hysteria
Cryogen
Supermassive Black Hole
Hexagons
Intro
Stockholm Syndrome
Unravelling
Kill or Be Killed
Be With You
Psycho
Madness
Plug In Baby
Hanging in Victory Square
Time Is Running Out
Uprising
Knights of Cydonia
The 2nd Law: Isolated System
Nightshift Superstar
Algorithm
Undisclosed Desires
Prelude
Starlight
Encore
Take a Bow
Here are more photos of Muse performing at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, on July 28, 2026. All photos copyright and courtesy of Kyle Gustafson.
