Watching a Gig in a Cinema: Muse - Live at Rome Olympic Stadium

Guest Post by Holly Brockwell

When I heard that Muse’s Rome Olympic Stadium gig was being screened in cinemas, I was skeptical. Surely it’s going to be really weird watching a gig in a cinema? Surely there’s no atmosphere, or dancing, or interaction of any kind?

This isn't perspective, Matt Bellamy is actually 20 feet tall.

Well, I wasn’t wrong. It was one of the most sterile events I’ve ever experienced. The cinema was two-thirds-empty, and although someone had gone to the effort of wearing a Muse tour t-shirt (overkill, I thought), the audience members acted like my ex in bed. By which I mean they didn’t move at all.

Maybe I’m just not British enough, but I found it impossible to sit still with those huge, thumping tunes blasting at me. First I nodded my head. Then I tapped my foot. Eventually I was full on fist-pumping and clapping along and literally not one person followed. I’m pretty sure the dude behind me was tweeting “Stuck behind the one idiot dancing in the cinema. They can’t see you, fuckstick” but I didn’t care. I’m just not capable of being that passive.

Pictured: not the cinema

But could you see Bellamy’s nose hairs?

The gig was pitched as ”4k ultra HD” with “amazing detail and close ups”.  Well Muse, I’m here to tell you that whoever sold you those cameras was pulling a fast one.  The picture was downright fuzzy at times, and definitely not noticeably better than watching TV. There were at least close ups, mostly involving Matt Bellamy’s shiny forehead and cavernous nostrils. Not that I minded.

Stylistically, the film was a bit of a mess. The creative direction was baffling – whose ideas was it to have several entire songs in black and white? I’ve paid a tenner to see a video in a cinema! If you can’t deliver the promised atomic detail, I at least expect bloody technicolour. The oldy-worldy vertical lines on the black and white shots were clichéd and the entire opening sequence – the really exciting bit that sets up the whole gig – was intentionally rendered out of focus. Why? Why do you hate my eyes?

As for the gig itself, I was lucky enough to see it in person at Emirates Stadium, so the big surprises (banker throws out money and dies on stage, woman resembling Geri Halliwell in the ‘Look At Me’ video guzzles petrol and expires, giant lightbulb floats over the stadium) weren’t new. But all the usual pomp and epic space-pimp styling were there – it’s just that I wanted to stand up and cheer and punch imaginary capitalists in the face, and my fellow Musers were having none of it. The most interesting outburst from any of them was when a woman suddenly and profusely vomited moments after the gig ended. 

Says it all, really.

Not many dudes can pull off the classic 'shiny blue suit.'

Need yourself some Muse-y goodness? Check out this here lovely video:

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Holly is a "writer, blogger, activist, strategist, mentalist" (not that I'm quoting from her Twitter or anything) and you can follow her @hollybrocks.

She also does some blogger-ing called Copybot which you should probably go read as well.

Peace and love.