The last night of their double headlining tour with the mighty Suede finds Manic Street Preachers visiting the seaside town of Margate. The Welsh heroes have been here before, but not for some time. They first played here as part of a Radio 1 Roadshow in 1993, a day Nicky Wire remembers well. “I lost a lot of money on the diddlers”, he tells the audience, before clarifying his Welsh slang refers to the town’s slot machines, and James Dean Bradfield reminds everyone to “gamble responsibly!” to the amusement of a sell-out crowd.
They’ve hit the jackpot tonight. The outdoor space at Dreamland feels more like a mini festival and is miles better than Margate’s decidedly provincial Winter Gardens, host of the Manics’ visit on the the ‘This Is My Truth’ tour all the way back in 1998. The band look at little distant from the back of the bowl shaped space, but are supremely confident from the outset. As James hits a few ragged and distorted guitar notes, it quickly becomes clear that the rousing ‘You Love Us’ is the perfect opener, and it immediately whips the front of the audience into a genuine frenzy. The next couple of minutes bristle against the shouting crowd, and the track’s simple hook is well designed for rousing even the most indifferent. The outdoor settinf makes the sound a little raw at times, but this actually benefits the performance, giving everything a punky spirit, and reminding everyone that although the band have matured, they can still serve up plenty of sharp edges when needed. Sweeping into the more majestic ‘Everything Must Go’ without a word, the set takes a dramatic turn, and this ever popular number shows off the other side of the band’s sound. The echo on Sean’s drums brings a necessary drama, and James’s on point vocals soar with the same confidence shown at most of the original ‘EMG’ shows, now almost thirty years gone.
Equally grand, ‘Motorcycle Emptiness’ invites participation from the huge crowd, with its evergreen melodies capturing something massively accessible beneath the angst, and in the first of the night’s curveballs, the dark and vicious ‘Holy Bible’ is represented by one of its only soft offerings. Nevertheless, ‘This Is Yesterday’ fits very neatly after the previous couple of tracks, and certainly finds the Manics in something of a natural groove, before ‘You Stole The Sun’ once again allows the crowd another opportunity to pull together for a mass sing along. It also provides the more attentive listener an opportunity to hear James reaching for some brilliantly forceful melodies as he screams out the now familiar chorus hook. As before, his voice is amazing – he’s on superb form tonight, so much so, he occasionally makes Wire’s backing vocals seem a little out of place – and Wire and Sean Moore’s hard yards as rhythm section punch with a real intent, despite this being one of the band’s more pop-driven singles.
Another curveball brings ‘To Repel Ghosts’ (from the mostly flat ‘Lifeblood’ LP), and although this, predictably, becomes the weak point of the set, tonight’s rendition runs rings around its studio counterpart, with the band approaching the number with a touch more gusto, and with the ringing guitar part cutting through the air with a strong presence. After this brief lull, everything reaches fever pitch with a double whammy of tunes featuring The Anchoress on guest vocals. She’s a great fit for ‘Your Love Alone’, bringing a little more drama than Nina Persson’s studio presence, but she totally steals an unexpected ‘Little Baby Nothing’, an epic call back to ‘Generation Terrorists’ that allows the band’s lyrical barbs to really fly. Between The Anchoress turning in a perfect vocal and the hard-edged rhythms served by the band, this becomes the ultimate slice of nostalgia, even coming pretty close to “rock ‘n’ roll [as] an epiphany.”
At the point where it feels this set might not get better, James launches into ‘Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier’, first as a solo performer, but as with the studio cut, allowing the band to arrive later really brings a dramatic edge to the track. It’s great, but very quickly outshone by a superb ‘Design For Life’, a huge 90s anthem that just seems to get better with age. Originally released at a time when the Manics were amid emotional turmoil, it immediately resonated with the fans, and decades later, we’re still hanging off every word. Rousing, unifying, even beautiful: it’s the kind of tune that deserves the adoration, and hearing it tonight in the last moments of a setting sun, it feels genuinely special.
There’s more crowd participation during a solid ‘La Tristesse’, before the almost post-punky ‘Walk From The Bridge’ brings a slightly edgier mood and a reminder that there are plenty of gems to be found on the band’s later albums. The video screens have been put to good use tonight, but during this track, the semi-glitchy visuals and flashed up lyrics bring the performance an extra energy, before a double whammy of the semi melodic ‘Kevin Carter’ and ‘Theme From M*A*S*H’ provide more crowd pleasers. The closing sections of the latter really allow the band to rock out, and when attacking the riffs at full pelt, it becomes more obvious what great sound the venue hosts tonight. Outdoor gigs can be effected by the elements, but this warm and wind free evening gives the Manics a very welcome “easier” job. Via a huge sounding ‘From Despair To Where’ and punchy ‘All Surface No Feeling’ (presented in a medley with The Smashing Pumpkins’ ‘Today’), the audience gets a little more of nostalgic jolt, before the closing ‘If You Tolerate This…’ brings pretty much all of the Manics’ live skills together in a final, huge hit. It’s melodic and even a little grandiose, but above all, welcomely familiar, and the participation during the dramatic, closing bars feels like a perfect way to bow out.
It’s been a great set, and predictably – to paraphrase one of the band’s own lyrics – it’s been the oldest songs that have left the longest shadows. It’s also been really immersive and a true celebration of a superb back catalogue, and the newer songs have stood almost as proudly. It would’ve been great to hear the rousing ‘Autumn Song’, or a couple of older, deeper cuts like ‘Condemned To Rock ‘n’ Roll and ‘Die In The Summertime’, but with a career-spanning journey and something from most albums represented, there won’t be many who’ll feel let down by this brilliant early evening show.
July 2024