Muse have never been big on subtlety. Right from the opening track of their debut album — piano bombast, intergalactic guitar solo, that falsetto — they’ve clearly believed more is more. The same goes for their live shows. Since reaching venues massive enough to contain their songs, the trio have at various times treated audiences to: trapeze artists suspended from balloons, a three-metre tall robot patrolling the stage, 16 autonomous inflatable drones circling above, and a huge skeletal android (think Iron Maiden’s Eddie, but much, much bigger).
In short, Muse are the perfect band to fill a place as massive as Milton Keynes Bowl, a natural amphitheatre that holds 65,000 people. And they’ve brought their newest toys (and songs) along for the occasion.
Most impressive are the giant (of course) rotating head and glove of “Will The Hacker”, one of the hooded, mirror mask-wearing freedom fighters integral to the current album campaign’s imagery. Of course, spotlights are embedded in the glove. And the mask turns out to be an LED display, used to show various faces or complement the eye-popping visuals on the screens to both sides of the stage.
That stage isn’t standard issue either, from the suspended, moving mirrored panels/lighting strips to the transparent floor (because you can never have too much illumination). Obviously there are cameras everywhere, including above the band and floating around them on the B stage at the end of the long ramp. And don’t forget about the streamers, so much confetti that some is still swirling around after five minutes, and enough pyro to keep Satan warm.
Visually there’s clearly a lot going on. But, as always, Muse have put much thought into tying it all together. This time it’s through the themes and iconography of latest LP Will Of The People and its loose narrative of a group of rebels undermining demonic-looking overlords. So the band open the show with the stomping title track while wearing the mirror masks of the resistance. The uprising’s WOTP logo burns in the background. And, as if Will’s mammoth head wasn’t enough of a reminder, that mask and logo recur throughout the frequent interstitial videos that add to the continuity of this two-hour spectacle.
Vitally, Muse can back up that spectacle with oversized performances of their juggernaut songs. The staples are well represented. Hysteria elicits roars as soon as Chris Wolstenholme begins playing that dirty bassline; Matt Bellamy demanding “I want it now” is drowned out by the singing crowd. Resistance remains the perfect distillation of Muse in six minutes — from ambient piano interludes (played by touring multi-instrumentalist Dan Lancaster) and Dom Howard’s rolling fills to the all-out guitar-bass-drums-vocals histrionics (all supported by Wolstenholme’s underrated backing vocals). Almost 20 years on, Time Is Running Out is always urgent, anxious, and surprisingly groovy.
Supermassive Black Hole seems to sound bigger on each successive tour, although the same can be said of the all-out rocker Plug In Baby. Uprising transforms a military march into an aerobics workout. Madness (the only track in the Muse catalogue to pair an R&B groove with a short Prince-like guitar outburst) and the effervescent Undisclosed Desires are still some of the best examples of the band’s quiet(er) side. As the sun begins to set, Starlight dazzles, especially during the bridge before that quiet “High hopes and expectations, Black holes and revelations” bit. And, with its traditional Wolstenholme harmonica intro intact, the ever-galloping Knights Of Cydonia returns to its rightful spot at the end of the show.
The new songs hold their own and, with Bellamy describing Will Of The People as “a greatest hits album – of new songs”, slip in comfortably alongside the actual greatest hits. Verona, all synths and chiming guitars, is a ballad that ranks amongst their best. Even with its church organ riff and Brian May-style solo, You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween is one of the funkiest things they’ve ever done. Electro anthem Compliance is so insanely bouncy that, without a hint of irony, the band easily get the audience to clap along en masse. The no-nonsense We Are Fucking Fucked is easily the catchiest, danciest, singalong-est account of humanity’s fate. Won’t Stand Down doesn’t stop at mashing up calypso and EDM vibes; it bursts into some of Bellamy’s heaviest riffs (that he clearly relishes playing today). And another oversized riff-fest, Kill Or Be Killed, is strong enough to feature in the encore as a different gigantic character (“Baph”, the horned villain of the piece) arrives on stage.
Through all this visual and auditory overstimulation, the three friends in the eye of the sensory storm are clearly still connected to the music and each other. Often they’ll start or finish songs huddled around the drum kit as if they’re in some small rehearsal space instead of Milton Keynes Bowl. Sometimes they’ll even share excited grins, as if to say “Can you actually believe this is happening?”
It’s no different for either support act. The Warning, comprising the Villarreal Vélez sisters who range in age from 18 to 23, look and sound absolutely thrilled to be here as they fly through their hard rock repertoire. Singer-guitarist Dany is effusive during and between songs, complementing her vocals with some equally powerful playing, especially on opener Z, their take on Metallica’s Enter Sandman, and Money (performed on a bright yellow guitar gifted by Bellamy). Low-key bass player Ale plays as well as she poses (which is very well). And drummer/singer Pau is the bonafide cheerleader, driving the music as enthusiastically as she urges the crowd to participate.
Royal Blood’s drummer Ben Thatcher takes on a similar role. In a duo, where one is stuck behind a kit and the other (Mike Kerr) mostly planted at the microphone, it’s not particularly easy to fill a stage or connect with an audience. (Admittedly, it is easier when the audience knows what rock music is.) So Thatcher takes every opportunity to stand up, point his sticks at the crowd, cup his ears, and make other universal “cheer louder” gestures. He even takes a walk to the sides of the stage while Kerr uses his bass guitar and a multitude of pedals to alternate between laying down a groove and playing bulldozer riffs. Those riffs are plentiful in their hits-heavy set that spans all the way from the debut album (including rat-a-tat opener Out Of The Black and churning closer Figure It Out) to the forthcoming Back To The Water Below (lead single Mountains At Midnight is given a vigorous outing).
But this is very much Muse’s show. And they deliver on all counts. Well, almost. On this Glastonbury weekend, the only thing missing from their everything and the kitchen sink approach is a guest appearance by Dave Grohl.
Muse
The National Bowl, Milton Keynes
25th June 2023
Photo: Paul Grace
- This article originally appeared on Louder Than War.
Nils van der Linden 