London Wembley Stadium 2007 - 16th (gig)

Muse.mu newsletter

The grand entrance

Muse show
Venue	Wembley Stadium[source?]
Date	16th June 2007
Location	London[source?]
Country	United Kingdom
Songs	22
Support	The Streets, Dirty Pretty Things, Rodrigo y Gabriela [source?]
Start (UTC+1)	Unknown
Capacity	75,000 (seated), 15,000 (standing)[source?]
Price (GBP)	37.50[source?]
Sold out?	Yes (pre-sale, seated, standing)[source?]

Gig nav
		Insert current gig

Stage times

The official stage times for the first night at Wembley were:

• 14:45 Gates open
• 16:30-17:15 Rodrigo y Gabriela
• 17:45-18:30 Dirty Pretty Things
• 19:00-20:00 The Streets
• 20:30-22:30 Muse

General information

The big finale

Ticket pre-sale started 8th December 2006 09:00 UTC+1 through Seetickets.com, the link for which was e-mailed to Muse.mu official news e-mail subscribers 7th December. These were sold out by midday. Tickets went on general sale 9th December 2006 09:00 UTC+1. XFM gave a pair of tickets to listeners on the morning of 5th December, during the Lauren Laverne Breakfast Show some time from 06:00 UTC onwards. It was previously thought that Klaxons would support Muse on one of the dates, along with two other bands. However, the validity of this claim has recently been undermined with the news that The Klaxons will be playing at the O2 Wireless Festival in London and Leeds on the same dates. There were also rumours of We Are Scientists supporting Muse on both dates but they had to decline "cuz doing them would’ve meant bumping back recording…” . CSS were also rumoured to play and were even confirmed by NME but the band later denied such rumours The Streets' backing singer revealed on his MySpace page on the 1st of May that The Streets would be supporting Muse. Finally, muse.mu announced on 1st June that Dirty Pretty Things would be the other support act on Saturday 16th June.

It was revealed on the 7th of March that Muse would not be the first artist to play the new Wembley Stadium, even accounting for support acts. Instead, George Michael played the first concert.

It was revealed in late May that ticket vendors had mis-booked seated tickets, reportedly due to the front two blocks initially being given the green light to be booked. This affected block 126 and the opposite block. those who initially booked tickets were re-allocated to different areas, some one block away, and some as far as the rear of the stadium.

There were two golden circles at Wembley. Wristbands for the circles were given out on a first come, first served basis.

Planning timeline

• The first mention of Wembley Stadium was made by Tom Kirk in March 2005, when he said it "is always a dream".
• Anthony Addis considered that the new Wembley Stadium would have to be build in time for 2007's cup finals. Muse found that the people of Wembley Stadium wanted a British band opening the new stadium, and after conferring with the management of the stadium, they viewed playing at the stadium as a 'definite possibility'. This was at least two weeks before announcing the show, on the 4th of December.
• Rumours about a performance at Wembley Stadium in 2007 started on the 29th of November 2006, when it was mentioned on BBC Radio 1. The show was only made definite the night prior to announcing it. It was announced by Wembley Stadium's website on the 4th of December, after a press conference at the venue which Muse flew from Italy for.
• The decision to put on a second show was made without consulting the band, and while the band were asleep in their tour bus in Europe.
• Muselive.com announced that "sources close the band" had revealed that Muse are planning to use a "small" orchestra on both nights. However, Christopher Wolstenholme later declared in an interview that "there is obviously a big risk in doing so" and that Wembley does not seem to be "the right time to see if it works or not".
• Wolstenholme reportedly attended the 19th May Chelsea vs Manchester United match at the stadium, in part to see what the stadium looks like when full. At that stage, the stage set was still in planning.

The stage

One of the satellite dishes

Early ideas before bringing in architects included having a B-stage lit by helicopters. Muse started to work on the stage designs proper on the 14th of February, a day after winning Best Live Act at the Brits. The band drafted in architects to help design and build the show's stage set.

Bellamy revealed in a late March interview that the band had considered flying into the stadium with jet packs, and asked the Brent council about doing so. However, the council "seems to have a problem with that". The stage setup was revealed on the 6th of June by Muselive.com, but the news post was removed some time the next day. Photographs of the stage setup front and side can be found to the right. This test build was by Stageco.

The show

Press releases before the show stated that the band would play around 25 songs. They played 22 on the night with various interludes and riffs. Early indications of set length varied between two hours and over two hours. Finally, the show lasted about one hour and fifty minutes.

The stage consisted of two large screens either side of the stage and a "brand new video screen, which the wind can blow through!" a mixture of pre-prepared video and live video footage was used in the performance, including the words "No one's going to take me alive" etc. in Knights Of Cydonia and "Loneliness be over" in Map of the Problematique. There were two platforms at each side of the stage that stuck out a little way into the crowd which the band used in various songs.

The band appeared from a scaffolding in the centre of the crowd on a rising platform accompanied by smoke and confetti. They walked through the centre of the crowd on a raised walkway to 'Dance of the Knights' from Sergei Prokofiev's ballet, Romeo and Juliet. As they walked towards the stage along a runway, an "army" of men in yellow radio-active suits and hazard masks appeared, from underneath the front middle of the stage. Only those seating, or standing at the front of the golden circle, could fully see these characters, as they walked in front of the stage at ground level towards the side of the stage in line, and disappeared from view quickly.

Dan performed during Knights of Cydonia and City of Delusion. There was a costume change during the interlude between New Born and Soldier's Poem. Before Unintended Matt played a short riff on his acoustic guitar accompanied by bass from Chris.

