Matt Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard is the three-piece unit that is Muse formed almost 10 years ago. Even though all in their late-twenties, the three-piece band from Devon, England still look like frail teenagers: blame it on the amount of calories they must be burning on stage every night. While Dominic pounds his drums and Chris jams the bass, Bellamy shows off a real rock performance that includes all that a respectable and talented lead singer, piano and guitar player should deliver: jumping, sliding, dancing, twisting, stretching jumping again, all the while playing intense guitar riffs. No wonder Muse has been referred several times as one of the best live band from our times. They give their heart and their soul not only in the lyrics but also in their live concerts.

The performance at Aragon was no different. Muse amuses again and again by delivering a balanced mix of old favorites such as "Newborn", "Sunburn" and "Stockholm Syndrome", along with new songs from the just released fourth studio album, "Black Holes and Revelations". Even though the band is at that point in their careers that they fit right at the cross between niche and mainstream, the audience made it clear they knew Muse and knew them well: they sang every single tune - old and new - so loud and clear that it gave you shivers.

The venue was visually perfect for Muse with its vaulted ceiling painted of stars and planets that served well as visual support to "Starlight" and "Supermassive Black Hole". While the almost kitschy Spanish décor blended with Egyptian pyramids couldn't provide stronger visual background to "City of Delusion", a tune that got the already animated crowd singing and clapping to Bellamy's acoustic performance of the song. The only oddity was Matt, who in the past used to perform dressed in gothic black suit, wore instead a colorful flower T-shirt.

The encore was as passionate as one would expect from Muse. They closed with "Take a Bow" giving a break from flying saucers and going into politics, then "Time Is Running Out", which fitted very well at that point of the night. Half way through it Bellamy let the crowd lead the song with "bury it, won't let you bury it, won't let you smother it, won't let you murder it…" and we all knew at that moment that not only time was running out, but it was also to be an unforgettable night. They end with the Muse-signature, "Knights of Cydonia", delivering all the drama that we all craved for and demand as the last song.

Say what you want to say, I don't even have ears for that anymore. Influenced by Radiohead? Sure, but please… Radiohead delivers serious melodramatic lyrics influenced by Thom Yorke's psychological issues and paranoia. Meanwhile, Muse delivers ridiculous lyrics influenced from Mars…or Cydonia for that matter. No other band offers such a literal escape from reality and we all need that sometimes, don’t we?

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