After the FA Cup final and the England friendly with Brazil, there was much talk about whether Wembley Stadium lived up to expectation. Although primarily the new venue has been built for major sporting occasions like football matches and the rugby league Challenge Cup Final, many of the most iconic nights in its history have been for music events: I need only say Live Aid and go no further.
Wembley Stadium should have been finished for the 2006 FA Cup final, with concerts for Bon Jovi, Rolling Stones, Take That and Robbie Williams also scheduled in. As we all know the building project was dominated by ballooning costs, with the final figure of £757 million a far cry from when Brian Barwick of the FA insisted that Wembley National Stadium Limited (the company set up by the FA to run the stadium) had a fixed price agreement with Multiplex to finish the job for £575 million. For this reason alone there are those who still regard the rebuild of England's national stadium as a laughing stock, but over a year late the venue is open for business once again.
My first and only visit to the old Wembley was for U2's 'Popmart' tour in 1997, I couldn't make the '99 Challenge Cup Final where London Broncos lost to Leeds Rhinos so have never experienced it on a sporting day, but comments from those who have (before and after the rebuild) say the wait for it to be finished was worth it. Part of the attraction when these Muse dates were announced was to see it for myself, so what is a day out in this bit of North London actually like?
Coming from Central London, it was the same journey for my many trips to the arena that now stands dwarfed by its new big brother - tube to Wembley Park. The delays on the Jubilee line caused by some idiot trespassing on the line at Swiss Cottage threatened to make this a frustrating start to the evening, however it seems that Dirty Pretty Things weren't exactly pulling up any trees and we made it just in time to see The Streets.
You don't need me to tell you what an impressive site the new home of English football is. Even if you haven't had the privilege of seeing it close up, any TV or press pictures tell you this is one mighty structure, with it's arch that towers 133 metres high. If you have a seat stuck up in the gods the sight inside, looking down on a pitch packed with fans is equally striking, one of the major selling points of this new stadium is that there are no places with an obstructed view, whereas in the old days up to 16,000 people would have had to put up with far from perfect seats.
There is something of a shopping centre air about the inside of the stands as you make your way from turnstile to seat, the escalators and constant wafting smell of fast food is also reminiscent of a very large motorway service station. Once you've found your spot, bought some expensive food (one R13 writer paid eight quid for fish and chips), visited one of the hundreds of bars and then relieved yourself of anything you might have drunk by choosing from what is claimed to be Europe's largest number of toilets (2,618), the real reason you're here has arrived.
It's an occupational hazard of enormous stadiums that sound of any form is a tricky thing to get right. How often have you heard football fans grumble about atmospheres in shiny new grounds? I don't envy those in charge of the sound at these shows as I can imagine this is one big job, but for those up high who may have wanted to fully enjoy the many support acts on offer over the two days, the standard was simply not good enough. Some who were at pitch level or in the lower part of the stand have told me it was much better down there, and maybe in future the organizers of these concerts should consider introducing a range of prices to match the value for money that fans are getting. If you go to a sporting event the prices relate to the standard of view, why for this event did they not take into consideration the quality of what you could hear? The noise created by the fans as they joined in with the multitude of crowd pleasing anthems on show in Muse's set was kept in well, suggesting that the atmosphere on a vibrant match day should be pretty special, but you can't help but wonder how many people attending shows such as Live Earth will find it a frustrating experience, missing out on the most important aspect of the day which is what is said between the acts.
Saturday's support bill was far weaker than Sunday's, but this was soon far from the mind once Muse had appeared at the end of the walkway in the centre of the crowd, paused to take in the shear size of this for themselves, and started making their way towards the stage, and the opening chords of 'Knights of Cydonia'.
This band aren't considered amongst the very best live acts in the world for nothing, and they fully justified their status as the UK's new stadium heroes. With a visual experience the likes of U2 and Iron Maiden would be proud of, over two consecutive nights they made a mockery of the decision to have one half of Wham play the first ever concert here one week earlier. Sure George Michael has a collection of very successful and popular yet bland songs, but stadiums are for rock bands that shake them to their very foundations, putting on shows to match the size of the surroundings. You can read a review of Muse on Saturday night here to get an idea of the show itself.
Having highlighted the questionable sound quality for the support acts, it's worth saying that for Muse things were significantly better, although still not as good as I've heard at massive open air gigs elsewhere. With the stadium having been built with the aim of giving everyone inside the best possible view of action on the pitch, the stunning theatrics of the Muse space age shows could be enjoyed even if you were nearer the moon than the stage.
As 'Black Holes and Revelations' opener 'Take A Bow' brought the two hour sets to their close both nights, those there to witness the biggest gigs of the Devon trio's career could reflect on an historic night for British music, when stadium rock, like football, found itself a new home. An equally pressing issue was how difficult it might be getting out again.
Squeezing tens of thousands of people into Wembley Park isn't a lot of fun. Although on Saturday night it was raining this didn't dampen any spirits but had it been totally lashing it down this may have been different. The stewarding and security for these events were efficient, not so the tube service on Sunday night with the Met line suspended and the Jubilee only running a "special" service; and they wonder why people still want to drive to such events? The leaflet that accompanied the tickets stated that there was no parking at the venue, meaning that those coming from outside London would have to park at an Underground station (easier said than done) and squash themselves on to a train that may, or may not, be running a reliable service. The addition of a well-advertised, efficient park and ride service would surely be worth considering.
July is a big month for the new stadium; Live Earth, the Princess Diana Concert and Metallica all come to North West London in the space of eight days. For a first time or infrequent gig-goer a visit to Wembley will undoubtedly be a special experience, the seasoned campaigner is more likely to spot the downsides. Depending on the event the fact it is impossible to hear what people say between songs if your seat is up high and that getting in and out still falls into the "pain in the arse" category are likely to annoy at some stage, but despite these issues, those attending any music event should find Wembley to be enjoyable but not perfect. First and foremost this is a sporting arena, that's where the money came from, but given that music fans will fill this thing throughout the summer, keeping the cash coming back, it's surely not unreasonable to expect one of the world's most ambitious music venues to tick all the boxes.