Last Saturday (May 28) the Manic Street Preachers arrived at the Liberty Stadium Swansea to perform one of their best loved and most critically acclaimed albums Everything Must Go. The performance of some of their most euphoric and emotive anthems (20 years since the album’s release) will have warmed the hearts of the most rain-drenched fans that night. With heavy rain, thunder and lightning at times the liberty Stadium crowd were soaked but most won’t have even noticed as Manics front man James Dean Bradfield belted out some of their timeless classics such as “Australia” and “Motorcycle Emptiness”.
The band, well complimented by the Super Furry Animals and Public Service Broadcasting in support didn’t take long to get the Liberty Stadium crowd in full voice with a superb rendition of “A Design for Life”. This was then followed by the entire Everything Must Go album.
The second half of the evening was mix of old and new hits with a large dash of Welsh pride thrown in for good measure. Songs such as “If You Tolerate this” and “You stole The Sun from my Heart” rocked the liberty foundations.
But it was the new football anthem penned by the band in support of Wales’ eagerly and long-awaited appearance at their first major tournament since 1958 that received the loudest roar from the crowd. “Together Stronger”, the name of the song taken from the social media campaign pushed during Wales’ historic qualification; blends a perfect mix of the usual cheesy football song but with more than a pinch of (lump in the throat) Welsh pride. It added a additional feel good factor to what was already a memorable night in Swansea Bay.
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