The Simulation Theory World Tour was a world concert tour by English rock band Muse, in support of their eighth studio album, Simulation Theory (2018). The tour began in Houston, Texas on 22 February 2019 and ended in Lima, Peru on 15 October 2019. Numerous acts appeared as the opening act, including Tom Morello, Walk the Moon, Nothing But Thieves and SWMRS.
The tour grossed $102.3 million, with more than 1.3 million tickets sold, based on 55 reported dates.
Muse – Simulation Theory, a film containing live footage from the shows at The O2 Arena in London from 14 to 15 September 2019, as well as additional filmed scenes, was released on 17 August 2020 in IMAX cinemas worldwide with a digital download release on 21 August.
Background The Simulation Theory World Tour featured a new enhanced experience package that allowed access to an exclusive mixed reality pre-show party, powered by Microsoft. This included three original virtual reality games, inspired by tracks from Simulation Theory. Additional enhanced experience perks included a premium concert ticket, show-specific poster, interactive photo experience with props and memorabilia from the band's latest videos, and more.
Staging and Production The staging was similar to The Unsustainable Tour of 2013, with a few differences. It consisted of a main stage, two stage wings and a long catwalk to the B-Stage, where certain songs were played from throughout the show. Behind the stage there was a large LED screen displaying various visuals. During the Metal Medley near the end of the show, a large inflatable puppet skeleton called "Murph", similar to ones seen in the music video for "The Dark Side", was featured as if it were towering over the stage. The show also featured 14 dancers performing throughout the show during certain songs – some again linking to the music videos for the album.
The show loosely told the story of being caged in simulations with the world battling back and defeating them with the "creator" at the end of the show. This narrative was expanded upon in the Simulation Theory film with additional scenes.
Setlist
"Algorithm" (Alternate Reality version) "Pressure" "Drill Sergeant" + "Psycho" "Break It to Me" "Uprising" "Propaganda" "Plug in Baby" "Pray (High Valyrian)" (Matthew Bellamy cover) "The Dark Side" "Supermassive Black Hole" "Thought Contagion" "Interlude" + "Hysteria" "The 2nd Law: Unsustainable" "Dig Down" (Acoustic Gospel Version) "Madness" "Mercy" "Time is Running Out" "Houston Jam" (drum and bass jam, with "Futurism", "Unnatural Selection" and "Micro Cuts" riffs) "Take a Bow" "Prelude" + "Starlight" Encore "Algorithm" "Metal Medley" (Extracts from "Stockholm Syndrome", "Assassin", "Reapers", "The Handler", "New Born") "Man with a Harmonica" + "Knights of Cydonia"
Personnel
Matt Bellamy - lead vocals, guitars, piano, synthesizers on "Algorithm" Chris Wolstenholme - bass, backing vocals, guitar on "Dig Down (Acoustic Gospel Version)", percussion on "Pray (High Valyrian)", harmonica on "Man with a Harmonica" Dominic Howard - electric & acoustic drums, percussion, backing vocals on "Supermassive Black Hole", synthesizers on "Take a Bow" Morgan Nicholls - keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals, percussion including cabasa on "Supermassive Black Hole", guitar on "Uprising", "Thought Contagion", "Mercy", & "Starlight"
