Difference between revisions of "We Love Them - Melody Maker, 12th April 1997"

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Manics B•oved UK's yeatest rock an old soul man myself. I saw Starr suport Haye here in '72. I sa•w Marvin Gaye here in the late Sixties. Thofll be if you ttw ? Mod Street are they like •em. TWrea TEfirsttimel I MS ering Nikes. a a coat. maæaraandleopa i is like a thug. Tonight. full Of similarty

• oph. TW re ones in

macara and I pr They the ' n'Vans rnd&up a largo of Mao—audienæ with their roots. flaunt their

• nywould

st"mwrd in The words to "Motown June oro imboddOd in nig hoart ttwy•m singirv mtywannaget d CELEBRATION m They're e•mtyth ing offct•dan - • , alternative to. 0 refuge frå,bi. And nowthevrohere.n'@t: 0 b&ayai. 1.0•.••• The lads Ove the kkS with suspicion. sup ttwir phts.• Stn it Outa F •••ing poofs. Student Bul&hit pråty•båy po$", whiney freaks. Lees havo fun. Lees This a gig. Th" is a haw reality is a little rn0re complex than that. The older fans are 10K* and to feel forgotten. Thefio tike a board Of on the waning return Of they' ro mourning though. ign Jarn«• rnde-up or scrawl«i shirts or bloody arrns. They' ro rnourning the fæt that the MmB oren•t in control The Manics. Public Enorny, It*e Dexys, almost thorn-selves aroused nch the inflarnmM0ry start that to merely tum upto a gig becUnO an article faith, andtotumup a r'*er Now. tonight turn up costheyquitofikethe les. Tike € Ma butthekpa relinqUbhed control in and vaOåriesofthe inarketplaco. And &ecisety w•hM pisses old" fans. tho easy Wailabi_liw_ Mani&r'0W. ttwwayvou walk in on them Off the • tho Man ß in rnanyw"s, early gigs c.a II prayor.påstoglonoatihe as; what mattered the other pooplo there. It was r"ver •r6ethinq band as pf Ørnmunity. Startling reålisation that throe-7t diffemnt routes all arriwd atthå sarn&pluz. Kwas like , Rechir rneeting the . So wtm wo the Barroorn is packed funa cavies stood 0t bar. bored with the Old , waiting on a rmie. can alrnost unckrÄand j wounded pride, the bit-torneß. But here' for the old fans: lads are all Must Go"... guv next to me kisses a a Man City s&t. On Oops- WV back. Cool' shit.scared of you. Expetto get the odd dead leg. the foot trod on. because the rn«e the more wmk«s. right? But they are terrified. t TheV re at narry the anti-girts. frorn Pluto. angry because au that eyeliner rnüß unwre &ferd into this band. you' re Evil'" gig. before I forga Christ. Man k: Street Prexhors are the bet rve ttwn. A gorgeous. E-Z of trails them. the they 011 night. lyres and i rnogß in eye-popping fluidity. T*ing the stage to rwar bedlam, surprising 100k; no spues any of band. no running pock«i in clowr. warmer. rrWe heed in and thorn to and rext to exh others playing. than together where they been away in their *ivae universes at stage-edge. And no hero has heard them sound Sean's Wire' bass immxulato. Jame ' guitar brilliant and irnpossibty big' n •wide as ever. The synth player works in samples and string when be, doubles on trumpet a razor-sharp

