In their return to Greece after 6 long years Muse showed in front of a diverse but enthusiastic crowd why they belong in the premier league of rock bands today.

The combination of work obligations and of a perfectly timed protest headed for the US embassy, with the very original demand for NATO bases to leave Greece, resulted in arriving to the OAKA stadium a bit late, at the beginning of Yungblud’s show. The young British singer’s music didn’t really impress me that much, but its familiar pop punk sound wasn’t out of place and was judged rather positively, especially for the part of the audience that appreciates a more 90s influenced sound. He does seem to have lots of energy and audacity, in a good sense, which is helpful in this line of work.

On time for their rendezvous with the Eject festival crowd, a little before 22.00, Matt Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard came on stage masked, at first, with the fresh and recent ‘Will of the People’, which quickly made way for the first fan favorite of the night, ‘Hysteria’. Good sound overall, maybe a little low, and 3 experienced and ultra-talented performers in absolute control of the situation, ready to offer a rich menu.

‘Citizen Erased’, which we mentioned in the cover story published on rockpages.gr before the show, was beautifully performed, while the classic trio comprised of ‘Madness’, ‘Supermassive Black Hole’, and ‘Plug in Baby’ raised enough dust to make us think of the fields of Malakassa, where the Rockwave festival used to take place.

From the new album, which was represented more than any other at the end of the day, but without it being overwhelming, I singled out ‘Kill or Be Killed’, played during the encore, which was heavy, different, and ambitious. ‘Compliance’ on the other hand, may not be terribly special musically, lyrically though it does describe with terrifying accuracy what has been happening to societies in the last couple of years.

And, of course, there was the knightly, noble finale, with the beloved ‘Knights of Cydonia’.

Lastly, two well-meaning objections about the organization. If you choose to separate the venue into different price zones, it should be done in such a way that the front of stage area isn’t left empty-looking. Otherwise, from the artist’s point of view, there is the crowd, a weird dead zone, and then the crowd again. Also, at the exit, the police should be there to guarantee that leaving the parking lot isn’t longer than the headliner’s show.

Romanos Terzis