Page 42 - Black Velvet Rock Magazine Issue 112

BV112 pg42-43 Manics.qxp_BV112 pg42 22/06/2025 18:49 Page 1

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MANIC STREET PREACHERS – WOLVERHAMPTON THE CIVIC AT THE HALLS, 25.04.25
Releasing their 15th studio album in February 2025, ‘Crit-
ical Thinking’, Manic Street Preachers have become an inte-
gral part of UK music history. Since their debut single in 1988,
the Manics have been a shining light, using powerful, analyti-
cal, personal, social, political and literary-inspired lyrics that
provoke thought in the midst of the joy of musical art.
A quote by Anthony Burgess on the screen at the back of
the stage reads, ‘We can destroy what we have written, but we
cannot unwrite it.’ This is something that can relate to our
whole existence as humans, but also, more specifically, to a
band like the Manics, whose set features singles from through-
out their almost 40-year history as a band. Some musicians
become tired of their old work, but, as fans of the band, we
would definitely not want the Manics to destroy anything that
they have written, or unwrite it, whether it be the fiery ‘Motown
Junk’ from 1991, which is slotted in towards the end of the set,
much to the delight of old fans, to any of the band’s more re-
cent work.
An intro of ‘Critical Thinking’ announces the arrival of the
band to the stage, with the sublimely melodic ‘Decline & Fall’,
from ‘Critical Thinking’, being the opening number. While
James Dean Bradfield sings about how ‘we blazed a trail and
shone’, the Welsh band are still shining, as tonight’s show,
wholeheartedly, evidences. It is a pleasure to hear the magical
‘Enola/Alone’ in full live glory,
as well as ‘La Tristesse Durera
(Scream To A Sigh)’, with the
lyrics ‘I am a relic’ appearing in
large letters on the backdrop.
‘Brushstrokes Of Reunion’,
from the new album, a song
with lyrics written by James,
precedes the blissful, long-time
favourite ‘You Stole The Sun
From My Heart’. Before the vul-
nerable ‘She Is Suffering’, the
audience is told, ‘When we
were here in 1994, we were a
four-piece. Give it up for Richey
James Edwards’.

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