[ 26-12-2007 ]
MAGICAL — is the only word to describe British super band Muse’s performance at the Muse World Tour ‘07 at Stadium Negara last night.
There was nothing fancy about the set design, nor were the outfi ts worn by Matthew Bellamy, Chris Wolstenhome and Dominic Howard anything special. Even the band’s interaction with the audience was minimal. However, befi tting their reputation as artistes rather than performers, Muse chose to let their music do the talking. The band, two-time winners of Best ‘Live’ Act at the Brit Awards, showed Kuala Lumpur why they deserved the honours. Wiry frontman Bellamy’s compelling piano and guitar work mesmerised the audience just as much as his signature falsetto and multi-layered vocals did. The trio opened their act with Knight of Cydonia, before further cranking up the heat with Hysteria and Supermassive Black Hole. The KL crowd responded to the band’s riveting performance in kind, the twenty-somethings who packed the stadium were whipped into a frenzy, jumping and singing along with Bellamy. Just when you thought the audience’s emotions were at an all time high, Muse pushed the envelope further with solid renditions of Butterfl y, followed by Assassin, Citizen Erased and Hoodoo, each song more powerful and rousing than another. After all the foot-stomping stuff, the trio then slowed things down with Feeling Good, a moving delivery with no loss of magic. The charm continued with Sunburn, which was boosted by an almost magical piano accompaniment by Bellamy. However, it wasn’t long before the fans got up on their feet again when Muse belted out Starlight, the airplay-heavy track from their latest album Black Holes and Revelations. Urged on by the crowd’s deafening roar, the band hit their zenith with all-time favourite Time Is Running Out. After Wolstenhome’s frenetic bass-plucking and Howard’s frenzied drumming, the group then delivered a string of guitardriven tunes, including Map of the Problematique, Newborn and Soldier’s Poem. The soaring track Invincible and Take A Bow then followed, before they ended the night with the devastating Stockholm Syndrome. Fans, who had waited years to watch the band ‘live’ here, were rewarded with a performance that was worth every second of the wait. |  
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