Muse at the St James

By REBECCA BARRY

The end is nigh, folks, so you'd better fit in as much as you can. Muse have known this for as long as they've penned songs about time running out, Armageddon and redeeming oneself before we're all wiped out.

Which possibly explains why, in the space of their 90-minute gig, they crammed in approximately 1.35 million notes.

It made for an exhausting aural experience. But it was also a thrilling, uplifting and technically amazing set that didn't let up from the spidery bass opening of Hysteria to the electrifying metal riffs of Stockholm Syndrome in the encore, which was accompanied by massive white balloons filled with confetti.

Frontman Matthew Bellamy was the crux of the performance, executing a range of excellent rock star poses - doubling over his guitar as if suffering severe appendicitis, whipping it round in circles, wrestling with it like a beast on the floor.

On the keys he was equally formidable - virtuosic baroque flourishes one minute, crashing Rachmaninov-style chords and eerie ELO atmospherics the next.

Had Dr Who turned up in his Tardis, or the statues adorning the walls of the St James come to life, it would have made perfect sense.

Bellamy is a man of few words, bizarrely, leaving most of the between-song banter to drummer Dominic Howard, who attacked his skins as though it really was his last performance. Bass player Chris Wolstenholme was in great form too, despite recently injuring his wrist.

Together they possessed a powerful yet slightly introspective stage presence, those busy prog-rock moments sometimes distancing them from the sold-out throng. You don't feel as though you're witnessing something as dangerous as you would at, say, Metallica. I'm pretty sure my parents would like Muse.

That said, there's an almost macabre sense of euphoria that takes over when they bust into some of the more bombastic moments - the pompous operatics of Apocalpyse Now, the soaring pop of Plug In Baby or the otherworldly drama of Butterflies & Hurricanes.

Sometimes that full-throttle approach could have done with a slightly wider dynamic range - those quieter moments came as a bit of a relief.

But for the most part, Muse were mighty impressive. If this really is the end, it's a great way to go.