Queens of the Space Age | livemusic.fm

Matt Bellamy is a chronic show-off. No seriously he really is -  if he's not wailing like an operatic diva, he's doing Eddie Van Halen hammer-on solos, or playing a complicated sonata on the piano. Having said all that, there's no reason I shouldn't be worshipping both the brand of alternative, swirling atmospheric rock that Muse produce, or loving the egocentric and extrovert showboating of Matt Bellamy (or MB) himself. After all I'm a Hendrix fan and there was no bigger show-off in the guitar-world. 

But in all honesty I DON'T like either MB or Muse much -  "Showbiz" remains one of the few CDs I've ever taken back and got a refund from the record shop (prolly not before ripping "Sunburn" of course as duly instructed by the first ever Apple iTunes ad which featured that song and was in my opinion the only decent song on the whole CD!) With the exception of less than half-a-dozen songs over the last 10 years or so - I still think that there's a massive element of Emperor's new clothes about Muse and their music. It's just not that good if you ask me.

So it's even stranger that I ended up at THE gig of the year (according to some) - the sell-out Muse concert at Wembley. I guess for once "Gig" seems an inappropriate term, maybe "Opera" would have been more accurate a description! I have to admit I had free tickets from LMFM otherwise I doubt I would have gone. But to be fair I'm glad I did - if only to see what all the fuss was about. I'd heard that they put on a fantastic show and there was much talk of the silver 'blimp' UFO that had been banned from Tea in the Park and Glastonbury this year, but was rumoured to be making an appearance tonight at Wembley. Having never been to Wembley before 2010, this was the THIRD time I'd been this year and I was quite interested how different the vibe would be for a rock concert as opposed to an FA Cup final.

I missed the first two support acts but caught Lily Allen, who made a brave effort, but ultimately seemed more under a contractual obligation to play the warm up set, rather than any real desire to support Muse or play Wembley.

After a ludicrously camp and rather cheesy stage invasion by a sort of Orwellian-mob (complete with neo-fascists flags) MB & Co appeared on stage and launched into a gusty rendition of "Uprising".  MB himself was resplendent in a silver lamé space-suit which was a close-match in the tasteless stakes to the truly unspeakable double-headed guitar (which thankfully made only one other appearance!) I'm reliably informed this is a handmade "Casinocaster" Manson for those who want one - frankly i wouldn't play one if you paid me … but then again 70,000 people had indeed paid a good wedge to see MB play his I suppose!

As the band went straight into the impressive "Supermassive Blackhole" I was struck by the whole aspect of the 'show'. There is no doubting that MB is a virtuoso performer - but what the whole band really really understand is the concept of  a 'performance' … Maybe it was no small coincidence that their first album was called "Showbiz". They also have clearly learned what only a few bands before them - such as Queen or U2  - have learnt;  that the crowd love a show. And the crowd will pay handsomely for the experience.  That explained the broad cross-section of people at the gig itself that spanned ages, social demographics and musical tribes. By the time MB had sat down to his piano and was bashing out the intricate tocata of "Newborn" most of the crowd were spellbound  - the amazing starship-of-a-stage, the mosaic of video-screens in the side of the starship, the incredible lighting towers, the smoke and pyrotechnics had all worked their magic.

Except on me. I felt like I was watching from outside and as tens of thousands of tiny pink-white arms thrust up into the air and beat time to the music, it was an incredible sight - but personally  I felt somewhat disassociated from the music. Even MB's no doubt impressive use of his techno-guitars  producing the frankly amazing sounds that punctuate his spectacular guitar solos … all sounded a bit samey after a while.

Worse was to come though … I have an aversion to MB's operatic falsetto at the best of times. But coupled with an extended grandstand performance on the grand piano and I was ready to leave. To be honest I'm not sure why I didn't … but at some point the the silver peacock seemed to settle down and went into a frankly beautiful rendition of 'Feeling Good' - a song made famous by Nina Simone amongst others. I had to admit that was pretty good and it kept me in my seat. Even during some ludicrous kettle-drumming and more hideous guitar showmanship and overdriven-bass nonsense as the trio were transported into the midst of the crowd on a levitating spaceship! It all looked fantastic but most of the music in all honesty felt like … padding.

Maybe by this time though I was getting used to it … and when MB went down the catwalk for another extended OTT guitar performance, ending in a strutting delivery of AC/DC's "Back In Black" I have to admit I was actually enjoying his antics a bit.  I even thought they might go into an awesome Hendrix medley at one point ... but they actually followed with "House of the Rising Sun" which was sung mostly (badly!) by the crowd. However, I had to admit that the ambience and general crowd feeling had gone up a notch or two ...  and so by the time the classic "Time is Running Out"  was pumped out of the impressive Wembely sound-system ... I think most people were thoroughly in 'the zone'. Even me.

The encore of  the acoustic "Soldier's Poem" followed by 70,000 people waving lighters and mobile phone screens was actually breathtaking and would have taken some beating. That is, unless you have a 40ft diameter silver UFO to float from behind stage and then drop a silver-suited astronaut-cum-trapeze artist from the ballon and walk it into the middle of 20,000 or so people in the crowd in front of the stage. That will beat it every time. I have to say it was right over my head at one point and it was just fucking awesome! The second encore, consisting of easily their best song IMHO  "Plug In Baby" was by then just the icing on the cake.

On the way home I was struck by the experience of the gig and I reckon, leaving aside truly horrendous space guitars, ridiculous silver-lame Liberace suits and the levitating platform, it was definitely something worth seeing. It was the best show bar none I have ever seen put on by a rock band. They clearly knew their business and like Queen before them - who they shamelessly follow into this arena of rock opera - they are amazing crowd-pleasers. But one thing remains - it was the best show I'd been to, but NOT the best gig. The music still needs to be at the heart of a great gig in my opinion - and even though Queen or even U2 these days are not necessarily my cup of tea, I'd have to admit they'd have at least a dozen or more absolute classic tracks to draw on. Muse by reckoning have only a handful of real classics and I don't think they have quite earned the deification that many seem ready to heap on them … yet.

So, in summary: 

GREAT SHOW. GREAT SHOWMEN. NOT THAT MANY GREAT SONGS.

Photo by FlipFlopPip  from Flickr