Muse has the distinction of being one of few contemporary arena rock bands whose sound is actually big enough to fill an arena. While the British trio only began to achieve serious stateside appeal in 2004, more than a decade of relentless touring has earned them a reputation for giving good show. With their new CD/DVD release HAARP, Muse proves that their larger-than-life songs sound every bit as epic live as they do on their studio albums.
Recorded over two sold-out nights at Wembley Stadium in June of 2007, HAARP is truly a spellbinding affair. Laden with soaring choruses, monster riffs and expert feats of musicianship, the CD alone is capable of converting Muse newcomers into fist-pumping, singalong superfans within a single listen. Shot in lush HD and perfectly capturing the chemistry between the band and the 75,000-strong crowd, the DVD makes those of us who didn’t make it to Wembley wish that we had. From the grand opening, when vocalist/guitarist/pianist Matthew Bellamy, bassist Chris Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard ascend from an underground chamber to the gothic strains of Prokofiev’s “Dance of the Knights,” no opportunity is missed to make HAARP seem anything less than a spectacle.
Drawing largely from 2004’s Absolution and 2006’s Black Holes and Revelations, the Devonshire lads lay elegant waste to neo-prog anthems like “Knights of Cydonia” and “Butterflies & Hurricanes” while pulling back masterfully on hyper ballads like “Unintended.” And while the band has occasionally been criticized for its supposed lack of humor, HAARP is not without its lighter moments. The normally Wagnerian Bellamy can’t help but smile sweetly at the audience’s enthusiastic reception to his stage banter - even if said banter is mostly limited to the occasional announcement of a song title. And the dead sexy swagger of “Supermassive Black Hole” is given a welcome dose of camp thanks to lingering close-ups on Bellamy’s glittery red guitar.
That Muse is able to achieve its superhero sound with three core members never ceases to amaze. Although Bellamy, Wolstenholme and Howard are occasionally joined by multi-instrumentalists Morgan Nicholls and Dan Newell on HAARP, the songs pack such a wallop you’d swear you were listening to a twelve-piece band. While much of this can be attributed to the jaw-dropping synergy of Wolstenholme and Howard’s otherworldly rhythm section, Bellamy’s versatility also plays a factor. Witness the ease with which he transitions from grand piano to blistering electric guitar on “New Born,” before switching again to a perfectly hushed acoustic guitar on “Soldier’s Poem.” That same versatility extends to the set list as well - among HAARP’s unequivocal high points is the band’s out-of-left-field cover of Nina Simone’s bluesy “Feeling Good,” during which Bellamy kills us not so softly by singing through a megaphone.
While the performances captured on the HAARP DVD are certainly brilliant, it’s ultimately the audience that takes your breath away. In marked contrast to the pomp and circumstance of the songs, the sold-out crowd is every bit as joyful and ecstatic as the tweens who throng to see the likes of Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers - all smiles, outstretched arms and exuberant cries of “I LOVE YOU!” That these 75,000 fans have converged not in the name of sugar-coated teen pop but for a band as richly complex as Muse is not only refreshing, it’s exhilarating.
--Kenyon Phillips [May 19, 2008]
