After an alarming tour bus fire, MUNA puts on a spectacular final show of the North American leg of its tour.

Two days before their show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, MUNA’s tour bus caught fire.

While the cause is still under investigation, the Los Angeles Times reported that the fire broke out on southbound Interstate 5 in Burbank, California, hours after the band’s performance at Frost Amphitheater.

In an Instagram post, MUNA stated that “many personal items were lost but we’re all safe, thank goodness.”

Despite the stressful situation, MUNA made it to the final show of the North American leg of their Gets So Hot Tour at Red Rocks on Oct. 21.

Midway through their set, the band took a moment to acknowledge the fear and uncertainty of the past few days.

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“I’m really glad we didn’t die because I’m really not done,” said lead singer Katie Gavin as the trio teared up.

“You guys surround us with love and hope and safety,” added guitarist Josette Maskin.

Gavin, Maskin and guitarist Naomi McPherson first met at the University of Southern California in 2013. Now they’re an influential sapphic alt-pop group tackling romance and political activism.

In May, MUNA released “Dancing on the Wall,” their first album in four years. The band is known for dreamy queer hits like “Silk Chiffon,” but this album digs deeper into topics like what the band describes as genocide in Gaza and the wildfires in Los Angeles. It develops a darker sound with bumping synths and themes of reckoning with personal and international conflicts.

MUNA at Red Rocks Oct. 21. | Photo: Maddie Browning

It did, in fact, get so hot

A single red spotlight glowed on the stage before MUNA’s dance-pop track “It Gets So Hot” began. Huge screens flashed the word “HOT” as Gavin dramatically walked to center stage with her arms raised. She wore a leather trench coat that billowed in the wind as she moved.

“You ready to get hot, Red Rocks?” Gavin exclaimed. Lights strobed as the audience jumped to the beat.

“Hi babies! Oh my God, we’re so happy to be here tonight,” Gavin said.

On the catchy title track “Dancing on the Wall,” a silhouette of a naked Gavin danced on the screens, strutting across the ceiling and walls. Gavin twirled around the stage as Maskin rocked out on guitar and McPherson bounced across the keys.

Flashing red lights ushered in the angsty, sultry single “Wannabeher.” Maskin and McPherson shredded on guitar as Gavin stripped off her coat and straddled her mic stand in a mesh tank and mini shorts.

The band built electric energy with their dedication to their craft and their fans. Yellow and orange lights rushed across the stage like flames as the trio unleashed a stunning three-part harmony on “Mary Jane.”

“This next song is about being a simp,” Gavin explained before launching into “On Call,” a sweet track about being there for someone’s every need. Gavin grinded against Maskin, causing gay panic across the venue.

Standing up for humanity

“If you know us, you already know this, but fuck Trump, fuck ICE, free Palestine,” McPherson declared as the audience cheered.

The band performed their protest song “Big Stick,” which calls out what they describe as injustices across the U.S. and the globe, from corruption in the U.S. military to unjust procedures and inhumane conditions at a Louisiana facility run by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Lights flashed in the colors of the Palestinian flag as Gavin sang, “We give kids in Palestine PTSD/But we’ll never fucking ever give them something to eat.”

Gavin waved a small mic stand in the air as her big stick, a reference to President Theodore Roosevelt’s imperialistic policy.

MUNA dedicated “Kind of Girl” from their 2022 self-titled album to their trans fans. “We love you,” Gavin said. “We’re so proud of you.” McPherson added that Colorado statewide ballot measures Propositions 134 and 135, which she said target trans youth, are “fucked up.”

Flashlights popped up across the crowd as the band played an acoustic version of the tender song about working to love yourself.

Red Rocks turned into an intimate queer club for “What I Want” and “Number One Fan” as audience members jumped around, danced and screamed the lyrics.

Gavin brought out her baby niece, Claire, to deliver an inflatable horse to pass around the audience for “Anything but Me” — a reference to the lyric, “You’re gonna say that I’m on a high horse/I think that my horse is regular-sized.”

In the cutest set of headphones, the baby looked around with wide eyes before being taken offstage. “Do you think that was traumatizing?” Gavin asked, as her bandmates joked about the baby later recalling only pieces of the memory.

The audience could feel MUNA’s deep admiration for their team on tour. Maskin attempted to freestyle rap a dedication to every person who helped with the tour. It was chaotic, but still charming.

“We’re happy we have silly gay songs to sing with you like ‘Silk Chiffon,'” Gavin said before the band closed out the night with their bubblegum pop banger. They brought out opener hemlocke springs for the second verse, joyfully living in the sapphic dreamland after the heaviness of the past few days.