Stage Review: Jeff Wayne's The War of The Worlds at Motorpoint Arena

Taking our seats in the arena, it is clear it is a packed house tonight, with only a few odd seats and empty rows across all the blocks on the floor and in the stands. The anticipation is high as the Martian’s tripod fighting machine is visibly hanging over the stage, and ominous electronic sounds and lights begin to pulse from the stage. Eventually, the orchestra players take to the stage, shortly followed by the band on the opposite side. Last to emerge is Jeff Wayne himself who gets a huge ovation from the crowd, taking his place as conductor in the middle of the stage in an enclosed circular stand, which almost looks like a spaceship of his own.

We then get a pre-recorded message from Callum O’Neill as H.G. Wells, before Liam Neeson’s hologram appears for the first time to introduce us to The Journalist, the primary narrator for the evening. Soon the orchestra and band come alive, with the iconic string arrangements for The Eve of the War reverberating around the arena bowl for the first time, as celestial visuals appear on the giant LED screens alongside the cast roll call. As the Martian spaceships continue to be shown getting closer to earth, Charlie Simpson – best known as the singer and guitarist in Busted – takes to the stage for the first time, his gravelly vocals becoming the sung thoughts of Liam Neeson’s character.

Soon enough, the Martians arrive at Nottingham Arena and the full impressive scale of tonight’s production becomes apparent. Rapidly moving spotlights begin to target members of the audience, acting as the Martians’ deadly heat rays, while fire balls also omit from the stage quickly and suddenly. It’s a dazzling spectacle to behold, all while Liam Neeson’s hologram continues to narrate over the LED visuals and Jeff Wayne conducts the impeccable band and orchestra.

From the smoke then appears Enter Shikari’s enigmatic frontman Rou Reynolds, who tonight is playing The Artilleryman. It’s his first stage role but you wouldn’t know it as he is seemingly made for the part, seamlessly interacting with Neeson’s hologram before disappearing into an underground grate in the middle of the arena. As he does this, the Martian tripod finally descends from the ceiling above the stage with dramatic effect, its eyes lighting up and legs extending to full stretch around Jeff Wayne, who is still conducting underneath the terrifying fighting machine. The audience can’t take their eyes off it, hypnotised by this animatronic being as it begins to shoot out huge fire balls in time with the music.

After the action and drama of the Horshell Common battle, the pace is then slowed as Charlie Simpson returns to the stage again for a passionate performance of Forever Autumn. Again, the visuals are spectacular, with confetti leaves falling from the ceiling and blowing around the arena as he cries out the famous “’cause you’re not here...” refrain.

The story then eventually shifts to the seas, with operatic rock vocalist Nathan James performing as The Voice of Humanity, a role he has held since 2018. It’s soon obvious to see why the role belongs to him now, his powerful performance of Thunder Child telling the story of Earth’s Navy battle with the Martians. His bellowing voice echoes impressively around the arena and no doubt leaves a few audience jaws on the floor. We then get a final burst of flames from the Martian tripod which signifies the end of part one.

After a short break to allow the audience to catch their breath after a thrilling first half, H.G. Wells and The Journalist then welcome us back into the story, as Jeff Wayne, the orchestra and band also return to the stage. Carrie – played by Jeff’s daughter Anne-Marie Wayne – joins Charlie Simpson on stage for a brief reprisal of Forever Autumn, before the LED visuals illlustrate The Red Weed taking over the Earth. The audience is then introduced to Parson Nathaniel for the first time played by Max George, lead singer of boy band The Wanted. He, The Journalist and Beth (played by actress Maisie Smith) explore religion and Nathaniel’s growing insanity during The Spirit of Man, with George’s performance as the troubled Parson one of the standouts of the whole evening.

Returning to a London left in rubble, Liam Neeson’s Journalist then finds Rou Reynold’s Artilleryman once again. Rou then takes centre stage, quite literally thanks to a bridge that descends from the ceiling and creates a path from the main stage to the middle of the arena floor. Rou details how Earth can be rebuilt underground during a truly epic performance of a Brave New World, bounding about the arena via the bridge, while still somehow remaining pitch perfect. He even pulls out his trumpet at one point, something that will no doubt please the Shikari fans in the audience – given the amount of t-shirts we’ve seen sporting the band’s logo, we’d say there’s a fair few in tonight.

Rou’s big number ultimately brings the show to its grand finale, the story wrapping up with bacteria defeating the Martians and surviving families being reunited with their loved ones. The whole cast take to the stage for a brief reprisal of Brave New World, before H.G. Wells delivers his epilogue – one that feels particularly poignant given current events. Shots of NASA bases and the Mars rover landing are then shown on the LED screens, with the Pasadena branch of NASA represented physically on the stage. One by one the video feeds drop out, before a big explosion destroys the last NASA platform on the stage and the alien tripod hanging above lights up one final time.

It's an ominous and dramatic end to a truly outstanding show, as the cast, orchestra, band and finally Jeff Wayne himself, all take their final bows to a huge standing ovation. From the mind-blowing production, the exceptional cast and scarily relevant story, to the incredible orchestration, mind-melting guitar-shreds and memorable musical performances, this was a spectacle that was truly out of this world.

Jeff Wayne’s The War of the Worlds - The Spirit of Man Tour was performed at Motorpoint Arena on Thursday 10^th April 2025