Muse

I had never been to Detroit before.   I didn't do much research before I got there since the primary purpose of my trip was to see Muse.  I made the drive in like three and a half hours and stayed at the Doubletree downtown.  There is nothing to brag about as far as the room goes,  but it seemed as the hotel was an excellent value.  It was within walking distance of the Joe Louis Arena where the concert.  Whenever I am planning on going to sporting events or concerts I usually try to get a hotel within walking distance of the venue, so I can save on parking.  In this case it worked to my detriment since parking was pretty cheap almost everywhere.  Still I liked the security that the valet parking of the hotel offered.

When I visit a new place, I go through three different apps/websites in order to find what I want to eat.  First I look on TV Food Maps.  It is a well organized website that shows you pretty much all of the restaurants that have been featured on TV.  The next is Yelp, I usually comb through Yelp reviews unless I am set on a place reading a few positive reviews as well as a few negative reviews.  The last is Open Table which I obviously use to make reservations but sometimes I use it as my primary means of browsing nearby restaurants. 

I didn't get much time to explore the city, but it seemed to me as I looked for something to eat before the show, that Detroit suffers from the problems that having a casino central to a big city causes.  I abhor the idea of having a casino in a big city, but as I looked through the yelp reviews it seemed as though the higher rated places nearby, were also in the casino.  I had a cold and mostly lost walk over to the MGM Grand, only to not be able to find the restaurant I was planning on dining at.  I ended up settling for Wolfgang Puck Pizzeria and Cucina.

The design of Wolfgang Puck is nice, that is after you get past the choking on cigarette smoke on the way to the restaurant.  I hate smoking indoors and walking through the casino floor for a little bit just gave me another reason to hate casinos in big cities.  I was seated fairly quickly and the odd thing about the menu pricing was that the beer seemed pretty cheap, the food fairly overpriced and the service was subpar.  I had to ask for a drink menu.  My bread came out after the appetizer,  my drink came out alongside my main course.  Needless to say I think that nearly sixty dollars is way too much to pay for a small portion of kind of bland calamari,  an oversized pork chop that was cooked in some places and a little underdone in others, and tiramisu that was ruined for me with the overwhelming amount of chocolate powder on top.  Nothing was bad enough that I would want to send it back, but looking at the meal from a value standpoint, this meal didn’t even come close to living up to the prices. Ten dollar desserts and 30 dollar entrees (sides sold separately) should wow me.

Live at Muse Concert

Then there was Muse.  I made it to the concert in time to know that I wasn’t disappointed that I missed out on a  majority of the opening act.  I saw Muse once before at Lollapolooza, so I knew that they were a pretty awesome live band, this time they totally exceeded my expectations.    As the concert started and they preformed their first couple of songs and you see the smoke and lasers and stage light up, you’re impressed and are thinking that it is going to be a pretty good show.  When a pyramid of LCD screens comes down from the ceiling, you realize how epic of an experience it will be.

My ticket was $70 and I would have gladly paid that amount to just sit and watch the amazing light show.  Combine that with the great music and a Muse show has to be one of the best values concert wise I’ve been to in quite some time.  It’s one of those shows that I think you have to see in order to appreciate how great it was.  I can say now I’m a huge fan and I will be seeing them every opportunity I get.  The next time will be in London this summer.