Graduation Concert in My Hometown: Why I Was Disappointed and Need a New Repertoire

Hello there!

Warning:

I'm not a music conservatory grad, but I'm a huge classical music fan and listen to it all the time. So, what's written below is purely subjective.

I'd known about the Muse orchestra's outdoor performance for ages, thanks to a friend who was totally stoked when they played in our city. So, when they came to town, I snagged a ticket without checking out their setlist or reviews. As I mentioned earlier, I love classical music and always catch symphonic orchestras when they're in town, so I was super excited – what's better than classical music and candles, right?

The ticket cost 2700 rubles for a balcony seat in the first row. That's pricey for my city (Sevastopol). A symphonic orchestra ticket in the first row usually costs 700 rubles. The musicians took the stage 20 minutes late, and they performed for 1 hour and 15 minutes with a 15-minute interlude.

The performance kicked off with Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata' – and that's where things started to go downhill. I felt like I was back at my music school's graduation concert, although the kids there play more complex pieces.

Musicians alternated between classical pieces and movie soundtracks, with Adele's song somehow getting lost in the mix.

Movie soundtracks were fine, I guess – pleasant, but nothing special. The classical pieces, on the other hand, left me with a ton of issues. When they played 'The Flight of the Bumblebee,' I couldn't help but scrunch up my face, and I started thinking that Muse's 'Flight of the Bumblebee' was like listening to classical music in mono instead of MP3 – there was a melody, but it was so flat and lacking in depth. I'm a sensitive person, and I was expecting goosebumps, but what I got was disappointment.

Muse's orchestra under the candles is super popular, and they're coming back to our city in October (all tickets are sold out) and November (lots of tickets have already been bought). I'm still not sure why they're so popular... By the way, I did see their ad on Ksenia Sobchak's channel, so I guess they're investing in marketing – but they just can't seem to leave their audience satisfied.

I've got to say, the candle idea was really cool - the flickering lights made it feel like tiny fireflies dancing to the music.

The movie soundtrack was great, and I'm not the only one who thought so. I've heard some people complain about the sound quality, but I thought it was spot on. I think the musicians did a fantastic job of reworking the movie scores - it's definitely more engaging than playing classical music.

The Verdict

I wouldn't recommend Muse's concert to anyone. Even if you're looking to get into classical music, you might end up feeling disappointed and thinking that classical music is boring. And honestly, the guys from Muse made it pretty clear that they thought it was boring too! If you want to experience the magic of a symphony orchestra, I'd suggest checking one out - it's a totally different vibe. But Muse's concert felt like a marketing gimmick to me. And don't even get me started on the 'interactive' parts. We had to wait 20 minutes before the concert started, and then they kept asking us to share our experience on social media during the show. The grand prize was a free dinner at the best restaurant in town. It was all a bit too much for me. And when the concert was over, I saw all these posts on social media about how amazing Muse was. It was all a bit too artificial for my taste.

Thanks for reading!