Muse

I start with a word of advice to Mr Matt Bellamy: destroy your synthesizer, piano and keytar. Get rid of them. Sell them on eBay for a few quid. More directly; recognise that Citizen Erased, Sunburn and Starlight were flukes. You are not skilled on these instruments, and you are definitely not the operatic prodigy your latest turd of a release "The Resistance" purports you to be.

The worst part when considering the above is that Bellamy is both a very skilled songwriter and an amazing guitarist. Yet Muse's intense focus in recent times in being both the most accessible and the most artistic act on the planet has meant success in only one of those fields; in the other lies a pile of cliche-riddled synth-pop and painfully ordinary rock.

On the topic of painfully ordinary rock, I'm not sure whether Biffy Clyro sits in or out of that critique in recent times. An ear-aching mix at the Acer Arena did them no favors - the first four songs were a sea of reverb that would make some of shoegaze's greatest proud. I remained with the view that recent single Mountains is boring as hell. The audience, probably as confused as I was as to why a shirtless three-piece from Scotland had a business-suit-clad man suffering epilepsy on rhythm guitar beside them, politely clapped.

Then again, many things confuse me. Such as some of the visual choices made by Muse throughout the night on the huge LCD pillars they regularly found themselves on. From bad 3D graphics to videos of war torn nations it all felt very 80's science class video. I won't hold it against them, specifically. Too many musicians, from superstar DJs to arena rock bands, get overwhelmed when presented with that much LCD screen estate to fill. To date, the only act to succeed in this field are the Gorillaz. But even then, Matt, Dom and Chris have mastered the art of arena stage presence. Their moves and attitude fill the room far more efficiently than any lightshow, and it shows when their extended guitar solos get louder cheers than some of their singles.

Combining this with their aforementioned ineptitude to write anything with a keyboard means that many of the highlights came through the rougher, guitar-driven moments. It's easy to forget amongst the screaming twilight fangirls and Guitar Hero: World Tour masters that for much of the past decade, Muse has been a constant source of great alternative rock. The Absolution duo of Hysteria and Stockholm Syndrome, as well as recent "world greatest riff" winner Plug-In Baby, show three friends inspired by equal parts Pink Floyd and Nirvana putting their souls into their music. This energy shows on stage as well as in the crowd and proves just how powerful these guys can be with the right tune in their hands.

Wikileaks' founder Julian Assange is name-dropped, Muse let their biggest hit to date drop flat on the ground. They still remain a remarkable live band that just has to learn to write good songs again. But as I saw a father and very young daughter (both in muse shirts) talking enthusiastically about Joy Division before the show started, maybe this move isn't so bad for the world as a whole.

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