Muse - London Islington Academy - 22/9/03
5/5
By: Andy Willson
Set-List: 'Hysteria', 'Thoughts Of A Dying Atheist', 'Bliss', 'Blackout', 'Citizen Erased', 'Butterflies & Hurricanes', 'Time Is Running Out', 'The Groove', 'Plug In Baby', 'Stockholm Syndrome', ENCORE, 'New Born', 'The Small Print'.
We've all been there before. Sitting in a dingy, drab public-house, chatting and jabbering away about anything and everything, yet the conversation always turns to music: who's the best live; who, frankly, should count up the royalties and hang up their guitars once and for all; who will be next to split up?
And, perhaps most notably - who are the most defining acts in the past forty years? You always get the usual suspects, but tempers begin to get flared as to whether Status Quo spawned The Darkness, and so on. But we will stick out our necks and tell you that Muse are deserved residents in that last category... Maybe not just quite yet, but - at some instance or other - the next ten years will be defiantly influenced by Matt Bellamy and co.
The setting for any such confirmation is an intimate Xfm show at the newly re-branded Islington Academy (RIP The Marquee, mk.2) and Muse omit a searing ray of sunshine to a dismal, rainy Monday evening. And today, historically, was the day they finally, thankfully let loose their 3rd official album - 'Absolution'.
Aptly, events kick off with the spiralling wizardry of 'Hysteria', just one of the standout tracks from the aforementioned LP. Dressed all in black (apart from Matt's near-psychedelic, netted top), the trio are greeted to a thunderous applause - an uproar only topped once the band have plugged in and initiated their set. And although his original school music-teacher will be wondering where it all went wrong, Bellamy is on captivating form, spinning and gurning on the spot, grappling his six-string and trashing his keys, all whilst coupled with bassist Chris Wolstenholme's eerie, distorted rumbles and drummer Dom's precision-angst... However, in true, prog-pomp style, the falsetto-vox emit more noise than the combined, counterpart-instruments.
For a frantic hour's set, they keep this riot ablaze, Muse managing to cram in as many tunes as possible. Sadly lacking, though, are the singles from debut-album 'Showbiz', but tonight is instead reserved for testing the water with new tracks and revamped old favourites. Of the former, top-ten hit 'Time Is Running Out' and 'Stockholm Syndrome' blister with a ferocious energy which has been patented by these boys, whilst 'Citizen Erased', 'Plug In Baby' and 'Bliss' intertwine seamlessly with freer-range, harder, latest material, prompting a predominant section of the crowd to begin jumping in unified, jubilant harmony.
When events adopt a slower pace as Matt strides to the keyboard and launches into 'Blackout', it goes some distance to prove that they are, resoundingly, no one-trick pony. Returning later for a rousing encore inclusive of a cerebral, screaming version of 'New Born', the band eventually close with 'The Small Print', another from 'Absolution', and we're slain.
Yet tonight has only been a small, condensed slice of what these Devon demons can muster, but if it has gone far enough to help extend their unique sound to further, untapped-into masses, than it's a job well crafted. And, heck, some of us in attendance could even be the future of alternative music - and as long as one person quotes Muse as a definitive influence, then we at rockfeedback can at least sleep happy - necks still fully intact.
Artists in this article: Muse
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