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Graham Clark
Music Features Writer
@Maxximum23Clark
9:38 PM 30th March 2014
arts

Manic Street Preachers - Leeds Arena

 
James Dean Bradfield
James Dean Bradfield
Never a group to be predictable,The Manic Street Preachers always go against the flow and can be relied upon to be different, Who else would play to a festival crowd and not play a greatest hits set? The band did just that when I last saw them a few years ago at the V Festival.

Tonight though is different as they concentrate on their extensive back catalogue and draw upon the hits and tracks off their classic album, The Holy Bible to their last album Rewind the Film. There are tracks too from Futurology, their next album released in June.

The last album is a fitting title for tonight's show as behind the band is a video wall which shows footage of the band in the early days with missing guitarist Richey Edwards who disappeared without trace in 1995. We also get footage of the miner's strike and how it tore communities apart like the south Wales valleys were the band originate from.

Nicky Wire
Nicky Wire
"It's great to be playing in this great northern city of Leeds" lead vocalist James Dean Bradfield informs tonight's audience. Motorcycle Emptiness and Everything Must Go sound resplendent with the 3 piece being augmented on the tour with a second guitarist and a keyboard player.

Always the protagonist in the band, bass player Nicky Wire changes into a sailors outfit for the second half of the show. Bradfield describes If You Tolerate This; The Your Children will be Next, as one of the finest lyrics Wire has written in pop music. He could be right.

When you hear all the hits in tonight's set you realise how influential and extensive it is. Closing the evening with Motown Junk and A Design For Life it reminded you that the band are still able to educate, entertain and leave a mark on the fabric of pop culture.