Muse- Emirates Stadium 26/5
Wow. It’s a widely held belief that Muse are one of the best
live acts around at the moment and after last night’s show I can totally
understand why. Not only was this my first Muse gig, but it was also my first
stadium concert. With that in mind, I was expecting something a bit special.
They didn’t disappoint. To say that that was one of the best gigs I have ever been
to would not be an exaggeration. They were phenomenal and totally lived up to
expectations. From start to finish they showed why they are one of the biggest
bands around at the moment.
Before Muse took to the stage however, there was support
from Manchester four-piece The 1975. I caught the majority of their set and
they were pretty good. They admitted themselves that it was the biggest venue
they had ever played, and even though it wasn’t at capacity while they were on,
they were generally well received by the crowd. Only being familiar with their
single ‘Chocolate’ myself, I was interested to hear what their other material
sounded like. Even though their songs all sounded fairly similar, they did a good
job considering they were the first band on at six in the evening. They
definitely made enough of an impression for me to look into downloading their
EP.
Next up was London rapper Dizzee Rascal. I was disappointed when
he was announced as the main support act as I thought a more established rock
artist would be a better choice. I have never been a Dizzee Rascal fan, in fact
I can’t stand him, but I went with an open mind thinking he might win me over with
his live act. He didn’t. And I wasn’t the only one. They were quite a few murmurs
of discontent, certainly around where I was standing. He was just the wrong act
for the wrong audience. The fact that when they showed the crowd on the big
screens and the first few rows were all static spoke volumes. A couple of his
biggest hits went down quite well, but generally there was a sense of relief
when his set finished. Not to worry though, because it just ramped up the anticipation
for the headline act.
Muse exploded onto the stage, quite literally, as a giant
pyrotechnic went off, taking me and everyone else nearby, by surprise. I was
no-where near the front, but being halfway back I was pretty close to the end
of the catwalk of the ‘B Stage’, which is where a huge flame shot up into the
air. Further pyrotechnics were attached to the top of the stage where, even
where I was, you could feel to heat strongly. Starting with the massive Bond
theme-esque ‘Supremacy’ from their latest album ‘The 2nd Law’, it
epitomised Muse’s exuberant sound and style. This was followed up with ‘Supermassive
Black Hole’ and current single ‘Panic Station’. It was during the latter that
cartoon avatars of various world leaders such as David Cameron, Barack Obama
and Vladimir Putin danced along to the music. It was just one of a number of
times where it became more of a spectacle than just your usual gig. 
After going through classics ‘Map of the Problematique’ and ‘Hysteria’,
it was during ‘Animals’ that the next part of the show took place. With a film
on the big screen showing a banker shouting into a camera, the character made
his way onto the stage. Still ranting to camera, he carried on down the catwalk
to the ‘B Stage’ where there an explosion and fake Muse money rained down on
the audience. During this, the banker character had a heart attack and died,
lying on stage covered in money. It was one of a number of political statements
made during the performance, but was all just part of the show. 
‘Knights of Cydonia’ followed which had everyone singing and
jumping as one. A piano was placed at the end of the ‘B Stage’ where Matt
Bellamy played ‘Sunburn’, one of their earliest hits. After a lull of a couple
of songs, it soon picked up again with the crowd pleaser ‘Feeling Good’. It was
during this that a female secretary type character came out onto the stage,
much in the same way as the banker did previously. She made her way down to the
end of the catwalk where an old style petrol pump had been placed. She then
proceeded to start drinking from the pump before drowning herself.
The set concluded with ‘Madness’ (with
Matt Bellamy wearing LCD glasses displaying the lyrics), ‘Time Is Running Out’
(with a ‘House of the Rising Sun’ intro) and Stockholm Syndrome. There was a
brief interlude before they re-emerged on the ‘B Stage’. During the performance
of ‘Blackout’, a giant light bulb floated across the arena, before a trapeze
artist popped out the bottom, wowing the crowd with an impressive performance
performed at quite a height above the stage. By now the sun had long since gone
down, which meant the atmosphere had greatly improved. During ‘Undisclosed
Desires’, Bellamy jumped down from the stage, with a camera in toe, and
wondered down the gangway interacting with the crowd, high fiving people and posing
for pictures. He even took a couple of flags, all while continuing the song. He
then walked under the B-Stage where we the bodies of the dead girl and banker
were lying in open coffins. 
The band then left the stage again
before coming out for an encore. They continued with the dubstep epic ‘The 2nd
Law: Unsustainable’ where Charles, a five metre tall robot, made an appearance on
stage. There was then the old air guitar favourite ‘Plug in Baby’, which got
the whole crowd bouncing, before finishing with ‘Survival’. They then
disappeared before emerging and finishing the night off superbly with big fan
favourites ‘Uprising’ and ‘Starlight’.
Even though they were fantastic
from start to finish, I couldn’t help but feel that by starting in daylight,
there was something missing. Once darkness fell however, the atmosphere was a
lot better. Even though there were a couple of lulls, there were more than
enough visual elements, such as the pyro and the big screens, to keep you
engaged in the performance. Critics may say that this detracts from the music,
but it’s all part of the show. When you go to a Muse gig, you know it’s going
to be an extravagant show and that’s what you’ve come to see. The music is just
part of that. There are enough old favourites to really get the crowd pumped, and
off the top of my head I can’t think of anything I would have added to the
setlist. Except maybe for ‘Resistance’.
Muse have been on my bucket list
of bands to see for a while now and I’m glad I’ve finally managed to tick them
off. They really were fantastic and more than lived up to the expectations I
had before the show. The one problem they have now is, working how to top it. I’m
sure they’ll find a way of doing it somehow.
Thanks for reading. Please feel free to comment and share.
No comments:
Post a Comment