A Shirt on Sunday - Manic Street Preachers – 17/5/2019 – Shepherds Bush Empire

This was my tenth Manics gig, and once more a random anniversary – 20(ish) years of ‘This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours’. It’s nearly 20 years since my first Manics gig, when they headlined the Reading Festival in 2001. That was a cracking day out – my first visit to the Festival, accompanied by Iain, my sister and her husband and saw Rancid, Frank Black & The Catholics, Fun Lovin’ Criminals, Feeder, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Supergrass, OPM (who?) and the Manics closing the night. I wasn’t much of a fan, but Iain was and dragged me down the front. I was amazed, and went CD shopping not long after.

‘TIMTTMY’ was the first album written after Richey Edwards’ disappearance, when his car was found parked at one end of the Severn Bridge. As such it features anger, bereavement and sadness. Nicky Wire had to write all the lyrics rather than collaborating with Richey, and they’d lost the ideologue who drove their image and attitude.

In that situation, it’s astonishing that they came up with an album that defined their future sound and also brought them up a level of fame to the point of selling out arenas and headlining Reading Festival. Most of this can be laid at the feet of the single ‘If You Tolerate This Then Your Children Will Be Next’ – the band’s first Number 1 single. Not bad for a song about Welsh volunteers in the Spanish Civil War, and just goes to show you can mix pop & politics.

20 years later I’m standing near the front of the crowd in Shepherds Bush Empire listening to a couple of young women discuss how many of the gigs they’re attending on this tour. They can’t be old enough to remember the album coming out, let alone ‘Holy Bible’ and the earlier work.

The support act is ‘Gwenno’, from Wales. A woman fronting a small indie rock band and couple of cellists. She plinks a bit of piano and occasionally what I take to be an electric lyre. Imagine Kate Bush channeling Siouxsie Sioux, with a bit PJ Harvey thrown in, while singing in Welsh. Pretty bloody good, I think you’ll agree. She even got us singing along in Welsh to a chorus dealing with the vexed topic: “Is There Cheese?”

Gwenno

We’ve been promised the full album, and before the Manics come on stage there’s a tape of what I thought was a backing track to ‘If You Tolerate…’ but is apparently a remix. The band then came on stage and blasted into Side one, track one: ‘The Everlasting’. Being a trio, there’s six people on stage. They have two additional guitarists and keyboard player, all of whom have been working with the band for years and the keyboard player was on the album. But the Manics are a trio.

Wayne Murray, Sean Moore, James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire

The stage is bare and the lighting sparse – harsh white lights shining into the audience, which if memory serves is what they had 20 years ago. They work through the album, but skip ‘Tolerate This…’ and I’m astonished at how great it all sounds live. Listening to the album I always feel it deflates towards the end, but not on the night. Every song is played with energy and intent. James Dean Bradfield is in fine form – the voice is strong and the banter is cheerful. He mentions that this was the era of Nicky Wire’s best dresses (these days he wears white suits) and that for ‘Born a Girl’ they were recording in France, so used an accordion! Here it is just guitar, piano and voice, with Bradfield seeming to rediscover the fragility of the lyrics.

Manic Street Preachers

They finish the last song of the album and then launch into ‘Tolerate…’ which is anthemic and beautifull. From there we get a short greatest hits set featuring most of my favourite Manics songs, including ‘La Tristesse Durera’ which is probably my absolute favourite.

Manic Street Preachers

‘No Surface All Feeling’ signals the end of the gig and I make my way out of the mosh, which has suddenly filled with drunken idiots intent on throwing around themselves and their beer without the respect that normally comes with moshing. I hadn’t intended to buy a t-shirt, as they none were a patch on the Japanese desgn of the last tour, but this was such a great concert I feel it must be commemorated. Having made my choice, I watch ‘Design For Life’ from the back of the room and then we all drift into the night.

Nick Wire addresses the congregation

Set List

Videos

As ever the photos are mine, but the videos are taken from the web.

Tsunami

La Tristesse Durera

A Design For Life

The next night, but I love that it's from the back of the Empire