Shows + List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, opening act, tickets sold, number of available tickets and amount of gross revenue Date City Country Venue Opening act Attendance Revenue Leg 1 — North America 22 February 2019 Houston United States Toyota CenterWalk the Moon 7,092 $538,042 24 February 2019 Dallas American Airlines Center 8,727 $660,719 26 February 2019 Phoenix Talking Stick Resort Arena 7,706 $604,356 28 February 2019 Salt Lake City Vivint Smart Home Arena 7,064 $522,140 2 March 2019 Las Vegas Mandalay Bay Events Center 8,084 $656,610 5 March 2019 San Diego Pechanga Arena 9,315 $698,359 7 March 2019 Sacramento Golden 1 Center 5,781 $468,832 9 March 2019 Oakland Oracle Arena 11,242 $960,794 11 March 2019 Inglewood The Forum 12,662 $1,096,514 23 March 2019 Austin Austin 360 Amphitheater — — 24 March 2019 Sunrise BB&T Center 6,902 $543,793 26 March 2019 Atlanta State Farm Arena 6,513 $551,203 28 March 2019 Toronto Canada Scotiabank Arena 11,352 $682,726 30 March 2019 Montreal Bell Centre 15,930 $968,738 31 March 2019 Quebec City Videotron Centre 13,127 $732,281 2 April 2019 Washington, D.C. United States Capital One Arena SWMRS 11,271 $868,582 4 April 2019 Detroit Little Caesars Arena Walk the Moon 11,168 $541,958 7 April 2019 Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center SWMRS 10,557 $708,322 8 April 2019 New York Madison Square GardenWalk the Moon 12,426 $984,373 10 April 2019 Boston TD Garden 10,067 $827,792 12 April 2019 Chicago United Center 12,035 $953,843 Leg 2 — Europe 26 May 2019 Prague Czech Republic Letňany Airport The AtavistsImodium 32,987 / 35,093 $2,251,588 28 May 2019 Budapest Hungary László Papp Sports Arena Dinosaur Pile-Up 11,271 / 12,386 $868,582 29 May 2019 Graz Austria Stadthalle Graz 14,365 / 14,658 $1,029,318 1 June 2019 London England London StadiumTom MorelloPale Waves 72,721 / 72,721 $6,652,663 5 June 2019 Bristol Ashton Gate Stadium 23,579 / 23,579 $2,068,648 8 June 2019 Manchester Etihad Stadium 43,128 / 43,128 $3,732,041 12 June 2019 Riga Latvia Arena RigaKiefer Sutherland 8,962 / 11,203 $902,904 15 June 2019 Moscow Russia Luzhniki Stadium 46,340 / 56,512 $3,683,656 18 June 2019 Helsinki Finland Suvilahti Kiefer SutherlandThe Amazons 15,979 / 15,979 $1,407,586 22 June 2019 Kraków Poland Tauron Arena Allusinlove 14,222 / 14,222 $1,182,544 27 June 2019 Nijmegen Netherlands Goffertpark SWMRSAndy Burrows 65,004 / 65,661 $4,276,518 29 June 2019 Cologne Germany RheinEnergieStadion Andy BurrowsThe Amazons 40,400 / 42,526 $3,113,013 30 June 2019 Werchter Belgium Werchter Festivalpark 3 July 2019 Zürich Switzerland Hallenstadion SWMRS 13,300 / 13,300 $1,792,981 5 July 2019 Saint-Denis France Stade de France WeezerMini Mansions 131,321 / 147,552 $12,225,296 6 July 2019 SWMRSMini Mansions 9 July 2019 Marseille Stade Vélodrome 55,330 / 55,330 $4,432,254 12 July 2019 Milan Italy San Siro Mini MansionsThe Amazons 89,619 / 103,010 $6,158,308 13 July 2019Mini MansionsNic Cester 16 July 2019 Bordeaux France Matmut Atlantique 38,613 / 38,613 $3,063,978 20 July 2019 Rome Italy Stadio Olimpico 50,385 / 50,385 $3,506,064 24 July 2019 Lisbon Portugal Passeio Maritimo de Alges Miles KaneMini Mansions — — 26 July 2019 Madrid Spain Wanda Metropolitano Mini MansionsNic Cester 50,719 / 50,719 $4,083,636 7 September 2019 Oslo Norway Telenor Arena Des Rocs 12,666 / 18,357 $937,001 8 September 2019 Copenhagen Denmark Royal Arena — — 10 September 2019 Berlin Germany Mercedes-Benz Arena 12,500 / 13.441 $1,055,850 12 September 2019 Amsterdam Netherlands Ziggo Dome — — 14 September 2019 London England The O2 Arena Nothing But Thieves 30,600 / 34,773 $3,032,640 15 September 2019 17 September 2019 Birmingham Arena Birmingham 13,191 / 13,741 $1,192,030Leg 3 — Asia21 September 2019SingaporeMarina Bay Street Circuit Gwen StefaniFatboy Slim Leg 4 — Latin America 2 October 2019Mexico CityMexicoForo SolThe Ruse 94,400 / 122,597 $4,968,447 3 October 2019 6 October 2019 Rio de Janeiro Brazil Barra Olympic Park 9 October 2019São PauloGinásio do IbirapueraKaiser Chiefs 8,480 / 8,480 $452,603 11 October 2019 Buenos Aires Argentina Hipódromo de PalermoAirbagKaiser Chiefs 14,378 / 17,973 $660,211 13 October 2019 Santiago Chile Pista Atletica Kaiser Chiefs 15,701 / 18,692 $1,114,378 15 October 2019 Lima Peru Jockey Club del Peru 18,154 / 24,868 $1,447,698 Total 1,308,531 $102,357,939 (55 shows)
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