Monday, 8 December, 2003 16:30
Muse - review |
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| Matthew
Bellamy |
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Thousands
crammed into Bournemouth International Centre when Muse stopped by
on their Absolution Tour.
BBC Southampton's Simon Marks was there. |
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There wasn't any doubt about the reception Muse
received in Bournemouth. The capacity crowd surged forwards and screamed
even louder than the band as Matthew Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme and
Dominic Howard stepped out.
For the first few minutes the trio stayed partly hidden behind their
metallic stage set. Standing on podiums and lit from behind, we could
see only their outlines.
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| Giant
balloons |
Then, as if to say "ok, it's started",
Matthew leapt out from his keyboard "pod", picked up his
guitar and paced along the front edge of the stage.
Suddenly the lights came on, three giant video screens dropped from
theceiling
and Muse launched into 90 minutes of pure entertainment.
Alternating
between blistering heavy-rock guitar and euphoric keyboard-driven
melodies, Muse are often compared to Coldplay and Radiohead. There
is a similarity, true, but Muse stood firm in their own right.
They sounded great - even though the sound system was struggling -
and all three performed brilliantly, but the man of the moment was
Matthew. Equally at home with keyboard or guitar, his considerable
talent is obviously the life blood of the band.
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Matthew
Bellamy
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We
heard most of the singles, and the crowd bounced about in gratitude
to all of them, going particularly mad for
Time Is Running Out.
The show was carefully organised to evolve as the songs went by. First
we went on a journey through space, then a pair of enormous blowers
literally filled the room with confetti.
Towards the end, dozens of giant
balloons dropped into the hall, where they crowd surfed until they
burst.
I'd gone to the gig with a friend, who's a few years older than me.
He went to the first ever Glastonbury and once sat next to Brian May
at a Led Zeppelin concert. He thought Muse rocked. Next to us were
a group of teenagers, and they thought so too.
Top stuff. Radiohead and Coldplay both at once, still wouldn't be
Muse.
What did you
think of Muse? Have your say on our Music Messageboard.
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BBC Southampton Website
Broadcasting House,
Havelock Road,
Southampton
SO14 7PU
(+44) 023 80 374370/1/2
southampton@bbc.co.uk
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