FRESH from winning an MTV Europe music award last week and stunning performances at the Reading and Leeds Festivals this summer, Muse made a triumphant return to Belfast on Saturday.

   Thousands of music fans from all over the country flocked to the Odyssey arena to catch Matt Bellamy and co, who are rapidly becoming the hottest live band in Europe.

   Support came from the Noisettes, a London four piece fronted by the supreme Shingai Shoniwa.

   Clad in a silver jumpsuit and manically darting about the stage, her snarling yet soulful vocals resembled a mad cross between Johnny Rotten and Aretha Franklin.

   Excitement began to mount as the stage was set for Muse. Suddenly the lights went out and a large black curtain dropped, revealing a brilliant sci-fi themed stage, laden with more lights than Piccadilly Circus.

   The Devonian three-piece then made their way onto stage, kicking off with “Take a Bow.”   

   Haunting chants of “You’ll burn in hell for your sins,” set the tone for a particularly dark set which boasted tracks from new album “Black holes and Revelations,” as well as classics from their extensive back catalogue.

   Although some fans questioned the band’s move towards trance and electronica on the release of their latest album, new tracks like “Map of the Problematique,” and “Exo-Politics,” were warmly received.

   Frontman Matt Bellamy, despite keeping crowd interaction to a minimum, displayed fantastic showman ship dressed in a long black military-style tail coat reminiscent of a futuristic undertaker.

   The apocalyptic themed show was reinforced by captivating visuals played above the band on giant screens.

   However, it wasn’t always effective, like during “Supermassive Black Hole,” when marching robots were projected behind the band, looking as cutting edge as Saturday night Dr Who.

   Despite this, the song was one of the night’s highlights, with its fantastically dirty groove and Matt’s-Prince like falsetto commanding the enormous venue.

   Unsurprisingly though, the band’s older material went down best.

   “Plug in Baby,” was a huge crowd pleaser as was “Bliss,” when gigantic balloons were released into the arena from the side of the stage, all to be promptly burst by the crowd, showering them with red confetti.

   Muse were still engaging even during the quieter parts of the show, like when Matt took to the piano for a haunting rendition of “Soldier’s Poem,” from the new album.

   In no time, Muse had left the stage after intense versions of “Time is Running Out,” and “Stockholm Syndrome,” from their “Absolution,” album.

   They quickly returned for an encore to perform the rousing “Starlight,” which seems to have become a live anthem in the space of only months.

   Next came “Muscle Museum,” before finished with their current single, “Knights of Cydonia.”

   So many bands are wrongly described as “epic,” nowadays, yet this intense and victorious set closer really was spectacular.

   By far one of the biggest gigs to take place in the North this year, Muse did not fail to disappoint with their tight, polished, yet almost effortless live charm.  

   Before leaving the stage, drummer Dominic Howard made the mistake of shouting the “You’re the best audience we’ve played to yet,” cliché.