Manic Street Preachers at the Genting Arena, Birmingham (14/5/2016)

Me in my Manics fan "uniform." ;-)

If there's one thing that should be relatively common knowledge to anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis, it's my deep and unending love for the Manic Street Preachers.  From the age of 16, they've been a constant in my life and I can't imagine my world without them.

So, on Saturday (14th May), I got all dolled up in my glitter, eyeliner, feather boa, tiara, homemade top and fairy wings and headed from my uncle's flat in Birmingham to the Genting Arena, along with my lovely gig buddy Kirstie, to see the band for the millionth fourteenth time.

Normal clothing is not required on gig days...

The band are currently touring in celebration of their classic 1996 album, Everything Must Go, which is now a whopping twenty years old (and I feel ancient).  The plan was to play the entire album in full, from start to finish, before pausing for a brief break prior to treating the audience to a short second set, packed with hits and the odd rarity.  As plans go, it was a pretty brilliant one, to be honest.

Everything Must Go is as close to perfection as any album I've had the pleasure of listening to.  It soars majestically along, with sweeping orchestral melodies and touching moments of poignancy in amongst the almost stubborn positivity of the album as a whole.  To hear every track played, one after the other, was an absolute treat for the ears.  The band were on top form, sounding like the tight unit we know them to be, and they looked the part, too - Nicky Wire showed off not one, not two, but three different jackets over the course of the show.  

The strangeness of hearing Design For Life second in the set (rather than being saved for the show-stopping finale) was overcome by the crowd's enthusiastic singalong and the promise of yet more goodies to follow.  Everything Must Go has always been an album that flows beautifully well and this translated into a live performance that never felt like it had gone off the boil, or left you wishing they'd play something else.  Songs such as Enola Alone and Further Away rocked the arena and left you wondering how on Earth the band even managed to choose singles from an album packed with so many gems.  James Dean Bradfield's gorgeous acoustic rendition of Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky was enough to bring a tear to your eye.  And when the bombastic guitar solo at the end of No Surface All Feeling kicked in and streamers shot into the sky and fell above the heads of the band's faithful fans, it was a moment of sheer euphoria.

Before the second set kicked in fully, James treated the audience to a short game of "Manic Street Preachers bingo," encouraging fans to shout out song suggestions for him to play on his acoustic guitar.  It's a testament to the level of devotion the fans have to this band, that many of the requests were for obscure b-sides and album tracks - this is a fandom that passionately devours anything the band produces.  In the end, James went for late 90s single, Tsunami.

There were a few unexpected little gems in the second "greatest hits" set; a cover of Fiction Factory's Feels Like Heaven and Natwest-Barclays-Midlands-Lloyds from the Manics' debut album, Generation Terrorists, were highlights.  In fact, the only thing I would suggest to further improve Manics' shows, would be to include more of these rarities.  After all, we're talking about a band who've recorded over ten albums, meaning they have literally hundreds of songs to choose from (especially when you include B-sides) when picking a set list.  As much as it's good that the band are aware that they have casual listeners in the audience who will be expecting the well-known singles, rather than obscure tracks they've never heard, it does sometimes feel like the Manics veer too closely on the side of caution.  Purely from a personal point of view, I wouldn't mind songs such as It's Not War (Just The End of Love) and Your Love Alone Is Not Enough being dropped to make way for some lesser played album tracks from the band's back catalogue.  There's still Design For Life, You Stole The Sun From My Heart and other such crowd-pleasing staples to placate the casual listeners with, after all.  Whilst songs like It's Not War... might have been commercial successes, the fans have heard them plenty of times, now.  I think it's time to mix the set list up a bit and throw in a few more surprises.

But that is a trivial moan about a gig that was full of energy, excitement and musical punch.  The Manics are still relevant, still brash and ever-so-slightly OTT, still musically fantastic and, as far as I'm concerned, still the best band on the bloody planet.  They get five out of five stars from me and they always will.  Shh, I'm allowed to be biased, it's my blog.  ;-)

If you get a chance to see them, go.

And if you've not had the chance to see the band live, don't fret; I made you a little vlog, so you can experience them for yourself:

Click, click, click, click, click.  Click yourself over (to YouTube).

I'll end this blog with a few more pictures from the gig.  Enjoy!

Ten Inspirational Manics Lyrics To Live Your Life By

Yes, you read that blog title correctly.  As a Manics fan, I get a bit tetchy when I'm told that my favourite band only write "depressing lyrics."  

I admit that tackling subjects such as the Holocaust, anorexia and the death penalty might not instantly mark the Manics out as a cheery band.  I also admit that you're never likely to get motivational posters being made out of some of their darker lines...

...But bear with me, on this.  Sometimes, Manics lyrics can be beautiful and - yes, believe it or not - inspiring,  And with that in mind, I'd like to share ten inspirational Manics lyrics to live your life by.  Admittedly, I may be interpreting my own meaning out of these words on some level, but isn't that what we're supposed to do with poetry?  Anyway, this is my way of proving that Manics lyrics aren't all doom and gloom...

1. "Who gives a shit about sexuality?" - Gold Against The Soul, taken from the album of the same name.  Lyrics by Richey Edwards & Nicky Wire.

