17/12/11 - 02 Arena, London Gig News

[Heart2Heart]

Originally Posted by Takk

I get the impression there will be non-british shows in the 2 year gap, because he specifically mentioned being back in britain in 2 years.

I hope so! I remember Nicky saying that he's interested to do mini shows outside of the UK on Twitter, but I don't know if it's just something he said off the top of his head or if it's something that'll be carried through. Either way it'd be a real shame if I can't catch them live.

[everlasting]

Just got home, proper good gig, great atmosphere, a hard core mosh pit going on for quite some time which was making me laugh to myself cos one guy was hammered and destroying people, but all were having fun. I wanted in but i'd have died but I jumped around a lot and headbanged to myself Revol was a massive highlight, the crowd aorund me were loving that big time. I adored The Everlasting as I'd never seen that live by the full band before I enjoyed every song, I just sang my heart out to everything, gave it 100%. Suffering big time right now, gonna ache for days.
Would LOVE to see some photos / videos from high up in the seats so I can see how great the crowd were. I was looking around during Design for Life and it made me smile seeing everyone standing up singing together. Nicky smashing his bass at the end was a fine moment too, go on lad! Overall, for me, 10/10. Oh, and James said we're the best fans in the world, yay!!!

[Sandrine]

The NME's report of the gig http://www.nme.com/news/manic-street-preachers/61040

[UEF]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z410qiEMY8E

[starstruck]

Originally Posted by UEF

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z410qiEMY8E

that's outstanding quality mate, cheers.

perhaps the best bit of it is the sight of a pro film crew down the front - surely not just filming them for the big screen? let me word carefully here - should a non-official dvd turn up as might have been discussed then great; if they're doing a proper release of it well then so much the better.

[UEF]

One thing I will say, it was nicer to just have the amps etc. and the electric cherry trees onstage tonight rather than all that disco ball wank we've had in the last few years (although the animals seemed to make an appearance in the second half, including a new disco ball monkey in the tree)

[The Crow]

The 2nd half was much better ten that 1st for some reason though I had to turn off on ADFL, so bored of it. Standing area was full of life most active MSP crowd for a long time, maybe 10 yrs most of them knew the words & the songs. They were delayed for 15 mins & James joked that 'we said be there at 7.30pm lol but the intermission was cut to 15 mins to make up fo it. Like I said I was only about 8/9 people away from the barrier & got in the queue for 6.45pm

This gig had more Richie lookalikes then the Millennium gig & this time it didn't take Nicky 6 attempts to bust his guitar he did it in 1 It was good they went to some trouble for the set as well, nice trees & sculptures.

Gruff sang LRS better than James!! Nina could have done better if her amp was mic'ed up better lol all the way from America??? What exactly are The Cardigans doing these days, bugger all & I bet she got some £££ for it! Wish they had got Ian as well for SKON

Funny how James wasn't so keen on playing So Why So Sad but it sounded great to me, not many knew it around me that & along with This Is The Day, Indian Summer & There By The Grace Of God

Highlights:

Let Robeson Sing
Faster
Revol
Suicide Is Painless
You Love Us
Motown Junk

[Deets]

Originally Posted by Takk

Yes, yes no i think.

thanks Tim xx

[Baillio]

Such a good night, band and crowd on top form. 100+ gigs and that may have been one of the best, second half in particular.

Great to spend the afternoon with Corkie308 and by chance bump into UEF x

[Heart2Heart]

Originally Posted by UEF

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z410qiEMY8E

Thank you so much!

[Refresher]

Gruff's voice really suited the song and I thought Nina sounded great. Nicky's high energy at the start hit him hard by the end plus his injury from Revol Felt sorry for Sean and James 38 songs very tough for both but they were amazing through out the gig. A great crowd looked over 19000 only a few small pockets of empty seats and no seat black out sections like when some bands come to the 02. A night never to forget so many magical moments

[gallafield]

That was pretty fucking amazing last night. I managed to get dead centre of the stage, maybe 10 to 15 people away from the stage. Perfect view, perfect sound. I was greatly amused by the fact that the videos playing behind the band were about ten seconds or so behind where they should have been, especially noticeable during 'faster'. Someone will be getting fired for that.

Hightlights for me were:
Empty souls - agree with whoever said it was much closer to the isle of wight version, it sounded great last night
You love us - just so damn aggressive when playing with two guitars with the volumes up
Design for life - the extended drumming outro so james could keep talking and they could fire the confetti cannons with the welsh flag coloured paper
Revol - same story as hammersmith 2005, although wire introduced it then as being about "group sex in the polit beureau". Extended breakdown bit was ace too
Some kind of nothingness - had really hoped for gruff to duet on that as well, but it stil sounded awesome.
Your love alone - just for nina being there really.
There by the grace of god - still majestic live.

And it was nice to hear the songs I'd not heard played live before too. I liked the fact that 'so why so sad' seemed more guitar-prominent than it used to, and it sounded really good last night, even if it seemed like I was the only person who cheered for it.

Couple of negative points -(
The two cunts stood directly behind me who talked all the way through 'suicide is painless' and 'the love of richard nixon'. Arseholes.
Not being allowed to buy a cup on the way in, like I'm going to spend a tenner on a cup just to throw it during the gig, and then the merchandise stand having sold out by the time I got there after the gig.
Arena staff taking tickets away. This really pisses me off. I, like many others, am a nostalgic person, and I like to keep mementos of events like gigs. This is partly why I always buy a t-shirt, not so much to wear it, but so I can remember the gig. Tickets are a part of this nostalgia. So what good is it for them to take my ticket away, drop it into a fucking bin bag, and then give me a shitty generic plastic wristband.

Aside from those bits, All in all, it was fucking wonderful. Such a shame that I'll never hear some of those songs live again, but it was a wonderful gig to be at. The band were on form, aside from what sounded like a slight fuck up during 'it's not war', great banter from james and nicky, and even wayne and sean's backing vocals couldn't ruin the evening, even if they're getting the chorus to 'slash n burn' wrong (pretty sure it's 'kill to live, kill for kicks' not 'live to kill, kill for kicks').

Come back soon, boyos.

[mrdavidj]

Pedantic thought of the night...

"This is the album version of Empty Souls, not the single version. I expect to hear Dying Flowers"

[Sandrine]

Another review of the gig http://www.theartsdesk.com/new-music...chers-o2-arena

[Takk]

Originally Posted by Deets

thanks Tim xx

Though I can't be sure of the last one. Nicky smashed up his bass at the end.