Muse at the O2: A Dystopian Musical Odyssey

A giant blow-up Satan, over the top pyrotechnics and catchy guitar riffs- rock band Muse never fail to bring euphoria to their shows. The Will of the People tour at the O2 was simply unmissable.

Being the first night in London at the O2, the arena filled up quickly, with fans racing towards the barriers when doors opened.

Kicking off the show, the band emerged from backstage donning black hoodies and silver geometric masks. ‘WOTP’ initials read the gigantic sign that burned above the band, representing their latest album Will of the People. Muse lead the revolution by chanting ‘will of the people’ whilst the catchy guitar riff blares through the venue. Deep hues of red and orange flashing light flooded the stage and filled the O2 with adrenaline- when Muse take the stage, you leave this world and enter theirs. In this case, you entered a dystopian world lead by powerful angst and the increasing instability of the planet. As daunting as it sounds, the Teignmouth trio played a supermassive setlist consisting of 25 songs, including a few tracks from early on in Muse’s nine album career that sent fans into a frenzy.

Once the opening had concluded, and the masks came off, Muse were just beginning. The band wasted no time and performed some of their iconic songs early on. Bassist Chris Wolstenholme walks across the T-shaped stage and tears into the Hysteria riff, a classic that has been played during every show for nearly 20 years. In that moment, it served as a reminder how Muse can bring such energy into their shows, even after nearly 30 years of performing, Muse still have that spark that fans cannot get enough of.

To mark 20 years of the trio’s third album, Muse played a couple of tracks from Absolution, where Rachmaninoff-inspired piano melodies meets prog-rock. The audience went wild when the keyboard beginning Butterflies and Hurricanes started to play, coming to an imminent realisation that they were in for a treat. The virtuoso piano solo still leaves fans in awe as lead singer and guitarist Matt Bellamy plays effortlessly on his lit-up piano, clearly unphased by the emotional impact he has had on his fans in that moment. The thunderous sound of stomping boomed through the arena and stirred up a storm as fans clapped on beat to Apocalypse Please. Bellamy’s voice can scarcely be heard over the thousands of fans that belted out the lyrics.

Simultaneously, an inflatable head of a masked figure loomed behind the band, rotating their head to some of the songs during the first half of the show. The Dark Side (alternate reality version) begins to play, where Bellamy is sat cross-legged on the shoulder of the masked figure playing his electric guitar, whilst the mask of the inflatable figure is glowing red. A black curtain comes down as the audience applauds, bidding farewell to the beloved inflatable that accompanied Muse during their tour.

The opening riff to Kill or be Killed left a poignant reminder that the set would be ending. The encore felt somewhat brief, but concluding the show with Knights of Cydonia always goes down a treat. And of course, Muse had to have an inflatable satanic goat towering over the stage to join them during the encore, why wouldn’t they?

Kicking off with the harmonica solo then bursting into the triumphant spaghetti western-style chaos of Knights of Cydonia, the revolution for the will of the people had come to an end. Somehow, Muse always seem to make a 25-song extravaganza seem too short.