How It All Began
When English rock band MUSE announced in February that they would be staging a concert in Kuala Lumpur on 29 July 2023, I knew I had to go. The tour is in support of their latest album, Will of the People, released on 22 August 2022. It was a little surprising that MUSE chose to perform their only show in Asia in Malaysia instead of Singapore. But since they are not coming here, I shall make a trip across the border to see them then!
I have actually watched MUSE in concert three times before – in 2010 and 2015, both times at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, and in 2019 at the Singapore Grand Prix. They are one of the best live bands around and they never fail to put on a good show. Even though their last two albums (2015’s Drones and 2018’s Simulation Theory) were a bit lackluster, I like their latest album very much, so I really wanted to watch them perform the new songs live.
The original venue for the concert was Bukit Kiara Equestrian Resort, an odd choice for a concert of this magnitude. It is basically a large grass field normally used for polo and equestrian activities. Majority of the tickets were free standing, with only a small quantity of seats available. The resort is located about 10 kilometres away from the Kuala Lumpur city centre, with no easy access to public transport. The organisers said that free shuttle services would be provided, but I foresaw that it would be quite a nightmare with an expected crowd of 50,000 people.
Despite my misgivings about the concert venue, I decided to go ahead with it. I roped in one of my concert kakis, WY, and we bought our standing tickets for Zone B, which cost RM550 (about S$165). The Zone A standing tickets cost a whopping RM950 (S$285), which was overpriced for the venue and not worth it.
With our concert tickets secured, the trip was on! When I later told my mum and dad about it, they said they wanted to come along too, since they hadn’t visited Kuala Lumpur in a while. So it ended up being a party of four (my parents were not watching the concert, of course). Our two-way Air Asia flight tickets cost S$125.14 per person, with only 7kg hand carry and no checked baggage.
For accommodation, I looked at a few hotel options in the Bukit Bintang area but they were quite pricey. I eventually managed to find a good deal on booking.com for a three-bedroom apartment at Platinum Suites, which cost only RM2,040.43 (S$600) for three nights, or about S$50/person/night, which was very reasonable.
(Exchange rate: S$1 = RM3.40)
Day 1: 29 July 2023, Saturday
We had an early start to the day. The night before, I made an advance booking for a taxi using the CDG Zig app. The taxi arrived at 6:05am, five minutes ahead of the scheduled time. It was good, because we like to be early especially if we have a flight to catch. There was no traffic at that hour and we reached Changi Airport Terminal 4 at 6:30am. Upon examining the breakdown of the fare on the receipt, I saw that the metered fare was only $20.10 but the total fare came up to $31.91, including an advanced booking fee of $8.00, a platform fee of $0.70, a 10% net admin fee of $2.88 and GST of $0.23 on the net admin fee. So many miscellaneous fees! I felt a bit cheated. It would have been much cheaper to not make an advanced booking, but that is for peace of mind of having a confirmed ride in the early morning.
A short while later, WY arrived at T4 too. As we had already done online check-in and obtained our e-boarding passes, and we had no checked baggage, we went straight into the Departure hall. Compared to my last occasion using T4 in November 2022, many more shops were now open. I was just slightly disappointed to see that the slide was closed (yes, there is a slide in the airport!).
It was mum and dad’s first time taking a flight from T4 and they were very impressed with how nice it was. The entire area was carpeted, with plush seats of all shapes and sizes, greenery all around and beautiful décor. Changi Airport is really the best in the world. Even our smallest terminal can beat most of the bigger terminals in other major cities.
We went to Heavenly Wang to have our breakfast, the usual kaya toast and eggs set with coffee. Our AirAsia flight AK702 was on time, departing Singapore at 9:10am. Not surprisingly, it was a full flight, with around 186 passengers (based on 31 rows with 6 passengers per row). We touched down at KLIA2 (Kuala Lumpur International Airport Terminal 2) at 10:01am.
