Muse

Only a few days before British prog-rockers Muse are scheduled to headline the second night of Coachella, they’ll make a stop in Phoenix to play the US Airways Center. The band is on tour in support of its 2009 album, Resistance, their most ambitious record to date. The fifth album from the British trio — singer/guitarist Matt Bellamy, drummer Dominic Howard, bassist Chris Wolstenholem — opens with the arena anthem “Uprising,” which is sure to whip any crowd into a frenzy as Bellamy sings, “They will not force us / They will stop degrading us / They will not control us.” From there, the band moves on to the Queen-like song “United States of Eurasia (+ Collateral Damage)” and closes the album with “Exogenesis: Symphony,” a three-part suite that may seem pretentious at first but is the perfect ending to Resistance. The ambition of Resistance is nothing new from Muse, and fortunately for live audiences, that ambition also extends to Muse’s live performances as well. Elaborate stage setups that would put Spinal Tap to shame and high-energy performances combined with arena-ready songs make Muse the perfect band to headline a US Airways Center concert.