Two trapeze artists suspended from large balloons (named heliospheres on the setlist) performed during Blackout and balloons were released during Plug in Baby. Bellamy made a slight error whilst playing the intro to Invincible. Bellamy literally did take a bow during Take a Bow.

Speech

After Knights of Cydonia	Bellamy	"Thank you Wembley! ... how are you guys doing? You're looking beautiful!"
After Hysteria		"Thank you very much".
Before Supermassive Black Hole	Howard	"This next song is for anyone who likes a bit of R&B".
After Supermassive Black Hole	Bellamy	"Thank you"
	Howard	"Thank you very much".
Before City of Delusion	Bellamy	"For this next song I'd like to introduce our good friend, Dan on the trumpet over there".
After City of Delusion		"Thank you very much, you're beautiful".
	Howard	"How's it going Wembley? You look like you're having a good time. We are".
Before Hoodoo		"I just want to thank Rodrigo y Gabriela, the Dirty Pretty Things and the Streets for playing with us this evening. I think they were pretty fucking good".
After Hoodoo	Bellamy	"Cheers ... How are you guys feeling? I hope you're feeling good. ... Cheap, cheap".
Before Sunburn		"This next song is, uh, the first song from our first album"
After Sunburn	Howard	"Thank you very much indeed".
After Invincible	Bellamy	"Thank you ... How are you guys doing at the back?! Hope you can see us. This next song is for you".
After Starlight		"Thank you very much".
After Time Is Running Out		"That was the biggest mosh pit I've ever seen! ... And I've seen a few"
Before Soldier's Poem		"Can you get your mobile phones out please. This next song is for all unsung heroes".
After Soldier's Poem		"Thank you very much".
Before Unintended		"This next song is a blast from the past".
After Unintended		"Thank you".
Before Micro Cuts		"Thanks very much, thanks for coming down you guys, I know some of you came a long way so thanks for coming down. Thanks for making us the first artist, to sell out Wembley fucking Stadium!".
After Take a Bow		"Thank you Wembley, we love you, see you tomorrow!"

Media

Three different complete audio recordings are known to have been made. The first can be found here and here in mp3 format. The second was by SOUSOUS, which can be found in part here in mp3 format and wholly here in FLAC format, this has now also been uploaded to muselive.com here. The third, by Zinc can be found only in FLAC format here and on the Muse Direct Connect hub, subject to restrictions (no lossy transcoding, no seeding). SOUSOUS' recording is of higher quality than the first.

Two partial video recordings can be found here and here. A full set of videos in MOV format can be obtained here.

Cameraman's set list

Setlist

• Dance of the Knights (intro music)

1. Close Encounters riff + Knights of Cydonia
   ^{(New Delorean Manson, Rickenbacker 4003)}
2. Hysteria
   ^{(New Delorean Manson, red Fender Jazz Bass)}
3. Supermassive Black Hole
   ^{(Glitterati Manson, red Fender Jazz Bass)}
4. Map of the Problematique + Maggie's Farm outro
   ^{(M1D1 Manson, Rickenbacker 4003)}
5. City of Delusion
   ^{(Taylor Electro-Acoustic Guitar, red Fender Jazz Bass)}
6. Butterflies & Hurricanes
   ^{(Mirror Manson, Black Kawai grand, red Fender Jazz Bass)}
7. Citizen Erased
   ^{(7 String Manson, Black Kawai grand, red Fender Jazz Bass)}
8. Hoodoo
   ^{(Black Kawai grand, ruby PRS 513, ?)}
9. Feeling Good
   ^{(Black Kawai grand, red Fender Jazz Bass)}
10. Piano interlude + Sunburn (piano)
    ^{(Black Kawai grand, black Fender Jazz Bass)}
11. Invincible
    ^{(Kaoss Manson, white Fender Jazz Bass)}
12. Starlight
    ^{(Black Manson, white Fender Jazz Bass)}
13. Man of Mystery (watch)
    ^{(Kaoss Manson, red Fender Jazz Bass)}
14. Time Is Running Out
    ^{(Kaoss Manson, red Fender Jazz Bass)}
15. New Born + Microphone Fiend riff + Ashamed outro
    ^{(Glitterati Manson, black Kawai grand, black Fender Jazz Bass)}
    Encore 1
16. Soldier's Poem (acoustic guitar)
    ^{(Taylor 712ce, natural finish Fender Jazz Bass, vintage Gretsch Jazz Kit)}
17. Études Simples No. 6 + Unintended
    ^{(Taylor 712ce, natural finish Fender Jazz Bass, vintage Gretsch Jazz Kit)}
18. Blackout
    ^{(Mirror Manson, natural finish Fender Jazz Bass, vintage Gretsch Jazz Kit)}
19. Plug In Baby
    ^{(Mirror Manson, red Fender Jazz Bass)}
    Encore 2
20. Micro Cuts
    ^{(Glitterati Manson, blue Pedulla Rapture RB4)}
21. Stockholm Syndrome + riffs
    ^{(Glitterati Manson, black Fender Jazz Bass)}
22. Take a Bow
    ^{(Kaoss Manson, red Fender Jazz Bass)}

See also

• Wembley Stadium
• Seating chart - Ticketmaster
• The Road to Wembley (NME review)
• MUSE to rock Wembley Stadium
• Muse confirm show at new Wembley
• Radio 1's Entertainment News: Muse and Girls Aloud

Go back to the gig archive