MANIC STREET PREACHERS | LIVE REVIEW
Cardiff Castle, Sat 29 June
It’s almost too perfect. The sun is out and there is a beautiful breeze crossing the evening sky, ensuring that the Welsh flag is fluttering perfectly over Cardiff Castle. On top of that, the Manic Street Preachers are due on stage at any moment. Now if they would just lower those beer prices.
A huge crowd has assembled to watch the Blackwood boys hit the capital once again, this time to play out their classic 1998 album This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours in its entirety, albeit in a different order. The hardcore Manics fans in their leopard-print attire cling to the barriers as James, Nicky and Sean, backed up by their touring band, hit the stage to The Everlasting with Dylan Thomas poetry and some beautiful Welsh photography providing commentary to the track on the screens behind.
The anthemic You Stole The Sun From My Heart, sung back by the crowd with gusto, is always a live treat, and as the band proceed through TIMTTMY we are treated to a poignant moment as James Dean Bradfield strums his way through Born A Girl. Nicky addresses the crowd telling of his love for Virgin Megastore back in the day whilst giving shout outs to Spillers Records and HMV. They even play the Hillsborough themed S.Y.M.M. and the crowd ‘pop’ for If You Tolerate This, Your Children Will Be Next – which signals the end of the album and on to their regular setlist.
The Anchoress lends her beautiful vocals to Your Love Alone Is Not Enough and a roaring rendition of Little Baby Nothing. Eyeliner is getting smudged and glitter is flying as the crowd whip themselves into a frenzy. Motorcycle Emptiness is rolled out and people are screaming in unison as the band smash through Everything Must Go. Bradfield then promises a giftwrapped present for each and every one of us: sadly, it’s not cheaper bar prices, but it is a note-perfect cover of Guns N’ Roses’ Sweet Child O’ Mine, lapped up by the older rockers with a breakout of some serious dad dancing.
La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh) provides more karaoke opportunities to, by this point, quite a drunken crowd, then it’s all the way back to the debut album Generation Terrorists for You Love Us, as always dedicated to Richey Edwards. As images of the band’s early days with Edwards are flashed up on the screens, you are reminded that this band know all about tragedy and adversity.
Of course, they finish up with A Design For Life which if nothing else provides the crowd with an opportunity to swing their beers around shouting “We only want to get drunk”. Oh, the irony. The Manics had this Cardiff crowd in the palm of their hand all night; they’ve done it before and they’ll do it again, it’s what the Manics do best and nobody does it better.
words CHRIS ANDREWS photos TIM ALBAN
