Muse @ Wembley Stadium 17th June 2007
Supports: My Chemical Romance, Biffy Clyro & Shy Child

With the biggest headline shows of their career, Muse are surely one of the most popular bands in the UK right now.  With 4 albums and countless EPs and live CDs circling the market their music is varied, unique and indefinable.  But one thing is for sure – they are one of the best live after in the world and with the back up to prove it.

When you first enter Wembley Stadium the first thing that strikes you is the immense size of the venue – there is truly no sight quite like it.  But it is the moment that you turn your head that inch more and catch sight of the stage at the end of the pitch that you truly know you’ve arrived to see Muse live.  The stage is large enough in itself but it is covered by large satellites with lights beaming from the centre.  Large screens cover the back of the stage – readying themselves for the images and designs that will be projects from them later in the night.  Large white bulbs are situated behind the stage in the area which no one can sit. 

At the crowd pull into the stadium it is not yet full as Zane Lowe begins his DJ set – he is the be on between all acts that night.  He pulls out a medley of hits out and mixes them together, causing many sing-alongs as he goes throughout the night – truly keeping the energy of the crowd going.

Shy Child are the first band to grace the stage.  A two piece electric inspired band from New York they pound out songs for a 45 minute set.  The singer’s fingers work quickly on his keytar (a keyboard which is held like a guitar) pulling out a different sound to any of the other bands tonight.  The bass from the drummer you can feel throbbing through your body as they play.  While the band are inspired and different they seem out of place.  A cross of Klaxons and Death From Above 1979 the formula should work on paper but their sound doesn’t seem to fill the stadium and one can only assume that they would be much better if seen on a smaller stage.

“Mon the Biffy!” Is the introduction Zane Lowe give the next act to grace the stage – a call all too well known to fans of the band.  Biffy Clyro are a band who are in their own right amazing live.  A support slot for Muse seems perfect for the night.  Two bands that are amazing on CD and even better live.  Energy radiates from this band as they perform.  Hair flailing everywhere from the guitarist & bassist while the drummer seems slightly out of place with his shaved head, but it all fits together.  They play almost flawlessly and the crowd go wild for them and are by far received as the most popular support act of the night.

The next band onto the stage are My Chemical Romance.  It is most likely that they are their due to Muse repaying them for the tour they did together in America this year.  They have the most mixed response of the evening.  With both cheers and boos calling out from the crowd as they play through their set they seem unfazed.  This is quite predictable after being bottled at both Download festival only the weekend before and Reading and Leeds festivals in 2006.  But those in the crowd who are fans of the band are singing their hearts out.  My Chemical Romance put on the best show they can to a crowd who do not fully want them there and it’s obvious that if you really want to see this band live that you should see them at one of their headline shows.

It’s nearing 8 pm and the crowd begins to grow restless.  You can see people taking out phones and checking watches for the time as they wait for the headline band to come on stage.  With all waiting for Muse to run onto the stage from the side music begins to play a smoke erupts from a small stage down the runway to the main stage.  Matt Bellamy, Dom Howard and Chris Wolstenholme are rising up from below this tiny stage as smoke and confetti raise into the air.  They strut down the walkway as the music plays and pick up their instruments.  The recognisable sound of horses galloping can be heard in the background and the crowd goes wild as Muse launch into their 6 minute epic single Knights of Cydonia.  The song is greeted with a crowd of adrenaline pumped fans as they begin to jump for the song, arms pumped into the air, singing where there are lyrics in this song.  The screen behind the band flashes with the lyrics to the most notable part of the song “No one’s gonna take me alive, the time as come to make things right.  You and I must fight for our rights, you and I must fight to survive.”  The sound echoes through as the 75,000 in the sell out crowd sing along before head banging to the immense riff that follows.

