Gigs of the week: Muse, various venues

Muse lead singer Matt Bellamy (GETTY IMAGES)

Eyebrows were raised when Muse's Matt Bellamy claimed to be disappointed that his band's latest album didn't contain more acoustic material, and not only because he could surely have done something about it.

The titanic Teignmouth trio are, after all, the go-to group for high-grade excess, especially on The 2nd Law, which slaps down sci-fi R&B, rump-spanking funk-rock, symphonic anthemics, "brostep", and a steroidal mash-up of Bond-ian grandeur and Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" with relish.

Its flair for the florid would make Freddie Mercury blush, but there's more to Law than huff and puff: six albums in, Muse's dynamic dash and sense of fun remain thrillingly alive, saving them from the kind of platitudinous pomp peddled by other stadium-fillers.

They might be capable of seriousness on occasion, but they're not sententious. On which note, the news that huge, band-eating pyramids feature in their new show can only be good news.

SECC, Glasgow, Wed; 02 Arena, London SE10, Fri & 27 Oct (0871 220 0260; seetickets.com)