Originally published by L.S. Media. September 4th 2010.
It seems that Muse can do no wrong. A sell out tour last year, the main headliners at the 40th anniversary of Glastonbury and now a three night extravaganza in England which kicked off in Manchester at the fabled home of Lancashire County Cricket Club.
For those arriving for the four o’ clock opening, the sight that would have beheld them would have had them gasping at the enormity of the stage, something very rarely undertaken outside of a Genesis or Pink Floyd gig. From outside the ground it looked as though the LCCC had started work on yet another media centre or a pavilion to match the best grounds in the world. It certainly left the crowd in no doubt why the three gigs were a week apart.
As shadows fell upon the pavilion end of the ground, the expectation from a capacity crowd of 65,000 grew to the point where it would have been the easy option to be disappointed and go home saying that they did their best but couldn’t quite deliver.
The guys that make up Muse though are made of sterner stuff and it is no wonder that many critics have made comparisons with some of the best bands to have ever come out of this country. They might not interact much verbally with the crowd but who needs to when you have such powerful music to talk on your behalf.
Matt Bellamy, Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard arrived on stage to a back drop of red flags and stirring anti-big brother/state paraphernalia that would have had George Orwell cheerfully nodding his head in wonder.
The Devonshire trio opened one of the best ever spectacles seen at Old Trafford with the electrifying Uprising and from the moment the first chords were struck they had the audience firmly in their collective grasp.
The band made the most of their time on stage and with epics such as Supermassive Black Hole from the 2006 album Black Holes and Revelations, the song that can be seen as kicking of the interest in the group, the incredible Time is Running Out and the sensual and evocative Undisclosed Desires being highlighted within the show, there wasn’t time to draw breath, from either the band or the crowd.
At this rate the name Muse will not just be bandied about as being one of the top all time bands but will become a bench mark for any aspiring musician wanting to reach the dizzy heights of superstardom.
Ian D. Hall