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MANIC STREET PREACHERS
Finland is a very “metal” country. No less a personage than
Iron Maiden tosser Bruce Dickenson has described it as “the home
of metal.” Even your
The answer is a firm yes to the thrivage. The Manics were fabulous tonight and right from the moment they launched into Motorcycle Emptiness the fun they are having just simply being the Manic Street Preachers was there for all to see. It’s in James forgetting almost all the words to You Stole The Sun To My Heart but not giving a shit, it’s in the way they fizzed through Umbrella and Pennyroyal Tea (which rocked by the way), it’s in Nicky Wire’s frankly appalling pink trousers. That the old songs are great is a given but the relief that the band finally have new material that stands alongside anything they’ve ever recorded is tangible. Everyone knows the words to Your Love Alone Is Not Enough and a Send Away The Tigers dedicated by Bradfield to “a ten foot tall man in leopard print who wanted to change the world” prompts every bit as much pogoing as From Despair To Where. The party atmosphere is complete when Wire informs the crowd that “this is what happens when you listen to too much of the great Hanoi Rocks” before crashing into You Love Us.
The real surprise of the evening comes during James’s acoustic
segment. We’re treated to a bit of “Oulu, you make my heart
sing” and before we can all start laughing at his hilarious mispronunciation
of Finland’s biggest northern city he strikes up the opening chords
to The Everlasting. Now speaking personally this has never been one
of my favourite tunes but I’m Moore, Wire and The Others (don’t know their names but isn’t
the guitarist handsome?) troop back on for the final few songs of which
Autumnsong and the ever wonderful Motown Junk are undoubted highlights.
The warmth and joy coming from the stage seals the wee disappointments-no
Nina, no Holy Bible stuff-firmly in the box labelled “Irrelevant.”
I’m a believer again and trying really hard not to cry. The Manics
on this sort of form could play anything and it’d work. Actually,
maybe not SYMM. SYMM sucks. As the final
By Rakennus Ash, http://www.myspace.com/rakennus_ash Pix by Steve Bateman, lots more Manics pix here Set List Motorcycle Emptiness
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