Week 21

Week 21 - Saturday 21^st May – Cardiff Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff – Manic Street Preachers - £30.25

“Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads. . .”

We did need roads, so I’m not quite sure what Cousin Bish was on about. Following a swift lift from the ever-generous Parge, during which we neared speeds of 88mph, the jammy J-mo, custardy Cousin Bish, rhubarby Ryan of Brum and iceberg lettucey I, met the sugary Sandro at the Pen and Wig, where I had some toffee appley ciders, while the others drank normal drinks. It was the second gig in as many days for me and Sandro and clearly my foodstuffs obsessed mind was frazzled.

After leaving The Pen, we headed to the Motorpoint Arena where we were looking forward to seeing South Wales’ very own Manic Street Preachers. We stocked up on bottles of Carlsberg which, at three for a tenner, was the closest thing to a bargain on offer, and took up a central position fairly far forward in the crowd. For the second time this year we were thoroughly entertained by fellow Welsh band The Joy Formidable who played a six-song supporting slot. Although I’d thought the notoriously cavernous arena might be a bit too big for the trio, they had no such problems. Considering their debut album was called The Big Roar I shouldn’t have been surprised, and they continue to grow in my estimation, which will no doubt please them.

They began in typically hectic fashion with ‘Greyhounds in The Slips’ which was the only song they played that didn’t appear on that first album. They also played ‘Austere’, ‘The Greatest Light is the Greatest Shade’, ‘Cradle’ and ‘Buoy’ which made me almost happy enough to smile, before finishing with ‘Whirring’, complete with a trademark two minute thrash out at the end. Their short European tour with The Manics will no doubt introduce them to, and win, scores of new fans such as the influential J-Mo, who was on the phone to his cousin Chuck within seconds. “Chuck! Chuck! It's J-Mo. Your cousin, J-Mo BERRY! You know that new sound you're looking for? Well, listen to this!”

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Despite being a long term fan, and although The Manics were local boys who’d formed before I was even born, I’d only managed to see them live once before, at the same venue back in 2007 with Sandro, when it was still known as the CIA. It was that great sage Sandro who’d introduced my young ears to The Manics back when Everything Must Go came out. Hearing ‘Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier’ via the wonders of the Walkman and its chorus of “It’s so fucking funny, it‘s absurd” for the first time, taught me a new word that I‘ve used every day ever since.

It’s absurd that they now have ten albums and more than two decades worth of touring under their belt, and love or loath them, their story is undeniably interesting and colourful. With two intelligent lyricists in Nicky Wire and Richey Edwards, their lyrics are full of literary references and socialist politics that I’ve pretended to understand for many years. While somehow cramming lines into the tiniest of spaces, James Dean Bradfield and his cousin Sean Moore have managed to write some terrific tunes to accompany them.

On this occasion, they called on material from all of their albums save Journal for Plague Lovers (which is brilliant, but not exactly full of sing-alongs), and kicked off with ‘Stay Beautiful’ from debut Generation Terrorists. That was followed by a more recent favourite ‘Your Love Alone Is Not Enough’ before they really got things going with the classic ‘Motorcycle Emptiness’, which was a single way back in 1992. 2010’s ‘(It's Not War) - Just The End Of Love’  was next before they went back in time to second album Gold Against The Soul’s ‘Life Becoming a Landslide’. “Great Scott!” Cousin Bish said “what a song!” although being a fan of natural disasters, he was disappointed not to hear ‘Tsunami’ at all.

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They played only two songs from what is arguably their best album, The Holy Bible, the rip-roaring ‘Faster’ and somewhat surprisingly ‘Of Walking Abortion’. Sandro especially was looking forward to ‘Yes’ which contains his favourite word, and another favourite of his, ‘She is Suffering’. Even I knew there was no chance of hearing ‘Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit’sworldwouldfallapart’ but was still surprised by the disgusted looks I got when I sang its chorus later on, and felt that Sandro labelling me a “Butthead” was uncalled for.

Lifeblood’s ‘Solitude Sometimes Is’ was the one song that Sandro felt was a dud, and he told me how much he hated manure, which was pretty irrelevant, but he sung along as loud as anybody to ‘You Stole The Sun From My Heart’ which isn’t one of my own favourites, but was a highlight of the set. ‘Postcards From A Young Man’ the title track of their latest album then preceded the riotous ‘Motown Junk’ complete with an intro of the Welsh national anthem, but missing some key lyrics (“I laughed when Tarbuck got shot!”). After a cracking performance of their first number one single, ‘If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next’, there was then a break of sorts.

The Manics don’t seem to bother with encores as such, instead Nicky Wire and Sean Moore took a well earned break, while the tireless James Dean Bradfield performed a couple of acoustic songs including a favourite of Welsh football fans, their cover of ‘Can't Take My Eyes Off You’ and ‘Everything Must Go’. When the band was returned to full strength, the Motorpoint was rocking again to the sound of their other number one,‘The Masses Against the Classes’.

Things slowed back down significantly for Know Your Enemy’s ‘Let Robeson Sing’, the new album's ‘Some Kind Of Nothingness’ and their most famous cover, the misleading ‘Suicide is Painless’, before an intro of AC/DC’s ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ lead into the presumptuous ‘You Love Us’. They closed an amazing show in style with ‘A Design For Life’, a song typical of their ability to turn meaningful lyrics into sing along anthems, and with no sense of irony at all, we sang along clashing our beers above our heads with pride.

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The Molyneux was on the mind of Ryan of Brum, who headed home early to shake nervously all night long, worrying about his beloved Wolves who were in a desperate fight for survival the next day. J-Mo had told him that he had nothing to worry about, which made him all the more nervous. The rest of us headed to The Old Library, where some incredible shapes were thrown, including the terrifying triangle and old favourites like the Zoidberg. Suitably disturbed, Sandro made like a tree and got out of there.

After Cousin Bish had intimidated several women by subtly blocking their paths with his six foot three frame, we took to the catwalk where J-Mo tried to turn pimp to disastrous effect. He was under the impression that if I didn‘t charm a particular lady, he would cease to exist. I wandered across the dance floor with my chocolate milkshake and said “I’m your density!” to the unsuspecting girl, who smiled politely, before disappearing with someone who wasn’t dressed solely in purple Calvin Klein underwear. J-Mo then mysteriously disappeared altogether, leaving me and Cousin Bish both relieved and delighted.

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May

30-6 - Camden Crawl  - ✓
7-13 - Devlin - ✓
14-20 - Beatles For Sale - ✓
21-27 - Manic Street Preachers - ✓
28-3 - We Are Scientists