Manic Street Preachers Play Seattle - A Review

As readers of this blog know, one of my favorite rock bands is a group called Manic Street Preachers. They’re huge in the UK and most the rest of the world, but not so much in the U.S.

As a result, they don’t play here very often. In fact, it’s been 10 years since the last time they ventured to the States to play gigs.

That is until this week.

Riding on a wave of success and critical acclaim for their most recent album titled Journal for Plague Lovers (read my review of that album and some background on the group by clicking here), this three piece band from Wales at long last decided it was time to come back to the USA and play some shows.

And where did the band pick to play their first US show in a decade? Yep, Seattle.

And so it was that last Monday – Sept. 21 – my buddy Paul and I went to see the band at Neumos on Capital Hill. (Below - Manic Street Preachers on stage in Seattle on Sept. 21, 2009. Photo by Marc Osborn.)

Naturally, our expectations were high and, I have to say, they were exceeded as the band threw down an exciting, impassioned and extremely entertaining set – all in a very small venue where you could get right up close. For those of you unfamiliar with the Manic Street Preacher’s sound, it’s rock and roll with the standard set up of guitar, bass, drum and a few effects. The band’s style has ranged from raging but melodic punk, epic and soaring rock, chilled art rock and a bunch of sounds in between...all with intelligent and thought provoking lyrics.

The other thing to know is that in their early years, the band had four members. In early 1995, their primary lyric writer and second guitarist, Richey Edwards, went missing. He’s never been found and is presumed dead - leaving surviving members James Dean Bradfield (vocals, guitar), Nicky Wire (bass, vocals) and Sean Moore (drums) to carry on. Journal for Plague lovers is the Manic’s ninth studio album and its first featuring all-Richey lyrics since that time.

But anyway, back to the show. Our evening started out as Paul and I walked past the venue and heard the band running through the sound check. As the song Peeled Apples boomed out beyond the walls of Neumos, we knew we were in for a good show.

Meeting James Dean Bradfield
Later, after we’d had a bite to eat, we were again walking near the venue in the warm late-summer evening on our way to a bar when we ran right into lead singer James Dean Bradfield. Yep. He was out on the street corner. So, I walked up to him and thanked him for coming to Seattle. After a hand shake he quickly asked, “What’s your name?” I thought this was a really great response and one that was instantly engaging. I mean, he could have easily said thanks and walked away. Instead, we introduced ourselves and he mentioned that it had been 10 years since they’d been to Seattle and that the band members were huge REM fans – and they know Peter Buck lives in the area. I mentioned to James that indeed Buck is still around and that he comes out to shows pretty regularly. I also mentioned that they were playing the same Seattle venue a decade later, and he asked what the name of it was back then. I told him it was called Areo.Space ten years ago. He said, “This place?” I confirmed. At that point, I just said thanks again and let him know we were looking forward to the show. James graciously said thanks and was on his way. The whole conversation was about a minute. So, was this short chance meeting some sort of serious intellectual exchange or bonding moment? No. But, it was great because James was approachable, nice and willing to talk. Sometimes when you meet people you admire in person, they disappoint. This was clearly not so this time. Thank you James for taking a minute to talk to us.

Pleased as punch to have met the lead singer for one of our favorite bands, Paul and I did then make it to the bar right next to Neumos. As we passed through the door we saw James again…this time snared by a few guys asking him to sign a bunch of records and other Manics items. In hindsight, I’m really glad I didn’t do that to him as that action tends to simply come across to the performer as “this is just about me getting something from you” rather than any other type of conversation you could have.

The Venue and Vibe
After some conversations at the bar with some cool guys from a band named Post Adolescence, we headed on into the main venue to get a spot for the show.

By my assessment, Neumos was more three-quarters full. Not sold out. While it was tightly packed near the stage, toward the back there was plenty of room. This must be a bit strange for the band because everywhere else in the world they play its in big stadiums or arenas…and that’s why this was an even more special gig. Great band, small venue, cheap ticket.

The crowd seemed to be people age 40 and under with the majority looking to be in their late 20s, early 30s…and a few of us geezers right at the 40 mark. As you might expect, the crowd was also majority male – but not dominantly.

The Show
Finally, the band came on stage to loud cheers looking ready to go. Bradfield was dressed in black and began the show with his white Gibson Les Paul, Wire sported a red glittery bass and wore a white jacket that he kept on the entire time - concealing what appeared to be an Elvis Presley t-shirt - and Sean Moore...well, you could barely see him, but it looked like he was wearing a black t-shirt with some soft of design on it. You can see more pictures I took at the show here and here.

