Photo: Kylie Keene

Attendance at the Riverstage swells rapidly for this sold-out show as New Zealand’s The Checks occupy the vast stage. Unfortunately they’re bland and derivative in every possible way, even so far as using the “This one’s for the ladies…” line and “Everyone get ready for Muse! Whoo!”-type banter. It’s unimaginative rock & roll, sometimes sounding like Jet, sometimes sounding like Kings Of Leon-lite, but never sounding particularly interesting. A shame, really.

I’m particularly enjoying a song by The Knife on the PA when it’s cut off and replaced by three scrawny British men and some wailing, spacey guitar, aka Muse. It has to be said, the production values for this show are through the roof. Everything that could possibly light up does, including Matt Bellamy’s guitar and piano. There are about five large screens that show both footage of the band and fancy video loops catered to each track. It’s an extremely fan-friendly set, with virtually every Muse hit of all time squeezed into the two hours and the crowd laps it up accordingly. At one stage large balloon-like balls of confetti are launched over the crowd but nobody offers any mercy to their soft, vulnerable underbellies and they perish.

Take A Bow opens the set with lunar guitar squiggles and Bellamy’s impressive falsetto. Next up Bellamy jumps on the piano for the introduction of New Born before the memorable guitar riff and even better bass line kicks in. The band is clearly at home in this setting, and the combination of big riffs and big drums make them feel like Rage Against The Machine… in space! Ruled By Secrecy and Time Is Running Out make appearances together with a strong rendition of Butterflies & Hurricanes, the piano break in the middle giving Bellamy a chance to show off his prowess on the keys. Smoke machines shoot up thick pillars of white at the climax and it’s all very ooh and aah. The two most boring tracks from Black Holes & Revelations – Soldier’s Poem and Invincible, are unfortunately just as boring live – Muse are good at space opera rock, not space opera balladry.

Supermassive Black Hole delivers its strange but effective combination of sleazy disco pop falsetto and chugging bass riff. On several occasions Muse stretch out with brief instrumental jams between tracks; some are familiar snippets of b-sides and some comedic little circus tunes. Stockholm Syndrome closes the regular set with finesse but everybody knows there is more to come. Muse pop out once again shortly after with the highly energetic Plug-In Baby. Finally they bust out the track that went off at Big Day Out at the start of this year – proggy epic Knights Of Cydonia – and the magical smoke pillars appear once more. Yay!

As the smoke clears and Bellamy’s guitar makes its last galactic echo, a very happy bunch of Muse fans head home from what has been a quite solid, if somewhat predictable set.

MICHAEL PINCOTT

Comments (6)

Write Comment
Comments are submitted for possible publication on the condition that they may be edited. Poster's IP addresses are logged.
Name:
Comment:
Code:*