Muse review – dizzying rock spectacle for the machine age

London Stadium
Neon robots, isolation-suit acrobats, 23rd-century cops " the glam sci-fi fantasists throw the lot at their extravagantly dystopian stadium romp

'We are caged in simulations," reads the gigantic, stage-wide convex screen as a legion of neon robots with trombones herald Matt Bellamy rising from the centre of the stadium with android fanfares, as if the AI have arisen and stolen the jobs of the nearest marching band. So have Muse been a glitch in the matrix all along?

They always seemed a spectacular rock'n'roll programming error: three Teignmouth lads who became superstars by deciphering the malevolent sociopolitical virus code of the 21st century and delivering their findings in a blitz of operatic space rock, dystopian stage fantasies and solos resembling a cyborg Queen ferociously malfunctioning.