The last time the Manics visited our fair metropolis (excluding a fleeting festival appearance) was nigh-on-ten years ago at the Radio One Sound City event in 1996. Marking one of their first appearances as a three piece, the gig signalled the trio's intention to carrying on their musical trajectory without founding member Richey Edwards as well as embroiling the band in a colourful public spat with Terrorvision. Subsequent releases saw the Welsh troubadours break into the mainstream with platinum selling albums, arena tours and their music accompanying BBC sports clips. Well in chaps.Touring to support last year's seventh studio album "Lifeblood" and the recent tenth year anniversary re-release of seminal bile-driven angst-core opus "The Holy Bible", Manics gigs are always going to have an eclectic mix of fans, tonight being no exception. Old school "Richey-ites" daubed in eyeliner and festooned with Wales flags mingle next to more soberly attired thirty-somethings. A good proportion of home-made stencilled-slogan T-shirts (circa 1991) are also on display. Old habits, it seems, die hard.
It's left to Southampton's premier pop merchants Delays to start tonight's proceedings and they certainly give it their best shot. Their bouncy, summery songs bound along with the joyful canter of a young child who's drunk too much Sunny Delight. The guitars jangle nicely, hooks protrude in all the right places and the singers got a cracking voice. Admittedly it's more of a friendly slap on the arse rather than a massive kick up the jacksy, but when you've got songs as good as "Nearer Than Heaven" and the sublime "Long Time Coming" you know that your doing something right. Good stuff.
A few dodgy between-set tracks later, the lights dim and Bradfield and co. are upon us. "Found That Soul" opens the set and immediately two things occur to me; firstly, the sound at the refectory isn't shit, and secondly it's actually really good; give that soundman a cup of tea, spot on mate. The addition of second guitarist (and sometime Radiohead producer) Guy Massey also helps to give the songs some extra beef, and really allows James to bring the lead guitar parts to the fore. Nicky Wire hops around like a deranged bass-playing, perma-grinning loon, Sean Moore is solid in the most solid sense, and Nick Naysmith produces some marvellous haunting passages. It's tight, sharp and smart.
We'd been promised a setlist spanning the Manics entire career, so the likes of "Roses in the Hospital" and "Of Walking Abortion" make a more-than-welcome return to the live arena, and are integrated well-enough into the set that they don't seem at all out of place next to more recent fare such as "1985" and "If You Tolerate This.." Thankfully "Lifeblood" isn't drawn upon too much- it's not bad, but there's too much of it that sounds like the sort of music that would be used to soundtrack a particularly un-epic trip to Ikea on a Sunday morning.
If White America Told The Truth For One Day Its World...
...would probably be still very non-plussed abut the release of "The Holy Bible"; however tonight the songs from this record are simply incredible. "Faster" and "Archives of Pain" are both incendiary bursts of raucous agitated punk polemic that well and truly carry their own, which the scores of bobbing heads pay testament to.
However, tonight there is one highlight above all. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls... Motorcycle Emptiness. Utterly wonderful, mesmerising, uplifting and generally amazing in every conceivable way possible it's a truly special paean to everything that's wrong with modern culture, and it's got a fucking amazing guitar line. Probably the best song in the entire universe.
Closing with a ballsy romp through "Motown Junk" the set ends in a squall of feedback with the band promising to be "See us in two years" A fantastic night.
