Manic Street Preachers
Wolverhampton Civic Hall
Concert review and photos by Ian Harvey

There are some nights when band and audience simply mesh in perfect harmony. That was most definitely the case last night as the Manic Street Preachers came, saw and conquered the Civic.

And they were conquered in return by a simply magnificent sell-out Civic crowd.

Click the image on the right for our concert photo gallery

This was a night when the Civic laid claim to being simply the best rock venue in the whole country.

Bar none.

End of.

London? Forget it.

It was clear that lead singer and guitarist James Dean Bradfield and willfully eccentric bassist Nicky Wire – later strutting around the stage in a mini skirt and knee-high socks – were just simply wowed by the reaction they received from their adoring Black Country fans, on this tour of medium-sized venues ahead of the festival season.

After twisting AC/DC’s You Shook Me All Night Long into “Wolverhampton shook me all night long” (in his best Noddy Holder voice), Bradfield announced: “If I spent the rest of my life playing a place like this it would be a ******* good life!”

And he was right. If the Civic crowd was scooped up and transported, gig-by-gig, around the country, this could be the tour to end all tours.

We got every spectrum of the Manics’ output, from the challenging and potentially uncomfortable sounds of Of Walking Abortion and Masses Against The Classes, to the uplifting and powerful Motorcycle Emptiness, It’s Not War and Design For Life.

And when they “slow it down”, the Welsh trio – expanded to a five-piece on stage – still stun with the likes of My Little Empire.

The Manics are a band who can deliver the prettiest protest songs – Nicky Wire  railing against the Cameron/Clegg coalition – twisted into a combination  of the most bitter venom and delivered with the sweetest tooth.

What a night.

Music photography by Ian Harvey / RocktasticPix