The band quickly ripped into one of their older but best songs, Motorcycle Emptiness. The full set list is below:

Motorcycle Emptiness
No Surface All Feeling
Peeled Apples
Your Love Alone Is Not Enough
La Tristessa Durera
Jackie Collins Existential Question Time
Let Robeson Sing
You Love Us
Everything Must Go
Faster
Take The Skinheads Bowling
If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
Small Black Flowers (acoustic)
This is Yesterday (acoustic)
Send Away The Tigers
You Stole The Sun
All or Nothing into Motown Junk
Me And Stephen Hawking
Little Baby Nothing
This Joke Sport Severed
Design For Life

The sound system they set up was perhaps the best I’ve heard at Neumos as all instruments and vocals were clear and dialed in.

I was impressed with the diversity of the songs from their back-catalogue and that they played some of the best stuff off their latest album. For my expectations, this set really delivered with my favorites being Jackie Collins Existential Question Time, Peeled Apples and Faster. However, all songs were great. I like that they sprinkled in a few surprises like their cover of Take the Skinheads Bowling and the ode to singer/actor/athlete/activist Paul Robeson called Let Robeson Sing. I assume the later was a cheeky dig at the U.S. But, it’s a good song with intelligent lyrics. I liked that it was included.

In terms of performance, I have just say this…it was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. I cannot underscore this enough. This show had it all - talent aplenty, great songs, engaged, passionate and energy to burn. This band was by my observation really glad to be there and put on a great performance. James Dean Bradfield in particular delivered the goods with his powerful vocals, jumping around, spinning around and generally kicking ass. I was also glad that at one point near the beginning of the show, Bradfield announced that it had been 10 years since they’d been in Seattle and that the last time they played here the venue was called “Aero-Smith or something like that.” I had to laugh. I assumed he was going on our little exchange on the street…at least that’s what I’ll go ahead and believe.

Nicky Wire did something that I noticed in the show 10 years ago…he played almost the entire set with his eyes closed. I’m not sure if that’s a regular thing with him or if the small venue was the reason. But, he also jumped around and did his scissor kicks a few times and had a few words for the audience.

Details for Fans
For fans out there who might be wondering small details, here are some to report:

• After a few seconds of Your Love Alone…James stopped the band and said that “one thing about getting older – not old, but older – is a low tolerance for an out of tune guitar.” He then promptly swapped out his white Gibson for another guitar and re-started the song from the beginning.
• When introducing the song Faster, bassist Nicky Wire said that, “Richey never made it to Seattle, but his music did. He would have loved it here for all its beautiful pretentiousness.” After the song, Wire said, “I meant pretentiousness in a good way.”
• The Manics are selling t-shirts at the US gigs. The ones we saw were the Working Class Hero shirt and two slightly different black shirts – both with the cover art from Journal for Plague Lovers on them. While I like the cover art for the album, I’m not too keen on wearing it around on my chest. But that’s me.
• As mentioned, Nicky Wire did seem to be fully mobile and no longer suffering from his previous back problems.
• Drummer Sean Moore got quite a few shout outs during the show…more than I thought he would.
• There was not Manics stage backdrop art. Just a basic stage setup. In fact, the stage was so small that Moore really was pretty invisible as his drums were not on a riser (that I could see anyway).
• There were two other performers on stage with the band. A second guitarist and a keyboard player. Both were clearly part of the band (in other words not hidden in back or anything), but also clearly off to one side of the small stage.
• The concert closed with Bradfield announcing that “this is our last song tonight. It’s called Design for Life.” And with that followed with a note-perfect performance of that great tune. After their thank-yous and leaving the stage, the crowd cheered mightily for them to come back for a few more songs, but it was not to be. Normally, I might be disappointed in this. However, the Manics played about an hour and a half of great rock and roll – so, I’ll give them a break.

After the show, Paul and I went across the street for one last drink and to go over what we’d just witnessed. We summarized many of the points I’ve made above in this post and concluded that this one is right up there with the best we’d seen. I mean, in the end…when you get to see a band of this caliber that’s one of your all-time favorites in such a small venue with great sound and oh by the way meet the lead singer (and he’s cool)…well, it just doesn’t get any better than that.

Ears ringing, smiles on our faces and full of the knowledge that we’d just seen a truly unlikely but spectacular show…we headed home.

Journal for Plague Lovers - A Return to Glory for Manic Street Preachers

Sometimes, one of your favorite bands hits their peak and, despite your undying devotion, just doesn't quite deliver the goods after that. Sure, they might put out a song or two - even an album - that is a cut above what else is going on in music, but for the most part...you starting thinking that their day has come and gone. I think we all have these feelings about one band or performer that we love.

