Preaching to the converted

I went along to the Ambassador to see the Manic Street Preachers on Friday night. I like the Manics. They're decent performers and they seem to have a genuine bond with their fans. Sure, their best days are probably behind them but they're still writing great songs and have hung in longer than most of their peers.. The first time I saw them live, about 5 years ago, they were touring their 'best of' record and it all seemed a bit flat. This time they were touring on the back of Send Away the Tigers, one of the best records of the year (to my ears at least), and they just seemed a lot more engaged with the material and, in turn, with the audience...

Or at least part of the audience.. There was a strange atmosphere at the gig. On one hand you had people crowdsurfing, no - really people were crowdsurfing, and large sections of the audience were singing, clapping and generally behaving as you'd expect an audience at a rock concert to behave. But at the same time you had lots of people who didn't seem to be paying much attention to anything at all.. 4 guys in front of me spent most of the gig talking to each other and playing some kind of a game that involved squeezing each other's back and then rubbing their noses. It was very odd and more than a little homoerotic. Which is fine, but why come to a Manics gig to do it. Occasionally, they'd look up, recognise something (most likely something from Everything Must Go) and punch their fists in the air.. Then they'd go back to pinching each other.. Perhaps they couldn't believe they were at a Manic Street Preacher's show. I had a similiar experience when I went to see Bryan McFadden in Whelans a couple of years ago.

But that's a different story..

Anyway, despite all that nonsense it was a decent show and, yes, they finished with A Design For Life. It's funny - not being a huge fan of the Manics, I often forget about Richie Edwards. I was never really interested in them until Steve educated me a few years ago and so, although I can remember the palaver when he disappeared, I never really think about it very much. So during Design for Life, when James Dean Bradfield moved his mike over to Richie's old position on the stage, I didn't realise for a moment what he was doing. As the band played on, he said goodnight and sang the chorus one last time from Richie's spot. No encores and no curtain calls (apart from Nicky Wire doing a spot of skipping!) It made for great theatre and was terribly moving. Things like that really warm me to bands. I can always forgive a bit of ploddiness and bad pacing if there's genuine affection and sentiment onstage. The Manics have it to spare. Long may they run..