Muse play Wembley Stadium mega gig (20070616 NME feature)

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Muse at Wembley Stadium June 07

Matt, Dom and Chris are on form at biggest show of their lives.

Muse have played the biggest gig of their lives tonight (June 16) at Wembley Stadium in north London.

The band marked their first night at the giant venue (they play again on June 17) with an epic two hour performance.

With the stage decorated with giant satellite dishes, futuristic antennas, giant white balls and thousands of dazzling lights the band's set was equal to the stadium's impressive setting.

Surprising the expectant audience, the band emerged in the middle of the crowd in a fountain of glitter before walking along an extended catwalk to the stage and kicking off the show with triumphant opener 'Knights Of Cydonia'.

Playing in front of a giant screen which mixed stage shots with pre-prepared video clips, plus frontman Matt Bellamy and bassist Chris Wolstenholme roaming the vast stage, occasionally peforming from special ramped-up areas on either side, Muse worked hard to engage the vast audience.

"How you doing Wembley?" drummer Dominic Howard asked the masses after early songs including 'City Of Delusion' and 'Map Of The Problematique' which was been recorded at the Wembley shows for release as a live single. "It looks like you're having fun, we are!"

The band then tore through a career-spanning set including 'Sunburn' which Bellamy introduced - seated at a glass-topped grand piano - as "the very first song from our very first album".

With the whole crowding bonding to loudly sing-a-long to 'Invincible', the singer then paused to acknowledge the sheer scale of the giant gig.

"How are you doing at the back?" He asked squinting into the distance. "I hope you see us! This one is for you."

Muse then launched into 'Starlight' before quickly following it up with 'Man Of Mystery', The Shadows cover the band recorded especially for the CD which is being given away free with copies of NME which are on UK newsstands now.

Finishing their initial set with an expanded version of 'New Born' - complete with spotlights in the centre of the satellite dishes illuminating the whole stadium - the band then returned for a climactic first encore.

Re-taking to the stage Bellamy encourage the crowd to hold their mobile phones in the air filling the venue with tiny sparkling lights during 'Soldiers Poem' which he dedicated to “unsung heroes”.

However Muse then trumped themselves bringing on two acrobats who, suspended by giant white balloons, soared above the crowd during a dreamy rendition of 'Blackout'.

With 'Plug In Baby' exploding Wembley back into life after the mid-air dancers, the band then teasingly left the stage once again but were soon back to finish things off.

"Thanks you guys have been fantastic," declared Bellamy on his return. "And thanks for making us the first artists to sell out [the new] Wembley-fucking-Stadium!"

The band then launched into closer 'Take A Bow' which they concluded with by unleashing giant flames right at the end of the song, before soaking up the applause and leaving the stage for the final time.

Muse played:

'Knights Of Cydonia'
'Hysteria'
'Supermassive Blackhole'
'Map Of The Problematique'
'City Of Delusion'
'Butterflies & Hurricanes'
'Citizen Erased'
'Hoodoo'
'Feeling Good'
'Sunburn'
'Invincible'
'Starlight'
'Man Of Mystery'
'Time Is Running Out'
'Newborn'
'Soldiers Poem'
'Unintended'
'Blackout'
'Plug In Baby'
'Micro Cuts'
'Stockholm Syndrome'
'Take A Bow'

Earlier support had come from The Streets, Dirty Pretty Things and Rodrigo y Gabriela.

Were you at the gig, what did you think? Send your thoughts and pictures to news@nme.com with Muse in the subject line and we will publish the best.

Muse now set to play Wembley Stadium again tomorrow night (June 17).

Biffy Clyro and Shy Child are also set to play, while main support band My Chemical Romance have denied rumours they might pull their appearence tomorrow following damage to their equipment during the storm at Venice's Heineken Jammin' Festival yesterday (June 15), with a spokesperson for the band confirming to NME.COM they would play.

Stay tuned to NME.COM for a full report plus a live blog straight from Wembley Stadium.

For a full interview spanning Muse's career get this week's NME which is out now.

Not only that, but the magazine comes free with a special CD hand-picked by the band themselves and featuring brand new Muse track - ’Man Of Mystery’.

In the meantime you can look back at Muse's career in pictures here on NME.COM.

So make sure you stay with NME and NME.COM for the ultimate coverage of Muse's Wembley shows and check back on June 18 to hear an exclusive version of Muse's new single, ’Map Of The Problematique’, which will be recorded live at Wembley over the weekend.

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