I have quite a soft spot for Wembley. Sadly, being a Hammer, football has nothing to do with this! The first proper gig that I ever went to was here. Way back when, I saw famous one hit wonders Berlin and the much more impressive headliner, Frankie Goes To Hollywood. As I got off the train at Wembley, I took a bit of time to have a look at how the new Wembley Stadium was going. I was originally very disappointed that the twin towers would be no more, but I have to say that The Arch looks very impressive. After that I went into Wembley High Street and found myself a Wetherspoons Pub. As it was a Thursday they were doing their Curry club thing - curry and pint for under a fiver - sorted.

A couple of lagers later and I walked to the Arena. Interestingly, Wembley Arena is going to be 'improved' with the stage being moved to the other end as well as changes being made to the facilities. The tannoy announced that Razorlight would be on stage in 5 minutes so I moved from the bar to the standing area and got to the front of the stage and to the right, as I looked at it, the lights went down, some spooky music was played and four thin blokes took the stage. They started with an excellent 'Don't Go Back To Dalston' and didn't really let up from there. Singer/guitarist, Johnny Borrell, was quite happy to speak in between songs and speak he did! There was plenty of pogoing from the band which is always nice to see. A big highlight for me was when they did ' Stumble and Fall' and I really enjoyed 'Golden Touch' (a decent shout for single of the year as opposed to that awful Busted Thunderbirds thingy!). They played a new song called 'Keep The Right Profile' which sounded good - a bit like The Police crossed with The Strokes if you can imagine such a thing. The only pity was that the crowd seemed a little bit on the quiet side. I had a bit of a chat with a lady about cddkmusik.com (she had noticed me taking notes) I left the arena to have a look at the T-shirts and the obligatory beer before we got the call to go to the Standing Area for the Manics were about to take to the Stage.

I pretty much got to the same place as there was an excellent view from there. The lights went out and we were treated to a short film. James Dean Bradfield, Sean Moore and Nicky Wire took to the stage along with two other musicians. Although the Manics are a three piece, live there is a keyboard player called Nick Naysmyth and an additional guitarist called, I believe, Guy Massey. The stage and instruments were all white and the lighting mainly red to reflect the cover of the latest album 'Lifeblood' no doubt. Having said that James Dean Bradfield used an array of guitars (two Les Paul's, a Flying V and a Telcaster) that weren't necessarily white. There was also three video screens at the back of the stage showing videos, slogans and live footage for those at the back. The band were wearing all black, apart from Wire's brown leather trousers. The first song that they played was '1985', which is also the opening track on 'Lifeblood'. They then went into ' Faster' and suddenly the crowd seemed to wake from it's slumber and much moshing action was had. There was no let up to the pace of the set. I suppose when you are the Manic Street Preachers, every song's a winner. A song that I loathed when it came out (for sounding too much like 'Duchess' by The Stranglers'), but has grown to become a favourite of mine, came next. 'If You Tolerate This, Then Your Children Will Be Next' was absolutely fantastic. To be honest, I could keep going on about every song in the set but I don't want to bore everyone. Latest single 'For Empty Souls' works as well live as it does on CD - the keyboard line running through it reminds me of Depeche Mode. So skipping through a few songs, highlights for me were 'You Love Us' (always a classic!)'Yes' (I wrote in my notes that this was the 'Badgers Nadgers') and 'Die In The Summertime' (got me headbanging despite the fact that I had a bit of a dodgy shoulder at the time!). James Dean Bradfield then grabbed an acoustic guitar and treated us to the opening verse of ' Revol' and opening Verse of ' Archives Of Pain' as teasers, before playing ' Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky'. After this, the rest of the band came back on and yet something was missing. To be precise Nicky Wire's Trousers. And in there place kneelength grey socks and leopard print miniskirt!!! ' You Stole The Sun From My Heart' was superb - a great song. The only problem that I have with the Manics is that I wish I could play the guitar as well as James Dean Bradfield, so I sometimes have slight jealous pangs. They never last long, though, as appreciate his talents are put to very good use. He was very talkative with the audience and jumped around the stage like a man possessed. Nicky was also doing his usual pogoing scissor kicks. 'Tsunami' was the big audience singalong and 'I Live To Fall Asleep' had to be restarted halfway through due to some disturbance or other (didn't see what it was, so I won't speculate!). When the Manics play 'Motorcycle Emptiness' it always feels like it is the best song of all time and tonight was no exception (it surely has to be close!). The set ended on a triumphant 'A Design for Life' finishing with another short film and no encore (to be fair they'd been on stage for an hour and three quarters or so, so it's not like there was any reason to complain!). As I left the Standing Area, I had to avoid a few fists that were flying (nothing to do with me, I hasten to add) and I noted that one bloke was going to have a bit of a shiner in the morning! And to think that this is the time of year for Peace and Love! In the queue for the tube (the journey home from London is always the worst bit and tonight it would be made even worse, as I had gone to this gig on my own!), I reflected that it had been a superb night. Go and see the Manics if they play anywhere near you. It is even worth the effort to see them if they don't play near you.

Well, that is my last review of 2004. To all who read my reviews have a very Merry Christmas and a fantastic 2005 (I am already looking forward to next year when I will be seeing Pop Will Eat Itself and Oasis).

Love and Peace

Ric Mansell


Check Out The Manic Street Preachers Here
Check Out Razorlight Here