There was a queue at the immigration counters but it moved pretty briskly and we cleared immigration in 15 minutes, at 10:40am. Upon exiting the arrival hall, we found ourselves at the airport shopping mall, which had many retail stores and restaurants. We made a mental note to come to the airport earlier on our departure day to do some last-minute shopping before our flight back to Singapore.
Mum’s ex-colleague, IK, had graciously offered to pick us up from the airport. In fact, she had planned a simple itinerary for us for today and tomorrow. It is always nice to have locals take us around because they know where all the best places and eateries are. After a short wait, IK and her husband, S, arrived and we hopped on their very spacious car and left the airport at 11:07am.
It was not my first time meeting IK and S. During our last family trip to KL in February 2017, IK and S also brought us out for dinner, along with their kids. It really means a lot when people take time out of their busy schedules to come meet us and show us around. But being foodies, I guess it was also a good opportunity for IK and S to enjoy the food themselves as they took us to their favourite eating places.
The first stop was TNR by Sean & Angie, located at 101, Jalan SS 2/6, SS 2, 47300 Petaling Jaya. When we arrived at 12:15pm, the restaurant was half-full but the crowd was coming in fast. We ordered the Original Hakka Noodles with minced meat, Premium Char Siew, Siew Yoke and Premium Hickory Smoked Chicken.
Even though it was a simple dish – just noodles with minced meat, some fried fish bits and spring onions, it was so yummy. The noodles were very flavourful without any excessive gravy or sauce, and the serving of minced meat was generous. The Char Siew was their specialty and it was as good as IK and S described it – melt-in-your-mouth with just the right amount of char. And it was so soft it barely felt like I was eating meat. The Siew Yoke was tasty but the skin was not crispy, so I deduct a few points for that. The Smoked Chicken was really special as I could taste the smokiness the moment I put it in my mouth. The chicken meat was so tender too. In all, it was a very good lunch.
At about 1:05pm, we finished our lunch so we proceeded to our next stop…durian time! IK told us that SS2 (as the area is called) is famous for durians. Whenever KL residents think of eating durians, they will come over to SS2. I guess it is similar to our Geylang in Singapore, where there are many durian stalls (although Geylang is also famous for something else…frog leg porridge lah, what were you thinking??).
S took us on a car tour of SS2. Driving through the area, we saw dozens of durian stalls all located near each other. Many of them were very big and had restaurant-like seating areas. The durians were stacked on racks and directly facing the road to entice customers. The number of stalls here at SS2 is definitely more than what we have in Geylang, and cheaper too. But that is to be expected because we import most of our durians from Malaysia.
At 1:25pm, we reached Ah Kwong Durian, a much smaller and simpler stall compared to the “mega” ones we saw earlier. This was S and IK’s go-to place for durians. We were actually early because IK had told Ah Kwong that we would be coming at 2pm. That is the usual time when the durians are delivered to the stall. But luckily for us, they were unloading the durians from the truck the moment we arrived so we were right on time.
We had four durians in total, starting with a D13 (Golden Bun), an XO and two Musang Kings (猫山王 or MSW). The durians here at SS2 are from Pahang, while most of the ones we get in Singapore are from Johor, due to the proximity. I realised that Pahang durians actually taste a bit different from the Johor ones. I think geography plays a part, like how Malaysian durians in general also taste different from Thai durians.
In terms of taste and texture, the D13 was closest to the durians we are used to eating in Singapore. It was sweet, and the texture was soft and slightly moist. The XO was bitter and sticky. The two MSWs were also sticky and not as sweet, quite different from the moist and smooth, butter-like texture of MSWs we are used to. IK explained that the sticky or dry texture indicates its freshness, because the flesh of durians will turn moist with time. It makes sense because of the time taken to transport the durians from Malaysia to Singapore.
Nevertheless, we were still happy with our durian fix. After the two rounds of feasting, we were very full. We left SS2 at 2:10pm and drove to our apartment in KL city centre, arriving 25 minutes later.