Whatever the band were intending to say here, there's a very simple meaning we can take from it: what does it matter whether a person is gay, straight, bisexual, asexual or anything in between?  They're a person, just like you or me.  Let's not judge ourselves or anyone else on just one part of their life.

2. "I know I believe in nothing, but it is my nothing." - Faster, taken from the album, "The Holy Bible."  Lyrics by Richey Edwards.

It might sound a little strange to refer to a lyric about believing in nothing as being "inspirational," but in this case, it's less the lyric and more the intent behind it.  This is a man saying "look, don't judge me for not having the same views or beliefs as you.  What I believe - or don't believe - is up to me."  This is someone saying it doesn't matter if we go against the grain, as long as we're true to ourselves.  And that's pretty inspirational.

3. "Freed from the memory, escape from our history.  And I just hope that you can forgive us, but everything must go." - Everything Must Go, taken from the album of the same name.  Lyrics by Nicky Wire.

For me, this line has another very simple meaning: Live your life forwards, not backwards.  Don't solely focus on the things that have gone wrong over the years, just try to learn from them and then keep going, because the freedom you'll feel at letting go of the past can be incredible.  Sure, it's important to remember things that have happened and to treasure the memory of those we've lost, but we shouldn't cling to yesterday so hard that we miss out on today.  

4. "If you tolerate this, then your children will be next." - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next, taken from the album "This Is My truth, Tell Me Yours."  Lyrics by Nicky Wire.

This may sound like an unusual choice of inspirational lyric, but again, it's about the meaning behind the song.  This is essentially the voice of someone saying "we have to do something," rather than sit idly by and watch terrible things happening all over the world.  It's a call to action - we need to be helping those who need it and acting against hate and atrocities, because it could just as easily be us who are in need and wouldn't we want someone to help us?

5. "You have broken through my armour and I don't have an answer.  I love you all the same." - You Stole The Sun From My Heart, taken from the album "This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours."  Lyrics by Nicky Wire.

Being a bit of a soppy old romantic, for me this line really encapsulates the importance of letting someone in.  It can be scary, allowing someone to break down your defences and really get close to you, but to do so can be incredibly beautiful and deeply rewarding.

6. "Find your truth, face your truth, speak your truth and be your truth." - Judge Yr'self, penned for the Judge Dredd soundtrack.  Lyrics by Richey Edwards & Nicky Wire.

I like this a lot.  For me, this is simply about discovering who you really are and then being that person, unashamedly, without trying to fit in to whatever box society wants to put you in.  Again, I'm more than likely placing my own interpretation onto these words, but hey...

7. "Little things change people's lives." - Send Away The Tigers, taken from the album of the same name.  Lyrics by Nicky Wire.

It doesn't take much to do something for someone else.  And you never know how much of a difference it might make to their life, if you do.  Equally, we must remember to thank those people whose small actions have made a big difference to our lives.

8. "This world will not impose its will.  I will not give up and I will not give in." - Postcards From A Young Man, taken from the album of the same name.  Lyrics by Nicky Wire.

Someone once told me that they thought these lyrics were too "forceful."  But to me, they're about passionately following something you believe in, right until the end.  It's about refusing to give up on something you feel strongly about and it's about not allowing life to break you, even when things get tough.  These are the lyrics that I had tattooed on me, a year after leaving an abusive relationship, so they mean a great deal to me.

9. "And if we can, then we must hold our heads up, learn to trust.  It's up to you, it's up to us.  Some dignity, a little love." - Four Lonely Roads, taken from the album "Rewind The Film."  Lyrics by Nicky Wire.

This is pretty self-explanatory....  Keep your head up, be proud of who you are.  Show some love and allow others to see the real you.

10. "Isn't it lovely, when the dawn brings the dew, I'll be watching over you." - William's Last Words, taken from the album "Journal For Plague Lovers."  Lyrics by Richey Edwards (edited by Nicky Wire).

Okay, I'll admit I take some issue with the way that William's Last Words was edited.  Originally, the "lyrics" were more aptly described as a piece of prose, written from the viewpoint of a man who seemed to be retiring from his job.  It was heavily edited, with obvious reason (it was literally pages long and jumped around a lot), but in doing so, the meaning of the piece was changed.  It became a goodbye, seemingly from the viewpoint of a man who was either leaving or dying.  It's understandable that, having had no goodbye note from Richey (who disappeared in 1995 and was legally "presumed dead" in 2008) must have had a huge impact on those who loved him, but to edit his words into the goodbye he never wrote sits a little uncomfortably with me.  Perhaps, in amongst the prose, really was the goodbye he could never bring himself to say and Nicky simply found it and put the piece together, but the truth is that we'll never know what Richey really meant by William's Last Words.

That all said, I think this line is particularly beautiful.  I've chosen to include it  - and to end this list with it - because sadly, death will happen to us all, someday.  But to believe that we'll be watching over those we leave behind is a beautiful thing.  It inspires me, whether I 100% believe it or not, because I want it to be true.

So, there we have it.  I guess the point of this list was not only to prove that the Manics' lyrics aren't all doom and gloom, but to highlight that we can all find inspiration in the things we are passionate about, even if others can't quite see it.  These lyrics inspire me (as do many other Manics lyrics, not to mention lyrics from other bands/artists I love). 

 Feel free to share lyrics that inspire YOU in the comments!