But sometimes, that same band comes back and knocks your socks off when you’re least expecting it with a masterpiece that has you believing once again. They return to glory...and they do so on the merits of new work rather than a "greatest hits tour" or the like.
This happened with me for one of my all time favorite bands, Manic Street Preachers with their new CD Journal for Plague Lovers. For those of you not versed in the ways of the Manics, check out some info on them here, here and here.

To set up Journal for Plague Lovers, however, you need to know more than just this is their ninth studio album. Rather, we need to begin things with a short history of Manic Street Preachers.

The Band Forms

In the late 1980s, four university students in Wales started a rock band. The members had known each other most of their young lives and their goals were, among others, to shock the rock world, shake things up in a boring music scene, cause a little controversy and get people thinking. After a street vagrant described the sound of band member James Dean Bradfield as he busked for change on the street as that of a "manic street preacher," the band took that as its name. (Below right: The Manics in the early days: Sean Moore, Richy Edwards, James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire. Picture from the Elbo.ws blog.)

By the early 1990s the Manics and worked up a set of songs, moved to London, got some gigs and were taking the music scene by storm with their direct confrontation of the prevailing rave, Britpop, “baggy” culture, authority and more.

They Produce Exciting Early Work

Citing Guns ‘n Roses, the Clash and Public Enemy as heavy influences, Generation Terrorist was their first full release and their glam punk rock and catchy hooks proved an exciting mix that certainly got my attention. In addition to the music, the lyrical content of the Manics songs emerged as worthy with guitarist and chief lyricist Richy Edwards penning songs that challenged people’s assumptions around such things as gender, government, consumerism, music censorship and more…expressing anger at these societal issues. Glory was sniffed and perhaps even partly achieved with this first outing.

Their second effort was Gold Against the Soul. It built on their sound a bit and saw Edwards cover more personal subjects covered in songs like “From Dispare to Where,” “Life Becoming a Landslide,” and “Roses in the Hospital.” Glory was knocking.

In 1994 came The Holy Bible, their third CD. This is – in my opinion – their very best. Dark, aggressive, tender at a few times and always thought provoking, this was truly art just as much as rock and roll. This time Edwards clearly expressed his disgust with humanity and what people are willing to do to themselves and others. Glory was clearly achieved here. (Left: The Manics in the mid-1990s -- Bradfield, Edwards, Wire and Moore. Picture not taken by me...copied from the So Well Remembered blog.)

Edwards Disappears, Things Change

Soon after this, the troubled Edwards went missing and has never been heard from again. Now declared legally dead, most assume he killed himself by jumping off the Severn bridge in the UK. Perhaps this is not surprising given the progression of themes Edward explored in the Manics first thee records. However, before he disappeared, Edwards left his other band mates a folder full of lyrics for their next record.

Devastated by the loss of their friend, but deciding to carry on as a band, some of these lyrics made their way on the band’s following record, Everything Must Go, which went on to be a massive album in the UK – clearly their commercial height and solidifying them as a glorious band.

However, the bulk of Edward’s lyrics in those folders remained unused. And so it remained as the band put out several other albums including This is My Truth Tell Me Yours, Know Your Enemy, Lifeblood and Send Away the Tigers. Each of these had their high points, but each also seemed to be one slightly less interesting effort than the last with Send Away the Tigers perhaps an exception in a positive direction. (Above: The Manics in the 21st Century -- Bradfield, Wire and Moore. Picture not taken by me. Copied from The Line of Best Fit blog.)

That is until now.

Now we come to the current day and the main event. Namely, the new CD by the Manics called Journal for Plague Lovers. Last year, Bradfield and the other two members of the band – Nicky Wire and Sean Moore – decided it was time to revisit the bulk of the lyrics Edwards left them before he vanished.

With a decade to help heal the shock and sadness of their comrade’s apparent suicide, the band decided it was time to base an album solely on this last trove of Edwards’ words. Doing so was seen at the time as a risky proposition. Would 10 year old lyrics really be relevant today? Would they be able to make sense of Edwards thoughts? Would the listening public see this as desperation or a bold move?

Well, in hindsight they need not have worried because from beginning to end, the album they created - Journal for Plague Lovers - is a first class piece of rock art. Equal parts dangerous, brooding, aggressive, thought provoking and literate, the new CD evokes the best of the band's The Holy Bible high point with their subsequent chart success sensibilities. Glory has clearly been achieved again.

