music365 1999-08-27 – Muse : Reading Carling Premier Stage
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Muse : Reading Carling Premier Stage
Muse are one of the buzz bands of the weekend. They're going to be big, apparently, and here in mid-afternoon we have a crammed tent full of frequenters of the nation's toilet circuit venues and many others who are too young to get into those sorts of places. Yes, this is the crowdsurfer's tent and even when Muse give it the Thom Yorke-meets-Bono semi-ethereal vocal treatment, they still try to surf and then come out at the side of the stage with big shit-eating grins on their faces.
It's one of the more memorable moments of the gig, because, despite the tipstering, Muse are still a very mixed bag. They have a brilliant rumbling bass that might come from the Pearl Jam school but goes off on interesting little excursions of its own, matched by some above-average-for-an-indie-band stickwork. However, those vocals just don't seem to have grown into the rest of the sound, and even singles, such as the forthcoming 'Cave', don't really carry much of a memorable tune. But they still get three quarters of the crowd are cheering wildly in response. The trio finish with a minute of trashing and feedback. They've got the noise, but they need to do more hard work on the actual songs if they want to cut the mustard outside the confines of an easily pleased, demob-happy Friday afternoon holiday crowd.
Tim Perry