Plug-in Performance

If the new look Wembley Stadium were to have a theme tune, Public Enemy’s ‘Don’t Believe The Hype’ may well be appropriate. Not only does it look ghastly, but it’s hardly been the gladiatorial focal point of sporting excellence that it was touted as being.

Anyone following the national team doesn’t need me to point out the obvious disappointments, but add to that the worst FA Cup final in living memory and a bunch of Americans in garish padding churning the pitch to mud, and it’s fair to say that expectations are as yet unmet. (Plus, on the inside it looks like a friggin’ airport.) Of course Muse won’t let us down. Will they?

Recorded across two nights in June last year, H.A.A.R.P. naturally leans heavily in favour of their last two studio efforts – overly so if Absolution and Black Holes & Revelations left you rather cold. (Indeed, ‘Unintended’ is the sole representative of debut album Showbiz.) And unlike Hullabaloo, their previous live offering, H.A.A.R.P. doesn’t improve on the originals.

No matter how much I tweak the audio levels, ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ sounds disappointingly weak when it should be ripping a hole straight through my brain. ‘Plug In Baby’ also sounds rather plodding, no doubt dulled by overfamiliarity. However, on the plus side, ‘New Born’ seriously rocks.

So, the CD. Six songs less than the DVD in order to fit on one disc, it’s even more biased in favour of the new stuff, presumably to minimise overlap with the Hullabaloo live CD (only ‘Micro Cuts’ is common to both). It’s basically fine, the band are tight, and Matt Bellamy hits the high notes consistently well throughout, but it all feels a tad perfunctory. Maybe H.A.A.R.P. is more a visual experience.

Onto the DVD, which in itself has been edited down, with ‘Bliss’ among others left on the cutting room floor. The first thing that strikes you is that Wembley is a hideous venue and everything looks a little lost and insignificant.