Elzara T.

I started listening to Muse at 18, in Uzbekistan, where music was not easy to come by and we passed it around between friends. When you only ever hear a band through headphones, they stay a little unreal. So the idea that we were about to meet them was hard to take in. Waiting outside their room at the Hollywood Bowl, I had goosebumps. Then they came out one after another and I was so nervous I did not know where to begin. They made it easy. All three were warm, and hugged me hello, and the nerves were gone within a minute. After that I just wanted to soak in every second of it. I told Matt where I had started listening, that the first album I discovered was Origin of Symmetry, and that the 18 year old version of me was freaking out. I had brought them Uzbek ikat scarves, as a thank you and as a reminder that they have fans in Uzbekistan and across Central Asia, where they have never played. Dom put his on straight away, which I have not stopped smiling about. Matt said he would keep his. We had expected a line of people and a quick photo. It was just the two of us. My husband Nodir was there, whose own first big concert was Muse thirteen years ago, and he was as stunned as I was. And then the show itself. It was the last night of the US run, and the Bowl is a beautiful place to see anyone. They played so many of the songs I love! What I could not get over was that earlier that evening I just met them, and now they were up there being Muse. I do not think I stopped smiling all night. Receiving the guitar on top of all of it is surreal. I look forward to hanging it on our wall as a reminder of this wonderful day. One of the best!