Packed Civic for Manics Monday

The Manics can fill major stadiums and arenas, but their love for Wolverhampton’s more intimate Civic Hall was a real treat to see.

A capacity crowd raised the roof for the Welsh rockers, who paid homage to one of the best venues in the country with a rip-roaring set.

Frontman James Dean Bradfield said some of the group’s favourite gigs had been at the famous old hall, while bassist Nicky Wire said it was their best date yet on the UK tour.

There was even a reference to a gig at the tiny original Dudley JBs back in their very early days - clearly remembered by some of the stalwart fans.

And delighted long-time fans rejoiced to hear tracks from The Holy Bible - widely regarded as their greatest album - including You Love Us and Faster to kick off the show.

Their new single, Your Love Alone Is Not Enough, was much better live than recorded, despite the absence of Cardigans vocalist Nina Persson who duets on the song.

All tracks from their only recently released new album Send Away the Tigers were well received by the crowd.

Though they are too mainstream for many metal fans and too rock for most pop fans, their popularity was as big as ever among the 3,000-strong crowd last night.

And the crowd was drawn from a very wide age range from diehard original fans to young converts.

While it wasn’t the loudest group of fans to have packed into the venue, they were some of the most devoted, with the whole hall singing some of the more well-known tracks.

It was the band’s sixth visit to the Civic and coincided with the release of the new album, their eighth studio album.

A predictable but awesome last song, A Design for Life, topped off a great night - and they promised to be back at Christmas.