Future Perfect (20000216 Melody Maker article)
This transcription may be inaccurate as we have not seen an original copy.
Future Perfect
Muse
Colloseum, Munich ***** (5 Stars)
THERE’S nothing to be afraid of. It’s just the future. Hold on, strap down, extinguish your cigarettes and gasp. Gasp like suffocating guppies about to be thrown back into the life-loving water. Gasp with joy.
Like razor-blade systems which dispense their own foam, like recordable DVD units and personal skycars (coming soon, really). Like isotonic cold capsules, Internet-accessing mobiles and the sweet, sweet dream of 1,000 genetically cloned Christina Aguileras (hose me/her/them down), Muse are an amazing thing turned better. Muse have moved from magic trick to miracle, from mirage to oasis, from two to three who knows how many dimensions. From promise to delivery. Muse were always going to become a great, great band. Tonight, it’s almost scary how exhilarating they are.
It’s a short set. In a faceless, freezing warehouse. In front of Bush fans. In Germany. but it’s pure theatre here, it’s the “Showbiz” they named their debut album after. It’s frontman Matt Bellamy screaming through mechanical appliances to opener “Uno”, making the sound of a nuclear war with his throat; it’s utterly inspiring. But it’s calm and serene too, Matt’s soft, soft stroking upon his shrieking guitar as fluid as the saliva of a kiss. It’s the way he thrashes it around his body without breaking sweat but nearly breaking bones. It’s the way he’s violent but gentle at the same time. He has become a total star and I find myself in absolute awe of him tonight.
So this is one of the five best gigs I’ve ever been to. It really is. The molten downpour of “Sunburn” cutting right down through the way in our ears which told us not to feel music any more. The Everest of sound called “Falling Down” reminding us just how low we’ve let our standards slip in recent months, before raising them back up towards he God-kissed heavens. The sinister, Latin stalking of “Muscle Museum invading us, conquering us, burinng our personal villages into soot. And, best of all, a new song called “plug In Baby” which is Elvis swallowing asteroids - so beautiful it stings, so electric it’d re-animate the dead.
And throughout this all our eyes are glued to Matt, a manor-born hero singing his name boldly, deeply and darkly into the history books. He’s a bewitching guitarist, for sure - he’s practically reinvented the dear old thing - but he’s an even greater soldier, a ridicously cocky, short-arsed Napoleon, fighting on our side ofr a change. Napoleon mixed with Freddie Mercury in that twitchingly spooked “I’m Going Slightly Mad” video, perhaps. And a fair bit of Bowie with balls. And a voice that could disintegrate the doves in the sky. Oh, and he’s not like Thom Yorke, after all. He’s better than that.
Well, tonight at least.
And Muse, right now, are better than anything, anywhere. They’ve just gone and reinvented the weel. Let them mow you down
ROBIN BRESNARK
Matt Bellamy’s Verdict (Singer)
“It was all right, you know? Supporting can get to you after a while and this is our last support situation as far as Europe goes. I’d rather headline smaller venues, I think. But we’ve got on really well with Bush and they’ve been really, really nice to us. I’ve changed? Yeah, I have. Since January, actually - maybe it was the millennium. I went to Reykjavik and had an unbelievable experience there. But I came back and suddenly realised the situation I’m in - I’m in a band! That’s what I do! And I feel like I’m 15 again. I want to have a f***ing laugh from now on.”
SHOW & TELL
THE PAYING PUNTERS HAVE THEIR SAY
NINA (21) and SANDRA (22), both from MUNICH What are your musings? Nina: “They weren’t bad, pretty good. Fairly” Sandra: “They were great! Wonderful! No, not really. Just OK” Matt’s not a happy boy, is he? N: “He didn’t scare me. Not much.” S: “He has personal problems, doesn’t he?” How would you make him feel better? N: “No idea!” S: “We’ll buy their CD’s…will that do?”
MARKUS (19) and EWI (18), both from MUNICH What are your musings? Markus: “It’s OK, but it’s not one of my favourite bands.” Ewi: “Not so good compared to Bush, I think” Matt’s not a happy boy, is he? M: “He looks like a nice guy, but he is shouting so loud!” E: “I’d be frightening a little bit if I meet him in a dark street!” How would you make him feel better? M: “I will tell him he sings very good.” E: “Yes. And I’d tell him he looks funny.”
MAIKO (25), from TOKYO What are your musings? “I’m so impressed. They’re gonna be huge. But this audience we very bad, very rude for Muse.” Matt’s not a happy boy, is he? “He’s a really powerful singer, but his lyrics are really, really negative. That gives me energy.” How would you make him feel better? “OK, I’ll go to sleep with him! Would I be any good? Um, blowjob!”
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