Muse — The Wow! Signal Tour
Toyota Amphitheatre — Wheatland, California
August 26, 2026
Photography by: Josh Pierson Photography ©2026 | @joshpiersonphotofilm
Muse doesn’t really do ordinary concerts.
When the English trio brought The Wow! Signal tour to Toyota Amphitheatre on August 26, the goal wasn’t simply to play the hits. Muse has spent more than two decades turning its live shows into massive audiovisual productions, and the Wheatland stop was no different.
After sets from The Temper Trap and Portugal. The Man, Matt Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard took the stage and immediately reminded everyone why Muse remains such a force live.
“Hysteria” opened the assault, with Wolstenholme’s massive bass and Howard’s pounding drums providing the foundation for Bellamy’s guitar and electronic textures. For a three-piece, Muse creates an absurd amount of sound.
The set moved effortlessly between newer material and songs spanning the band’s career. “Cryogen,” “Hexagons” and “Unravelling” sat comfortably alongside staples like “Supermassive Black Hole,” “Map of the Problematique” and “Time Is Running Out.”
And when the classics arrived, the crowd took over.
“Plug In Baby” brought the energy of early-era Muse roaring back, while “Psycho” delivered one of the night’s heaviest moments. “Madness” provided a brief change of pace before “Uprising” turned the amphitheater into one giant chorus.
That’s one of Muse’s biggest strengths live. The band’s elaborate production is impressive, but it never completely overshadows the songs themselves.
“Knights of Cydonia” pushed the spectacle into full cinematic territory, while “Starlight” created one of the night’s biggest communal moments. Thousands of voices singing along somehow made an enormous amphitheater feel much smaller.
The final stretch leaned heavily into Muse’s electronic side with “The 2nd Law: Isolated System,” “Algorithm” and “Undisclosed Desires.”
Then came “Take a Bow.”
It’s difficult to imagine a more appropriate closer. The song slowly builds from an ominous atmosphere into a massive, chaotic finale, leaving the audience with the feeling that they had witnessed something considerably bigger than a standard rock concert.
And that’s really the point.
Muse doesn’t just play songs. They build an experience around them.
On a warm August night in Wheatland, three musicians turned a Northern California amphitheater into something somewhere between a rock show, a science-fiction transmission and a very loud reminder that Muse still knows how to put on one hell of a concert.