The next two songs are crowd pleasers Hysteria, Supermassive Black Hole and Map of The Problematique.  All are guitar heavy songs that cause the crowd to go into overdrive.  Someone watching from above might see a wave of people moving in time as the fans jump in time to the beat of the songs.  But the next song to be played is a surprise and one which many do not know.  A surprise from Hullabaloo and the Random 1-8 EP, Forced In is a song which gets shocked fans a chance to sing along and be calm for the first point in the set.  The song seems to be a set of incomprehensible moans into the microphone from Bellamy, coupled with melodic tones from his band mates.  While the song isn’t the most well received song in their set, many of the more hardcore fans are pleased with the choice of song and are pleased to hear it included.

As the set progresses the crowd get more and more worked up, and when Bellamy’s grand piano is brought into focus the next few songs are based around this instrument.  The first of these is their cover of Feeling Good, originally by Nina Simone, is another that instils a large sing-along from the crowd.  The background behind them is covered with pictures of flowers exploding like fireworks and is an image which sticks as beautiful and powerful.  This piano based part of the set progresses and darkness begins to envelop the sky above the crowd.

The grace and precision of Invincible and Starlight are next to be played on the stage followed by the 2 songs which close this part of the set.  Time Is Running Out has always been a song the crowd knows well is argued to be their most famous.  A song known by most people it will always be a song that can get any crowd off of their feet which seems to be what happens here.  New Born is a pounding song that starts off simply on the piano but the fans can see the guitar slung around his back and can see what will happen.  As the introduction to the song ends, Bellamy swings his guitar round and begins to play around with the distortion as he has loved to do so many times over the set before launching into the final song of the majority of the set.

Muse are waiting in the wings, drying off and getting a drink of water before running back out onto the stage to play through their first encore.  Bellamy runs back onto the stage with his acoustic and plays through the melodic Soldier’s Poem on the part of the stage before the runway.  The next song is the classic Unintended from their Showbiz album.  Another acoustic, Bellamy is still alone, playing a song which seems to have brought a slight tear to one or two fans in the crowd as it is a song they rarely play on tour anymore.

The next song is Blackout and Bellamy is rejoined on stage by Howard and Wolstenholme.  The song begins normally but before the lyrics have even begun the heads of those in the crowd have begun to turn.  Two of the large bulbs from behind the stage have begun to rise into the air.  Suspended below are two gymnasts.  They move in perfect synchronisation through the song and for perhaps the only time in the set, no one is looking at the band.  Dressed in white they move gracefully and are awe inspiring as they float above the crowd.  As the song draws to a close them are pulled back to the ground and the next treat for the crowd is given.

The last song of this encore is Bliss.  Anyone who has been to a Muse show before and seen Bliss live knows what is about to come.  As Bellamy begins to play guitar large white balloons filled with confetti are thrown onto the crowd.  Bouncing from person to person, the crowd face a desperate attempt to touch the balloon before the inevitable burst and the balloons move to be what seems in time with the music, but every time the balloon is touched is becomes weaker and eventually they burst, letting large pieces of red and white confetti fall over the people below.  The band once again retreat to the side of the stage to cool down before they play the last few songs of their set.

Distortion reels past their ears of the keen fans and it seems obvious the song which is coming next.  The crowd begin to sing the sound of the riff as Bellamy plays it.  Plug In Baby is surely a classic, memorable and simple the song is the first of their second and final encore.  Another song which seems to lift the feet of the fans off the floor and then Stockholm Syndrome is played another of the same type.  These two songs leave the crowd with little breathe left.  And while it is obvious that the night doesn’t seem to want to end the fact that is drawing to a close is also a sense of relief for the fans who feel near to collapse.  So when the final song of the night, Take A Bow, begins you can hear the final burst of energy explode from the crowd.  An amazing maze of green designs and patterns flash over the screen for this song as everyone goes crazy.  Pyrotechnics go off as their finish and smoke flows from the stage into the crowd as it finishes.

The shows has been spectacular.  One which will stay in the memory of their fans forever.  A show such as this is truly a once in a lifetime experience.  There’s no doubt about it, Muse were made to play a venue this size.  Muse are indeed invincible.