From the point of accepting the headline slot, the band didn't wish for the the festivals to be part of the Resistance tour. After the band pondered how to differentiate the occasion, Matthew Bellamy recalled that it was the tenth anniversary of Origin of Symmetry's release, and suggested that the album be performed during the festivals.
This made these gigs a "must see" attraction for any Muse fan. Most songs from their sophomore album are never played live, and the chance to see those gems of songs was to irresistable.
The day of the first gig, at Leeds Festival, was a day dominated by poor weather conditions, and whether or not this would clear by the time Muse came to stage. Luckily, the support throughout the day was above average, with Friendly Fires and Elbow stealing the show during the day. Come the end of Elbows sub-healine set, the rain had long since quelled and the crowd at the Main Stage grew ever larger. At 9pm, the lights were turned out on the stage, and the crowd begin to cheer excitedly (as did my excitement levels).
"Whats he Building in there?" provided the most amazing, spooky and excitement trapping intro i have seen live, before the signature "New Born" piano kicks in, and the crowd erupts as the stage set up (incluidng the tuning forks from the album cover) is revealed. About a minute later, the shit really kicks off. The piano stops, Matt rises and the background screen on the stage changes to the artwork for Origin of Symmetry, as the crowd pops for Matt teasng them with his guitar. Cue the New Born riff, and an insane crowd.
Next up is arguably the most anticipated song from tonights gig, a real fan favourite - "Hyper Music". The song is refreshing having not been played since the Origins days, and has a new touch added, as Bassist Chris Wolstenholme sings the chorus. "Plug in Baby" lifts the entire crowd, as arguably Muse's most must see song for festival attendees sends the entire crowd insane. The back end of origin, unfortunately proves too much for some, as the crowd becomes restless, and less into the much longer back end which includes the wonderful "Citizen Erased", "Micro Cuts", "Screenager", "Darkshines", "Feeling good" and "Megalomania".
Then, the "Protestors" intro begins, and morphs into "Uprising", a real crowd pleaser, and the beginning of a "greatest hits" type second half. "Supermassive Black Hole" is as popular as ever, and "Hysteria" complete with Back in Black as an outro riff is that powerful that it actually cuts the sound from the Main Stage for a few seconds. Cue "Time is Running Out", which gets the whole crowd jumping for the sky, before "Helsinki Jam" provides some rest for us. Next, quite shockingly for me, they played "Undisclosed Desires", which got a few groans from the crowd, although it was accompanied with some really amazing Purple lasers, and an amazing screen in the background (below).
Muse tend to do things on a pretty big and over-the-top scale, and that evening was no exception. By far the best gig/festival i have attended, and a performance that might never be topped for me.
Hopefully Muse will endeavour to play more Origin tracks, during the next tour.
- Whats he Building in There? + New Born
- Bliss (Extended)
- Space Dementia
- Hyper Music
- Plug in Baby
- Citizen Erased
- Micro Cuts
- Screenager
- Darkshines
- Feeling Good
Megalomania- Protestor Intro + Uprising
- Supermassive Black Hole
- Interlude + Hysteria + Back in Black
- House of the Rising Sun + Time is Running Out
- Helsinki Jam
- Undisclosed Desires
- Resistance
- Starlight
- Stockholm Syndrome
- Man with a Harmonica + Knights of Cydonia
No comments:
Post a Comment