Deciding what to do for the 20th anniversary of the Manic Street Preachers 1994 album ‘The Holy Bible’ must have been difficult, not just because of the mystery disappearance of lyricist and rhythm guitarist Richey Edwards, but it’s also one of the darkest albums released to this day, and now an easy one to play live. Lead singer and guitarist James Dean Bradfield himself recently described ‘4st 7lb’ for example as having more lyrics than some albums. ‘The Holy Bible’ was mostly written by Edwards, and appears to reflect a lot about his mental state as he was suffering from severe depression at the time, with many fans deeming the album “Richey’s work”, believing that it shouldn’t be touched. If you’ve been to a Manics gig, then you’ll know that the band dedicate songs to Edwards, tell stories about him and feature him often in backdrops and videos. ‘The Holy Bible’ anniversary tour seems to me like somewhat of a tribute to the legend that is Richey Edwards, and quite right too, as it’s a genius piece of work.
Shortly before ‘The Holy Bible’ gigs, the band issued a statement regarding the shows, with a starting time of 8:45pm, and the news that they were going to play 2 sets; starting with ‘The Holy Bible’ in full, followed by a 10 minute interval, before they returned for their 2nd set which would feature hits, tracks from the new album ‘Futurology’, B-sides and rarities.
The band appear to have chosen the perfect venue to host ‘The Holy Bible’, as Manchester Albert Hall is somewhat of a beautiful gothic venue, with stained glass windows, fittingly with crucifixes on them. The stage wasn’t as minimalistic as usual, their Welsh flag remains but the stage was draped in military/combat style nets, taking us back to their 90’s ‘Holy Bible’ performance days. At 8:50pm sharp the band entered the stage, with bassist Nicky Wire wearing something that resembles a combat rain mac, with face paint to match, and Bradfield in a sailor jumper. The band are quick to start playing first track ‘Yes’, and from the crowds reaction to purely the introduction of dialogue from 1993 documentary ‘Hookers, Hustlers, Pimps’, it’s clear that we’re watching history being made.
Watching the album performed live was incredible, the band didn’t speak much but it seemed right for the album. After ‘The Intense Humming of Evil’ which was most of the intense tracks of the night, having an even darker sound than usual to it, Wire announced that they were nearly at the end of the album “obviously”, dedicating the album to Edwards, at one point using the words “was a genius”, heartbreakingly repeating his words replacing the word “was” with “is”. Every track sounded great, the band looked so serious and so intense, it was almost unusual seeing Wire that way! Second track ‘IfwhiteAmericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart’ received boos from the crowd during the introduction of a ‘Rising Tides’ TV trailer mentioning Margaret Thatcher; Richie’s political opinion is obviously shared amongst the crowd and lives on 20 years later.
The crowd sang along to every word, including the introductions, which the band always looked so cool waiting for. As previously stated, it’s a hard album to play live and the band nailed it. Wire’s bass during ‘Archives of Pain’ for example I was convinced was going to shatter the beautiful stained glass windows of the Albert Hall. The lengthy lyrics sometimes left Bradfield gasping for breath but his voice was incredible – the tour ended in London last week and Bradfield had an apparent ‘Christmas bug’ which is surely down to the strain of repeatedly singing such fast paced lengthy lyrics. The serious and intense tone was brought down and the atmosphere chilled, as the lights slightly brightened for ‘This is Yesterday’, another track featuring a great Wire bass line, as well as a catchy guitar riff from Bradfield.
The house lights came back on just after Wire announced an “8-10 minute” break, dimming once again for what seemed like a completely different band on the stage. James had changed in to a suave suit and Wire was in a typical punk style handmade blazer. The band kicked off with the crowd favourite ‘Motorcycle Emptiness’ and the energy on the stage was ridiculous, Wire was bouncing, James was spinning, and drummer Sean Moore was beating his drum kit to death. The band took the crowd trough a set list of hits such as ‘You Stole The Sun From My Heart’, ‘If You Tolerate This’, ‘It’s Not War (Just The End Of Love)’, and their closing track ‘A Design For Life’, as well as ‘1985’, the B Side to ‘Roses In The Hospital’, ‘Donkeys’, and a few ‘Futurology’ tracks. Interestingly enough the band played ‘Dreaming A City’ from ‘Futurology’ which is an instrumental that features some of Wire’s best bass work, it also gave James’s voice a bit of a rest! It was great seeing the guitar hero that is James Dean Bradfield focused purely on his guitar for an entire track. Other ‘Futurology’ tracks included ‘Walk Me To The Bridge’ and ‘Divine Youth’, which usually features Welsh singer Georgia Ruth. Wire joked just before ‘Divine Youth’ that he’d never played so many bass lines in his life, and that now he had to sing, taking on Georgia Ruth’s vocal parts of the track. The track definitely lacked Georgia Ruth, but don’t get me wrong, it was great nonetheless, and Wire did a cracking job considering, but his microphone definitely needed a bit of a boost!
If you missed the chance to catch ‘The Holy Bible’ tour, then have no fear, as The Manics are playing a string of shows next summer in Wolverhampton, Southampton and Edinburgh, ending in style at what I imagine will be an incredible homecoming show at Cardiff Castle.
All photo credit goes to Dave Johnson! Thank you!
By Laura Dean – @modestlaura
