Muse took London by storm, with a surprise, secret and one-off show at Camden's Electric Ballroom last night (Friday 11 September).
You’ve got to go all the way back to 2003 to find the last time Muse played to a crowd of less than 1,200 people in London - a two-track TV set at the Clapham Grand leading up to the 2004 BRIT Awards. The following year they won Best Live Act, one of 16 major gongs they’ve been awarded for their live performances, including being voted ‘Most Exciting Live Act of All Time’ by the NME readers in 2012.
A rare treat then, for the 1,100 lucky fans who queued for hours yesterday to squeeze into Camden’s Electric Ballroom for an intimate gig, announced just hours beforehand.
As you’d expect from a band about to tour a new album, there was a generous smattering of tracks from their latest album Drones, kicking things off with the attitude-laden ‘Reapers’ and ‘Psycho’, the crowd response was emphatic. After ‘Hysteria’ they managed to squeeze in another new track before the surprisingly early play of ‘Plug In Baby’, was greeted with the customary chants of ‘der-ner-ner-ner...’ along to that legendary guitar riff.
It’s here when you start to see why Muse are forever celebrated as such an unstoppable live act. Even without all the weapons of mass distraction that come with their arena and festival shows (radar dishes that shoot laser beams, giant balloons that look like eyeballs, enormous LCD screens with surreal visuals…), they can still get a crowd going and, more importantly, keep them going.
At the end of ‘Time Is Running Out’ the crowd begins to chant for fan favourite ‘Assassin’ but frontman Matt Bellamy apologetically explains they don’t have the right bass guitar with them. By this point it doesn’t matter. They round off the set with masterful performances of old favourites ‘Starlight’, ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ and ‘Agitated’ to a rapturous and raucous response.
A three-track encore, ending on a breakneck rendition of ‘Knights of Cydonia’ close out a night that few in attendance are ever likely to forget.
Muse played:
Reapers
Psycho
Interlude
Hysteria
The Handler
Plug In Baby
Supermassive Black Hole
Dead Inside
Munich Jam
Mercy
Time Is Running Out
Starlight
Stockholm Syndrome
Agitated
[Encore]
Supremacy
Uprising
Knights of Cydonia
Muse's full upcoming UK tour dates are below. Tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday 18 September. For tickets and information, visit here.
Muse will play:
April 5, 2016 - Dublin Three Arena
April 8, 2016 - Manchester Manchester Arena
April 11, 2016 - London O2 Arena
April 12, 2016 - London O2 Arena
April 17, 2016 - Glasgow SSE Hydro
May 2, 2016 - Lisbon MEO Arena
May 5, 2016 - Madrid Barclaycard Arena
May 14, 2016 - Milan Mediolarum Forum
May 15, 2016 - Milan Mediolarum Forum
June 4, 2016 - Prague O2 Arena
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