The apartment I booked was called Platinum Suites by THE FACE, located at 1020 Jalan Sultan Ismail, 50250 Kuala Lumpur. As it was not a hotel, there was no proper reception counter at the lobby so I had to call a number provided by booking.com to contact a staff member to meet us. He arrived about five minutes later and he looked to be of South Asian descent. We handed him the full amount in cash (RM2,040) and a refundable deposit of RM300, after which he issued us a handwritten receipt. On the receipt, it was stated that Eastern Suites at Platinum KLCC was managed by B&B Hospitality Services, so the company probably bought a few units in this property to lease them out for short-term stays, like Airbnb concept.
Once the check-in procedures were done, another staff member escorted us to our unit on the 39th floor. The apartment was very big, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The master bedroom was spacious and the attached bathroom was especially large. I took the smallest room, which looked like it was originally a study room of sorts, as there were no windows and it came with a sliding glass door instead of a regular wooden door. The living room had a nice view of KL Tower nearby and the new Merdeka 118 building further away. We were pretty satisfied overall as it was clean and comfy, good value for an apartment of this size and location.
After a quick shower, we headed out again at 3:45pm. IK and S took us to a café called Kenny Hills Bakers at Jalan Ampang. Kenny Hills Bakers started out in 2014 as a small bakery/café operating in a tiny 65 square metres space at Bukit Tunku. The founder intended for it to be a neighbourhood place for people to buy artisanal breads and takeaway coffee but it became so popular that it has since expanded to six outlets in Kuala Lumpur. The décor and feel was like a cross between our Tiong Bahru Bakery and PS Café in Singapore. It was evidently a popular place for the locals to hang out, especially on weekends.
There were no empty tables when we arrived at 3:55pm so we were put on the waiting list. While waiting, we went to look at the pastries and confectionery on display. Everything looked so good we had a hard time deciding what to eat. We got our table about 15 minutes later, and we ordered an assortment of pastries – blueberry lemon cake (RM18), Tiramisu cake (RM16), Nutella croissant (RM9), almond croissant (RM10) and a plain croissant (RM8). And coffee, of course (RM13 for my flat white).
I must say that everything we tried was good, but the Tiramisu took the cake (literally). Besides the usual layers of mascarpone, coffee cream, sponge and chocolate shavings, the cake was covered in caramelised almond and nuts, which gave it a crunchy finish that was unique and a masterful touch. My Nutella croissant was flaky and came with copious amounts of Nutella filling. I can see why Kenny Hills Bakers has become so popular and successful.
After our coffee break, it was time for the main event – the MUSE concert! At 4:52pm, WY and I took a Grab car to the concert venue, while mum and dad went to Suria KLCC mall for shopping. The Grab car ride took half an hour and the fare was RM24 (S$7.25).
At this point, I should mention that the concert venue had been changed from Bukit Kiara Equestrian Resort to Bukit Jalil National Stadium. On 1 June, the concert organisers announced that due to overwhelming response, they were moving the concert to a bigger and better venue. The tickets that we purchased earlier for Zone B were not affected by the change, but updated e-tickets were issued to us. I was actually happier because Bukit Jalil National Stadium is a better venue and it is much more accessible by public transport. However, not everyone was happy with the change.
Because Bukit Jalil is a proper stadium, new categories of seated zones were being introduced on 1 June. Some fans expressed displeasure because they originally wanted to buy seated tickets but they didn’t manage to get them due to the very limited number of seated tickets available at Bukit Kiara. Thus, they were forced to get standing tickets. However, with the venue switch, they were not allowed to change their earlier purchased standing tickets at Bukit Kiara for new seated ones at Bukit Jalil. I didn’t care because I wanted to remain in the standing Zone B, but the whole affair just reflected how disorganised the organisers were.
