KILBURNFLYER

Muse at Wembley Stadium was every bit as preposterous as I had hoped. A massively over the top show to accompany their usual highly polished musical performance. Always impressive and never a disappointment. Biffy Clyro gave good support.

KILBURNFLYER

A very busy few days started with Muse at the O2. Every time I see this band I am always enormously impressed - they are just so tight - they almost seem to be trying so hard because they can't quite believe they are there. They always seem to put 100% into every show - wish I could say that about evry band I see - and are always looking at how to make the show visually more interesting. As ever a great show - from what I can recall pretty similar to Teignmouth show with the new songs blending with the old effortlessly.

Stupidly early the next morning was on a flight to NYC to see Metallica at Madison Square Garden - twice. Yes, yes I know it is a stupidly expensive thing to do but fuck me was it worth it. Metallica were supported by Volbeat - as good as I remember them from Download but more enjoyable now that I know some of their stuff. Lamb of God from "Richmond Motherfuckin Virginia" (all the 15 year olds in the audience love this way of talking but I am a bit old for that) as I fear I might be for Lamb of God - they were, well, a bit dull. Seen them support Heaven and Hell as well as at Sonisphere and a few flashes of good stuff but mainly dull. I hope I change my mind as they are clearly in this for the long haul - not sure what it is - I should like them but Lamb of God, Trivium and most surprisingly Machine Head - none of them do it for me.

Metallica on the other hand were a different class - back to the more familiar Death Magnetic set list - even on consecutive nights they managed to mix up the order and swop a few sings in and out to always keep me interested. Diamond Head's The Prince on Saturday and the Misfits' Last Caress on Sunday were the added bonus songs. They were just so professional - although still not convinced that the "in the round" show is as good as an old fashioned stage at one end. Funniest thing of the night was my wife (not a big Metallica fan) mishearing the lyrics to Master of Puppets - she was convinced one of the the lines was something like "save your badger" - well it made me laugh. Fucking superb - and worth every penny!!

KILBURNFLYER

Muse at Teignmouth. Well, where do you start? A 5 hour journey from London was worth every second as they were, as ever, excellent. I don't know who their sound engineer is but he should hire himself out to other bands - the sound was crystal clear - as it always is and that makes such a difference. An unusually slow start but all the big songs were in there and a storming ending with Knights of Cydonia. So looking forward to a repeat at the 02 in November and the new album has been ordered.

KILBURNFLYER

Joy unbound. Got tickets to the Muse shows at Teignmouth on Sept 5.

KILBURNFLYER

Ace Frehley surprisingly good - was never much of a Kis fan but he was very entertaining. Am always amazed that Kiss has such a loyal and somewhat fanatical following and they were queueing round the block for this one.

Muse were again magnificent and belted out everything that you would expect. Great to see them in such a good venue - the Albert Hall is just the business.

KILBURNFLYER

All the way to Dubai to attend Desert Rock 2008 just to see Muse - call me bonkers but was worth every penny. As Wembley last year they were magnificant, in Dubai I think they were probably better. The sound was superb and with a completely stripped down show - no light show to speak of and half hearted attempt at a few videos on the big screens but just played their socks off. More than can be said for most of the other bands apart from Marky Ramone who was just fantastic - basically played the best of the Ramones with a tribute band but was fucking great. Velvet Revolver a bit dull until they palyed it's so easy and then they livened up a bit. Slash needs to mix it up a bit more and look a bit more interested if they are to progress. Everyone else was just tedious. Very disappointed in Korn and As I lay Dying both of whom I had high hopes for but neither were up to much. The round trip was worth it just for Muse and Marky Ramone was a good bonus.

Asia last night at Shepherds Bush was great - all the first album plus Fanfare for the Common Man, Roundabout, Court of the Crimson King and Video Killed the Radio Star - I know that last one is considered a bit of a joke but I always thought Trevor Horn was a great bass player and the song really does stand the test of time even if the rest of the band seemed a bit embarrassed at playing it. I hate drum solo's - usually an excuse for a piss or a pint but a Carl Palmer drum solo is the only one I will watch (apart from Neal Peart) and he again proved he is just a fucking brilliant drummer.