London Wembley Stadium 2007 - 17th (gig)

Bellamy on guitar

Stage side view

Muse show
Venue	Wembley Stadium[source?]
Date	17th June 2007[source?]
Location	London[source?]
Country	United Kingdom
Songs	22[source?]
Support	My Chemical Romance, Biffy Clyro, Shy Child[source?]
Start	Unknown
Capacity	75,000 (seated), 15,000 (standing)[source?]
Price	37.50 GBP[source?]
Sold out?	Yes (standing, pre-sale)[source?]

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Both Forced In and Bliss were played for the first time after three months. It was also the last performance of Forced In to date.

Official stage times

• 20:00-22:00 Muse
• 18:30-19:30 My Chemical Romance
• 17:15-18:00 Biffy Clyro
• 16:00-16:45 Shy Child
• 14:45 Gates open

Information

A second show at Wembley Stadium organised due to selling out the first night. Ticket sale started preemptively via ticketline, and was announced on BBC Radio 1 shortly after. Ticketmaster were the last officially referenced vendor to list the show. Ticket prices and booking fees were identical to the previous night.

The Klaxons were originally to support Muse on one of the dates, along with two other bands. However, the validity of this claim was 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 (magazine) but the band later denied such rumours. It was revealed on 1st June that Shy Child would be the opening act on Sunday 17th June.

Early indications of set length varied between two hours and over two hours.

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 effected 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

Bellamy on guitar

• 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, 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 whilst they slept in their tour bus in Europe.

• Muse started work on the stage designs on the 14th of February, a day after winning Best Live Act at the Brits. Muse have 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 Greater London council about doing so. However, the council "seems to have a problem with that".

• 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 this stage, the stage set was still in planning.

• 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

Sing for Absolution

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.

The stage consisted of two large screens either side of the stage and a "brand new video screen, which the wind can blow through!" (Chris Vaughan, Muse's production manager, speaking in NME 16th June 2007) 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 'Montagues and Capulets', also known informally as 'Dance of the Knights' from Sergei Prokofiev's ballet, Romeo and Julliet. 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 middle/front of the stage). Only those seating, or standing at the front of the golden circle, could fully see these characters, as they walked infront of the stage at ground level towards the side of the stage in line, and were gone very quickly.

Dan performed during Knights of Cydonia. There was a costume change between New Born and Soldier's Poem.

Directly after Map of the Problematique Bellamy attempted to play the regular Maggie's Farm outro but the sound cut out causing him to run across the stage and fiddle with his pedal board but to no avail. Before Unintended Bellamy played a short riff on his acoustic guitar accompanied by bass from Wolstenholme. Two trapeze/aerial artists, one of which was called Robyn Simpson, suspended from large balloons performed during Blackout. These balloons were dubbed "heliospheres" on the set list. The usual balloons were released during Bliss. At the end of Plug In Baby Bellamy went towards the centre of the standing area, where they had previously come out. He finished the riff and then laid his guitar down on the runway. Security then gave it back to a member of the crew.

Throughout the show Matt Bellamy's guitars were delivered to him by a small robot with a guitar stand on it. As opposed to the guitar tech handing them to him like normal. At some point in the performance Muse played a short instrumental cover of Gravity's Rainbow by Klaxons.

Speech

After Knights of Cydonia	Bellamy	"Hello Wembley, how are you doing?! Back so soon!"
After Hysteria		"Thank you very much".
After Supermassive Black Hole	Howard	"How's it going Wembley? It's good to see you again".
After Map of the Problematique	Bellamy	"Thank you very much".
After Sing for Absolution		"Thank you very much".
Before Butterflies and Hurricanes		"This next song is called Butterflies and Hurricanes".
After Butterflies and Hurricanes		"Cheers, thank you very much".
After Hoodoo		"Cheers".
After Apocalypse Please		"Cheers".
	Howard	"Thank you very much Wembley".
After Feeling Good	Bellamy	"Thank you very much".
After Invincible	Wolstenholme	"Thank you".
Before Starlight	Bellamy	"How are you guys doing at the back?!"
After Starlight		"Woo!"
	Howard	"Nice one Wembley!"
After Time Is Running Out	Bellamy	"Last night the crowd were fantastic, but tonight you are sensational!"
Before Soldier's Poem	Howard	"Thank you very much Wembley. How's it going out there? For this next song we want everyone to get their mobile phones out and swing 'em around in the air like this".
	Bellamy	"This is for all our unsung heroes".
After Soldier's Poem		"Thanks".
Before Unintended		"This next song's a very old song, when I wrote it I certainly never thought I'd be playing it in a stadium [laughs]".
After Unintended		"Thank you".
After Plug in Baby	Howard	"Now that's a fucking mosh Wembley! You guys look amazing!"
After Take a Bow	Bellamy	"Thank you, we love you London!"
	Howard	"You guys fucking rock, you're unbelieveable! We love you, we'll see you guys soon, take care! Cheers, you're wicked!"

Media

SOUSOUS recorded the whole of both nights, 6 songs from the 17th gig can be found here in mp3 format. Part of the concert will be on H.A.A.R.P. CD/DVD. An official Unintended video was released in H.264/MPEG-4 AVC format on the 24th of December in two resolutions - one for iPod and one for PSP. Also, a 10 bar sneak-peek preview of Knights of Cydonia was released on the official website. 3 weeks later a 20-second clip of Supermassive Black Hole was released. The latest to be released was another 20-second clip of Feeling Good. At the same time Play.com released the whole first chapter of the intro. This can be found on Play.com and and Youtube.

Set list from left hand podium

Setlist

• Dance of the Knights (intro music)

1. Close Encounters riff + Knights of Cydonia
   ^{(Ali Top Manson, Rickenbacker 4003)}
2. Hysteria
   ^{(Ali Top Manson, Red Fender Jazz Bass)}
3. Supermassive Black Hole
   ^{(Red Glitter Manson, Red Fender Jazz Bass)}
4. Map of the Problematique
   ^{(M1D1 Manson, Rickenbacker 4003)}
5. Forced In
   ^{(Kaoss Manson, White Fender Jazz Bass)}
6. Sing for Absolution
   ^{(Kaoss Manson, White Fender Jazz Bass)}
7. Butterflies & Hurricanes
   ^{(Mirror Manson, Black Kawai grand, Red Fender Jazz Bass)}
8. Hoodoo
   ^{(Black Kawai grand, PRS 513)}
9. Intro + Apocalypse Please
   ^{(Black Kawai grand, Red Fender Jazz Bass)}
10. Feeling Good
    ^{(Black Kawai grand, Red Fender Jazz Bass)}
11. Piano interlude + Sunburn (piano)
    ^{(Black Kawai grand, black Fender Jazz Bass)}
12. Invincible
    ^{(Kaoss Manson, white Fender Jazz Bass)}
13. Starlight
    ^{(Black Manson, white Fender Jazz Bass)}
14. Whole Lotta Love riff + Jimmy Jam + Time Is Running Out (watch)
    ^{(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 (watch)
    ^{(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. Bliss (extended)
    ^{(Kaoss Manson, red Fender Jazz Bass)}
    
    Encore 2
20. Plug In Baby
    ^{(Mirror Manson, red Fender Jazz Bass)}
21. Stockholm Syndrome + riffs
    ^{(Glitterati Manson, black Fender Jazz Bass)}
22. Take a Bow
    ^{(Kaoss Manson, red Fender Jazz Bass)}

See also

• Wembley Stadium, London
• Seating chart - Ticketmaster

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