(Above: Cover of Journal for Plague Lovers.)

Here's a run down of the songs on Journal for Plague Lovers:

• Peeled Apples – a dark, aggressive opener with a killer guitar riff. This song open things up on the right note and lets you know that serious business is afoot. Firing off sets of imagery in each verse that set up ironies or fears, the chorus pays these off with a couple ways to deal with those. The one suggested I like best is "trespass your torments, if you are what you wanna be."
• Jackie Collins Existential Question Time – a catchy tune with a funny, disturbing and thought provoking theme that’ll have you pondering a number of things. Situationist sisterhood of Jackie and Joan, indeed.
• Me and Steven Hawkings - a song about (I think) the dangers of cloning and using chemicals/genetics in farming. What will such activity lead to? How would "me" and scientist Steven Hawkings feel about that? Just some of the fun territory explored in this romper of a rocking tune.
• This Joke Sport Severed – things slow down here. Starting with just Bradfield’s voice and acoustic guitar, it builds musically with strings and more instruments. This is a sorrowful song in which the distraught person (Edwards presumably) is seeking "the place where I became untethered." There is a well placed "disconnect" in music to underscore this point song about half way through.
• Journal for Plague Lovers - a mid-paced rocker with radio-wave guitars, this song tackles the power, improbability and perfection of deities. At least that's my take. The song opens with some doubting lines about how "pretend prayer and pretend care makes everything fair" and then the song goes on to state that "Only a god reserves the right to absolve the ones who revile him." Heavy stuff and not easily deciphered. But that's the cool part. You can ponder it. Plus, making logical sense of great poetry, art or Richy Edwards' lyrics isn't meant to be easy.
• She Bathed Herself in a Bath of Bleach - the driving rock riff and emotional belt-it-out chorus return here with a song about...well, I'm not too sure. There are some clear lines in here about what a person would do for love and the power of love. So, I'll go with it's about the power and pain of love.
• Facing Page: Top Left - this is a beautiful song with simple acoustic guitar. Clear divided between contemplative versus and a more upbeat chorus, Bradfield delivers perhaps the best vocal on the entire CD as he expresses Edwards' thoughts on how he feels truly down in side - both at times ready to smile and at other ready to cry.
• Marlon J.D. - kicking off with an electric drum beat, this is one of the more musically interesting songs on the album. The lyrics suggest an admiration for certain type of discipline - in particular the ability to live very basically "without clutter or luxury"...as well as the ability to take abuse and loneliness. All of these are traits from the character played by Marlon Brandon in the movie Apocalypse Now and this is referenced in a few different ways here. Musically, the song does not disappoint. Another highlight.
• Doors Closing Slowly - here we have the third slower song on this CD. Heavy on imagery again, Edwards seems to be communicating his despair with the way society is going...and the loneliness of knowing that, but not being able to do anything about it.
• All is Vanity - a very straight forward and powerful song in terms of music and lyrics and very strong for that. This song simply says that the question in life is not "what's wrong?" but rather "what's right?" What is the right thing to do? And for that, it's also a comment on the phoniness many people display or put up with every day. These are the "facts of life - sunshine" as the song's searing chorus repeats.
• Pretension/Repulsion - lyrically, this song is the musical equivalent of a Jackson Pollack painting. It's scattered, going in different directions with a jumble of phrases that don't seem to go together. Musically, it rocks hard...and for that you can enjoy it thoroughly.
• Virginia State Epileptic Colony - a nice mid-paced rocker that lyrically describes what it might be to live a life inside an institution.
• William’s Last Words - this one is sung in the flatter tone of the band's bassist, Nicky Wire, and it's a clear "song for departure" penned by Edwards as he pondered whatever he felt he needed to do. Deploying a slower, acoustic, almost plodding approach musically as Richy Edwards articulates his farewell wishes to his friends and family. A sad song in that respect and a testament to the the love they felt for their friend that the band decided to record it.
• Bag Lady - perhaps more similar to the sound of songs on The Holy Bible than any others on Journal, this song to me is about the fallacy of following the the path of narcissism and self delusion about the world. The music, combined with Bradfield's powerful deliver makes for a powerful ending to the set.

I highly recommend Journal for Plague Lovers for anyone looking for authentic, legitimate rock and roll - rock as a statement, as art, as catharsis, as a release and certainly in this case a tribute to a fallen comrade. These guys are producing stuff you ain't gonna hear about or get anywhere else. Throw in the compelling performance by each band member and the diversity of sounds you hear, this is a record you can listen from beginning to end...always something I look for. I suggest you check it out.