MUSE - Wembley Stadium Review

Review - Muse - Wembley Stadium - 17th June 2007:

We got to Wembley at about 11:30am after a 2 hour journey from the South Coast.  That's when the queuing started.  The walk from Wembley Park tube station down Wembley Way to the new Wembley stadium was spectacular. 

The Wembley staff were helpful in keeping everyone informed and we found out at about 12pm that we would be guaranteed to get into the Golden Circle at the front of the general standing area.

After sitting around wondering if it was going to rain or trying to stay out of the burning sun (when it was out) everyone got up at about 1.30pm in anticipation of the doors opening at 2.15pm.

The wait for the doors to open seemed to take for ever, but they were finally opened at about 3pm (45 minutes late).  Everyone rushed in and quickly made their way to the front of the stadium, briefly stopping at the top of the stairs as soon as you enter the bowl to take a look around at the sheer size of the stadium.  Once in the golden circle the staff made us stay standing until it was full and then the gates were shut.  I remember seeing the face of the first person who got refused entry into the golden circle and they were very upset.

The first band on were a duo from the United States of America called Shy Child.  Very different to normal bands because they had a drummer and a keyboard player strapped up like it was a guitar.  They got an ok reception, but I think they struggled to win the crowd over as everyone was either just entering the stadium or still looking around at the stage set and the sheer scale of the whole venue.

Second on was Biffy Clyro.  They are a very good band, but the sound wasn't brilliant for them, however they did win over the front of the crowd.  They had some songs that had recently been in the charts so people were singing to them but didn't really know much of their other material.

The main support act was My Chemical Romance.  All day we could see people walking around with My Chemical Romance t-shirts on, however they received a mixed reaction.  I think half the stadium loved them and the other half just thought they were a waste of time.  They are that sort of band; you either love them or hate them.  There were some boos and jeers from parts of the crowd, but that soon stopped to allow the people who had come to see them and liked them to enjoy the music.

I thought they were ok, but the use of the f word every other sentence grew tiresome from the lead singer and his little political speech about how its not good to commit suicide made everyone just look at each other thinking what he had taken and what is he going on about.  The music was good though and they have plenty of hits that they played, including, ‘The Black Parade', ‘Helena' and ‘I'm Not Okay (I Promise)' which got the crowd up on their feet and signing along.

The wait between My Chemical Romance and Muse was horrible, it seemed like an age, everyone had smiles on their face's (apart from the girl who was sitting in front of us, and had been for the whole day, reading a book.  A Book at a concert, what's that about?).  A traditional Mexican wave started and got the crowd cheering once more.  Then the compare music stopped and the Apprentice (TV show) theme tune was played loud. 

Muse appeared from a little stage at the back of the Golden Circle, raised through a hole in the stage like conquering hero's. 

The opening track was ‘Knight's of Cydonia', which immediately got the crowd going, jumping, dancing and singing as much as they could.  Within 5 seconds you could see that they felt at home on this big stage and ‘Knight's of Cydonia' is a great way to welcome everyone into their home.

Muse continued to play the hits, including ‘Hysteria' and ‘Suppermasive Black Hole'.  The bass in ‘Hysteria' still blows me away and just shows what talented musicians all three band members are.  In the middle of the concert Muse mellowed the music out a bit, playing crowd pleaser ‘Feeling Good', a loved cover song that got everyone singing along.

The hits continued to roll out, including first single ‘Sunburn', recent single ‘Starlight', ‘Time is Running Out' and (my personal favourite) ‘New Born'.  Everyone seemed to know all of the songs and were just there to have a great time (apart from the girl with the book, who had stood up but didn't look happy about it, she was clearly only there as a favour to her boyfriend who just wanted to have a good time).

After an hour and a half, Muse left the stage to huge applause from the almost full (very small sections at the back were left empty even though it was said to be a sell out) stadium.

After a short break Muse returned to the stage with lead singer and guitarist, Matt Bellamy, performing one of their first singles and another crowd favourite ‘Unintended', my girlfriend's (Resh) face lit up as soon as this was played, because they haven't played it at a gig we have been to of theirs for years.

Then during ‘Blackout' two huge helium balloons, each with an acrobat dangling from the bottom, were pulled out into the crowd being slowly raised and lowered with the acrobats slowly moving to the music.

Muse certainly left the best to last though, with ‘Bliss', which included the normal Muse ticker tape filled balloons thrown into the crowd, ‘Plug In Baby' and ‘Stockholm Syndrome', all of which got the crowd dancing around like crazy possessed people, well ok, maybe only my girlfriend and me were like that, but everyone was dancing and jumping around.

The last song of the mammoth 2 hour set was ‘Take a Bow', which was a fitting end to what had been an amazing concert / experience.  What a stadium, what a gig, what a band.

The only question now is what music to go and see until Muse tour the UK again.

To read the Wembley Stadium review as a music venue - click HERE.

To see pictures of the gig then click HERE.

If you have any questions, comments on this review or if you have a review or pictures you would like me to load onto this site then please email me at mike.scoones@thelocalchannel.co.uk.