Matt Bellamy
Muse had managed to create a lot of excitement around their headline slots at this year's Reading and Leeds Festival.
They announced earlier this year that they were going to play their second album Origin of Symmetry in full for the first - and almost certainly last - times ever.
Whilst this special occasion helped the initial atmosphere, and Muse's typically stunning live show saw them in fine form, the album itself fell quite flat in the live festival environment.
When we covered the album for our monthly Classic Cuts feature, we said that there "isn't a huge amount of diversity across the first 8 tracks."
This was exposed live, as the set started to drag, the crowd only really coming alive for the first time as the trio launched into a wonderful rendition of 'Plug In Baby'.
Once 'Megalomania' finished and the first hour drew to a close, the band burst through a hit-filled hour, starting with 'Uprising'.
It was here that Muse exceled, with excellent and stunning performances of tracks like 'Starlight' and 'Time Is Running Out'.
If the first hour had dampened the crowd's mood and excitement, the second lit a fire under them as they sung along to every word.
By the time 'Knights of Cydonia' had reached its conclusion and the band left the stage, their set ultimately felt like one of two halves.
Whilst seeing Origin of Symmetry live was a nice moment, it was arguably wasted on a festival crowd, and could've been saved for a huge show for die-hard fans.
The second hour ensured that the energy was picked up as Muse ensured that everyone remembered why they are regarded as one of the greatest live bands in the world.
They overcame technical issues (the screens were down for a long segment of the show, and there was a brief sound issue) and put on a set worthy of headlining, it just took a while to get there.
Female First - Alistair McGeorge
Tagged in Muse