Live Review: Muse, Nothing But Thieves

English band Muse finally brought their eye-boggling stage show to Sydney's shores and it was about as awesomely bombastic and over the top as you'd expect from the well-seasoned stadium rockers.

Nothing But Thieves offset this with grounded alt-rock that found its strength in riff-heavy guitars and a casual but conversational frontman. British lead singer Conor Mason brought plenty of character to their set. "We're not here to fuck spiders" was an Aussie phrase he found hilarious enough to share with the semi-packed crowd. This between-song banter escalated when he claimed "I'm gonna use the podium now. I don't know if [Muse lead singer] Matt Bellamy is gonna tell me off for it but fuck it." A stagehand then had to - very visibly - crouch centre stage in order to feed the guitar lead out to the podium so that the group could perform set closer Amsterdam.

With shifting pillars - all decked out with multiple LED screens - parading the stage in anticipation for the main show to kick off, you get the idea that Muse probably had bigger things on their mind than having their podium being used by the support band. When the trio emerged to the throbbing electronic bass riff of Dig Down, it was to the first of many rapturous pops from the audience that they would receive that evening.

The Drill Sergeant call and response had the whole stadium yelling back "aye, sir" in anticipation for its ensuing track Psycho and just as Dom Howard's drums joined that distinct guitar riff, we got our first spine-tingling moment of the night. "G'day Sydney," shouted lead man Matt Bellamy before letting bassist Chris Wolstenholme take the spotlight for the timelessly catchy Hysteria. Bellamy was hitting all his usual bravado, with guitar-swinging poses, and he looked as energetic as ever. 

Bellamy then teased the crowd by revving up his guitar for another fan-favourite, Plug In Baby. We all knew he was about to play that iconic, scalic guitar riff but he still kept us waiting and the payoff - thousands of people singing the guitar melody while jumping euphorically - was huge. Howard then brought something new to their stage show in the form of an impressive percussive looping sequence over The 2^nd Law: Isolated System that gave other band members a chance to catch a breather.

Muse were in fine form thus far and with a setlist that is known to rotate as frequently as Bellamy's guitar changes (four, so far), it was obvious they were treating us to a 'best of' setlist as they got into another stone-cold oldie, Stockholm Syndrome - complete with their outro cover of Rage Against The Machine's Freedom - and followed it up with pop hit Supermassive Black Hole.

Another, more recent, cover of theirs, The Cramps' New Kind Of Kick, saw Howard and Wolstenholme perform while Bellamy was nowhere to be seen, having left behind pre-recorded vocals. This caused the track to feel more like a filler song but, considering Bellamy spends 90% of the show jumping, running and screaming high falsettos at an unbelievable rate, it was more than understandable.

Fast-forward to the clap-along extravaganza that was Starlight and their long-term, unofficial fourth band member Morgan Nicholls had taken over guitar duties so that Bellamy could better interact with his audience. "We've missed you Sydney, it's great to be back," said the peppy frontman.

We reached the theatrical portion of Muse's live show after Time Is Running Out had reliably exhausted the crowd with its syncronised moshing. The theatrics kicked off with confetti and smoke machines during Mercy and was followed up with a glimpse into Bellamy's envisioned, war-torn dystopia during The Globalist. The latter song felt like a mini space-rock opera thanks to its longevity and mesmerising LED screens that depicted a burning and crumbling skyline before rising above to show the infinite cosmos of the universe.

Their encore was no small affair either, having saved their best for last. Uprising had the crowd fist-pumping in the air to the catch cry of "we will be victorious". This defiant spirit turned into outright chaos when Bellamy let loose Knights of Cydonia's rambunctious guitar solo to close the show.

The band may have dialled back - just a little - on the giant stage structures we've come to expect from them in the past but there's no denying Muse's uncanny ability to draw out every last bit of energy from their audience. Whenever Bellamy refused to shy away from the more demanding, deep, vibrato vocal lines that commanded so much sustaining power, we were reminded these guys still give their all to each and every performance and, with the boisterous singalongs that accompanied them, it's fair to say their fans aren't forgetting them anytime soon.