Muse: Concert Review

To round off a good time for concerts in this country, Muse once again arrived to a huge crowd of loyal fanatics.

While it is hard to look beyond the finely tuned live act that is Muse themselves, the support bands of Glasvegas and Kasabian are noteworthy. Unfortunately, the rabid Muse fans seemed to decry the efforts of Glasvegas who played a good set that was ultimately not suited to the bill. Conversely, the more Muse friendly riff based music of Kasabian may have been a more appropriate appetiser, but was flat in delivery.

These bands obviously had their supporters, many of whom asked me which band I was there to see. I personally found this to be a ludicrous question and I was confirmed in this opinion when Muse took the stage. They tore through an excellent set of sharp, confident space rock with Matthew Belamy's guitar and piano work showing his amazing musical competence. Chris and Dom also maintained their phenomenal skill throughout the concert. The only real criticism that can be leveled at the band was their lack of new material and an obvious set list.

However, Muse are anything but tedious. Any problem with predictability was completely eradicated by the absolutely epic stage show. The stage was adorned with space-age satellite dishes and huge screens and along with this an enormous array of lighting shot out into the night sky. This equipment was used in perfect symphony with each song played, the result of which was a truly awe-inspiring combination of audio and visual.

I was surprised by a taxi driver who asked me if Muse were a band. The answer certainly wasn't in doubt on Wednesday: Muse are no band, they're an unstoppable force.

-The English Student