When we walked towards the main event area at around 5:30pm, we were greeted by a festival atmosphere outside Bukit Jalil National Stadium. There were rows and rows of vendors selling merchandise, food and drinks. Upon closer inspection, we saw that the merchandise on sale were all unofficial, or what we call, bootleg. Some of the T-shirts had the same designs as the official merchandise, but many others were created specially for the Malaysian show. The T-shirts were all going for RM50 (S$14.70) each, whereas the official ones were selling for RM160 (S$47), a huge price difference.
I was shocked at the scale and brazen sale of bootleg merchandise at the concert venue. It was not just one or two small vendors peddling on mats a distance from the venue, but they were right outside the venue and there were at least 40 vendors. Many were stalls occupying proper tents, which were leased from the concert organisers. I wondered if the MUSE management team was aware, and if so, why they still allowed it to continue. Concert merchandise is part of intellectual property rights, and obviously, having all these bootleg merchandise affects the sales of the official products. Nevertheless, the presence of the bootleg merch sellers created a very lively atmosphere as all the fans lapped them up. Almost everyone we saw wore a MUSE T-shirt.
We then went to redeem our wristbands, which were required for entry into the stadium. There was hardly a queue and we got our wristbands almost immediately.
I liked that the organisers put up huge banners and backdrops around the venue to promote the concert. These provided great photo ops for the fans. There long queues at each backdrop so we didn’t get our snaps done.
We then walked over to the Official Merchandise booth, and saw that there was also a long queue. Apparently, there were still fans who wanted the official merchandise and not bootleg stuff. I usually buy a tour T-shirt to commemorate the event, but having seen the numerous bootleg ones and the huge price difference, I didn’t feel like buying it anymore.
As it would be a long night ahead, I decided to get some food and water before entering the venue, even though I was still very full. I bought churros and a can of soya bean drink and wolfed them down. At about 6:25pm, we passed through a security check and entered the venue via Ramp 6. At the security checkpoint, we saw dozens of cigarettes, lighters and vapes left behind on the table, i.e. confiscated. These belonged to the people who were honest enough to self-declare, or foolish enough to keep them in their bags. Many others managed to smuggle these contraband items through because there was no X-Ray detector or physical pat-downs.
I felt excited the moment I stepped inside Bukit Jalil National Stadium. It was a beautiful stadium, with large canopies providing shelter for the seated areas. The stage at the far end was huge and it looked impressive. Squares of plastic grids were laid on the ground so we were not standing on grass. It was for sure a much better venue than Bukit Kiara Equestrian Resort.
As there was still an hour to go before the opening band took the stage, our Standing Zone B was still quite empty. Anyway, we just wanted to chill at the back so we were not in a hurry to go to the front and squeeze with the other fans. We went to use the toilet, which was at the other side of the stadium, a long walk away. At the stands, there was another official merchandise booth and it had a much shorter queue than the one outside. However, the queue for the food & drinks stall was super long. After using the toilet, we had to walk a long way back to Zone B.
We found a nice spot a comfortable distance away from the stage and crowd, and plonked ourselves on the ground. We chatted to pass time while the crowd slowly streamed in. At 7:30pm, the opening band, Kyoto Protocol appeared on stage and played a 30-minute set. After they finished, we waited eagerly for MUSE to come on at 8:30pm.
However, 8:30pm came and went without any sign of MUSE. I knew it was normal for bands to start around 15 minutes late, but the clock kept ticking and all we had was music coming out from the speakers. At 9pm, MUSE were still nowhere to be seen. There were no announcements and the crowd began to get restless. 9:15pm came, still no MUSE. I was starting to get thirsty but I was too lazy to walk all the way back to the food stand to get water. Finally, after an eternity, the lights dimmed at 9:25pm and the concert began!
I am not the type to check setlists of previous shows beforehand because I like to be surprised. But not surprisingly, MUSE opened the show with the title track of their new album. The upbeat track provided a rousing start to the concert. The energy did not let up as they launched into Hysteria, one of my favourite songs of theirs.
