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Muse

Earls Court, London on 19th December 2004
Reviewed by Rall on 23rd December 2004

I had the flu. I had a fever. I had the worst period pains I have ever experienced.

I had the best night it's possible to have while keeping your clothes on.

So good in fact, if they really do make a DVD (which the large number of random camera men suggested) it will probably have to be classified as porn.

It's not very often I get very excited about gigs and then leave feeling that my expectations were met, let alone surpassed. But this time... was the exception.

Soulwax

Dressed a la Interpol, the first band of the night was Soulwax. I note that since I last saw them anywhere, one of them has under-gone a sex change and fissioned into two.

Playing a very new album heavy (as you would expect really) set, they were crammed into one corner of the stage and someone had clearly sabotaged their sound settings. It sounded shite. And it wasn't even because they have bad songs. A few were a little over long maybe, but I genuinely warmed to them.

I kind of felt that I was possibly the only one.

Rating: 6/10
Website: www.soulwax.com

The Zutons

I love the Zutons. A genuinely nice, enthusiastic and (unlike Muse) chatty band. You might excuse Muse for not conversing with the crowd by saying that they don't really need to do things like that to excite the audience, but neither do the Zutons.

I think the Muse crowd were probably the toughest the Zutons have had to play to, but I definitely feel as though they won a few people over. Apart from the people who were sat on the floor next to my feet the whole time they were on.

But that's their loss. The Zutons are a genuine party band, with sing-along, clap-along tunes and I reckon they could even have gotten away with playing a couple more songs.

After an Autumn/Winter plagued by band illnesses they rounded the year off perfectly.

Rating: 8/10
Website: www.thezutons.co.uk

MUSE

Talking of bad years, this year has been a personal worst and professional best for Muse. To be honest, there are only four words I need to say for this part of the review:

OH MY FUCKING GOD

But I wouldn't want to cheat my fans.

Never before have I jumped around like such a complete mental patient and to be honest, I'm not the only one who can say they will probably never witness anything quite so.. amazing ever again. That is unless they can jump into a time machine and go to the Monday gig. Or even back to the Sunday.

I really fucking wish I had a time machine.

Admittedly, the venue was too big (and they never gave me back my very pretty ticket) but Muse could fill a space infinitely bigger. The size of Earls Court probably also explains the Showbiz-lite setlist. The Showbiz tracks were never meant to fill such a space. Which is a shame because it means we'll probably never hear any of them live ever again.

I don't really have much more to say. But I know I won't possibly be able to go another year without hearing from Muse again, so I'll just have to keep in my head the moment the confetti came raining down on me for the last time and I realised I was in a room with Muse and they were playing for ME.

OH. MY. FUCKING. GOD.

Rating: 10/10
Website: muse.mu

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