Throughout the 1½-hour show, the new album featured prominently, which was exactly what I wanted. They played five songs from Will Of The People, but sadly not the song I wanted to hear the most – Verona. They also played songs from their extensive catalogue, with at least one track from each album being represented, with the exception of Showbiz. This meant that they played Thought Contagion from Simulation Theory, my least favourite MUSE album. I could honestly do without that song.
A few days prior, the concert promoter revealed in an interview that MUSE’s management had proactively reached out to them and voluntarily decided to drop one song from their planned setlist in order to comply with Malaysia’s guidelines. This was in light of the controversy surrounding the cancellation of the Good Vibes Festival a week earlier due to The 1975’s antics on stage. I expected them to drop the song We Are F*cking F*cked, due to obvious reasons. Indeed, they did not play that song.
After the show, I compared the KL setlist with the setlists of their previous shows, and I realised that they played not just one, but five fewer songs at the KL concert. The songs that were dropped were Undisclosed Desires (argh!), Verona (argh!!), Map Of The Problematique (argh!!!), The Dark Side and We Are F*cking F*cked. I wonder if they dropped so many songs because they didn’t have enough time as they started the show late.
Before Kyoto Protocol performed at 7:30pm, a couple of hosts (DJs from the local radio station) were on stage to hype up the crowd. From what they said, it gave me the impression that MUSE were not at the venue yet. It was strange because it was less than 1½ hours to their stage time. The concert promoter issued a statement the day after the show to explain what caused the delay (see below pic). I am not sure the explanation is good enough, or whether it is just bad planning.
Nevertheless, despite all the hiccups, I still enjoyed their performance thoroughly, even though it was my fourth time watching them. The stage set up was impressive and the fire pyrotechnics added to the drama. I tried to watch them as much as I could, only whipping out my phone to record short clips of my favourite songs. But most of the time, I actually closed my eyes, listened to the music and head banged to the rhythm and the beats of the drums. It felt so cathartic and euphoric to fully immerse in the music. Nothing beats listening to one of your favourite acts performing live with the speakers on full blast, while being surrounded by 50,000 fans. It is an otherworldly experience that cannot be replicated. That’s why I love watching concerts.
When the concert ended at 11pm, we lingered for a short while before making our way out. We bought some water the moment we were outside the stadium as we were so thirsty. We then walked around to see if we could pick up any good bargains on the bootleg T-shirts. We thought that the vendors would reduce the price after the concert in order to clear their stocks, but no, they maintained their prices and the T-shirts were flying off the shelves. It seemed like everyone was even more hyped up after the concert and wanted to buy a T-shirt as a souvenir. I resisted the temptation, but WY bought one. In fact, the seller wanted to charge her RM60 because it was the last piece and everyone else was eyeing that particular design, but WY stuck to her guns and got it for RM50.
At about 11:50pm, we decided to grab some food because we were hungry too. We bought Taiwanese-style XXL fried chicken cutlet and cheese sausage, and a box of cempedak goreng. The chicken cutlet was hot and fresh, and it was so good.
We tried to book a GrabCar but of course, the demand was way higher than the supply so we didn’t manage to get one. We then decided to take the LRT instead, so we queued up to buy our tickets, and boarded the train left Bukit Jalil station at 12:10am. Our train terminated at Hang Tuah station.
We initially wanted to transfer to the Monorail to take us to Bukit Nanas station, which was near our apartment. But the Monorail frequency was 12 every minutes, and we were also very tired by then. So we got out of Hang Tuah station and booked a GrabCar. It was the correct decision because despite the late hour, the fare was only RM11 (S$3.32) for the 18-minute ride, and it brought us right to our doorstep. We reached our apartment at 1am, showered and went to bed. It was an exhausting day, but what a fulfilling one it was!
I’ve put together a short clip of highlights from the concert. Was too busy enjoying myself to film more songs, so this is as good as it gets. Enjoy!