• Kevin Carter and there

have it. rod This is just stunning. •Australia- on a band who sound 'ko they' re hurwy, the backdrop only spinning heads further; -Tristossa- has never sounded funkier. never sounded rnore overloaded too for your James keeps the chat short. enjoying the way his band sounds mw as much as we • From TO 90 taken to places of melody and magic novor reached on vinyl. itself Motorcycle Ernminess- thM 90t Nicky dedicates a song to Sharon Stone (for was - Irish - Yanks - to a delirious front 30 row. •No Surface All Feeling" has a lurnp in throat threatening to choke line Of melody gorgeously picked out and scattered to air. - SuÉide Is Painless- a the cruel humour of 'SOLD' AGAINST THEIR SOULS? Richard 'Dickon' Edwards of ORLANDO explüs why rehvenØon Of Marics means he can no longer can himseH a fan Should Join Freddie Mercury— . Forget —There •s TOO Much Sympathy for AIDS Vtctims• . Forget some foot's •The Wrong People Are Breedng¯. a really klOt Star (hinion. Ono which, if I were a payroued rnuü journalist. rd be •sacked on the spot- for espousing (according to the Features Of another publication). Reactionary ripostes ready? Here comm that (career) suici& note in full: tho an»urn Everything Must GO by Manic Street THAT GOOD. The once Webh &smissed and for years by much ot the press to the point Of sdf.mutnation, and 32 April 12.1997 'No me nuü m«e, &ere eve a som&ite md a picare eno*' raEng cows have, it transpires, b«ome untouchably sacred thorns-elves. Of course. a complete U-turn in critical consensus is no new thing. and highlighting it smacks of —l was thero before you was th«e- Smug-n.ws. However. the reasons for why my time burning love for the Manic. has today dwindled to passive well-wishing Ore<ly from their transformation from venomous visionaries to myrmJ$ns Of mollification. with its attendant defaulted sycophancy, as a result of RicheVs hospitalisation and subsequ-Mt vanishing (hereafter known as •The Angle- i. The Cutture Of Despair has given way to The Culture Of Syrrvathy. Hi. Q Magazine. HI. Brit Award... The samo shallow scum that or-Ee threw stones are now falling ov«  themselves to salute the bancrs valiant Carrying On In The Face Loss. Permission to be successful in tNs country. it sems. can be wanted only if the vktories are pyrrhic. the circumstances mitigatkig. The (Ä)tain Scott Fetor never really left us. "Everything Must Go isn't as feattred in a new...»« nw you. In fact. it's symptomatic 01 tho present state of culture. Bau&inarcrs velocity* has hold. and we *iral information saturation in a chsperate bid for moaning away from No one listens to musk any more. there simply isn't time— too many faces and names to remember, too many words, too much music. Give us a sounÖ-?te and a picture and that•s enough. Music is dead: publicity is the new rocrn•roIl.No one wants to hear the next Oasis album. they just want to know what it's like. Briefly. Name the Manics for softÜbingtheir image and attitude. for raving about golf and housewod and working with The Lightning Seeds once they pined tor genuine revolution and worked with The Bomb Squad. They know to continuo

are doomed to be

superseded and

by The Angle. They don •t stand

for arMhing any more becage can 't Once. I actuaUy lost friends by to Generation Temxists Today/ as they are. "t there between the column inches — sensitive. literate rock act. When i Tho Angle took hold in early 1994. I knew last band to rnean anything to me good. and that therefore had to start my own. I became my own icon. From the l•tters Orlando got and the conversations with fans at our gigs. dear we share an appeal with man disciples Of the old-style Manics, whoso expectations I can only hope we fulfil. and which is so-rnethh9 by I am immmsetv flattered As for those of the sacrifice to the God of Receiv«t Opinion. I have to Offer this one shard of hope: let an you how to think. That's an ord«. plummets its Ronettes•thump even more gloriously deep and the guy next to me kisses a large geezer in a Man City shirt. On the lips. Oops. The guy kisses back. Cool. By now, even the bar-hugging scaredy-cats are diving into the throng. James is still pretty much the model rock frontman; given less of a stage to run round he's limited to wicked little hi•kicks, windmill-riffola, head-snapping tension , a whirlwind of confined energy. And Christ. I know it's been said, but just exactly how cool is Nicky Wire? Any man who can fallfiat on his arse (as he does during the encore) and still laugh. and still look cool doing it and still stand there while his bust bass gets fitted looking cool is surely unfairly blessed. For the closing two songs, The Maker contingent find the balconyfora bids eye view. "A Design Life" , undoubtedly the rock anthem Ofthe late Nineties, is an avalanche. I dopt. think a more successful so*t rock song exi Design For audience sing it a 10 ¯ Life". and now Ofmindless hed i amusing than a come, as the song whi contributed to e currentCou , ifs crucial. What'samazi , this is the}'nültimate ng, , Change andtheydop pl as evoke tell you singalongObviou howto bemuse, draw it otit, expand on its tell you sound, play it lusher and I ngyoudön't already more suffused with passion!tian know, even though the Manics anyone has heard and mOStofthesethings. now the tears really, Agreat band must On municate the totality oftheir with no apologiøS, now you ought and experience in such to the samerealfsation. VVh"f way that the curse Of pop, its "You Love Us" insatiable demands on us, its stupid hope and unhealthy hold I THINK realise sorn on us, become worth it. The The Manics are just rock Manics have always done this, band, Sure. A great still continue to do this every doesnt have to inspire disciples, time they play, do it tonight in promote intelligence, challenge Blackpool more than ever. Tonight, they reach into life and drag us breathless from a world where we are weak. inarticulate and inconsistent to a world where the blinding white lightof a justified humanity falls away to reveal a mirror. tes you. It always .was you. You can be this true, you can be this good. Theywere always yours , whether you've been here since '89 or '96. Ultimately, whether everyone gets exætly what you get out of the Ma nics is irrelevant, nono of you r business. Because, at the very least, the Man ics are still leagues ahead of the rest of rock in terms of offering the chance for a wider view. in terms of sending you outin a million different directions, in terms of making life more. Thars why they' re still the greatest rock band in the world. And thaes why Blackpool feels like love again. Unarguable. PALACE MUSIC LOST BLUES AND OTHER SONGS 'AVAILABLE ON CD/LP LIMITED DOUBLE VINYL AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY THROUGH INDEPENDENT STORES æ-ce Aua.Q.A•O.lN soc_NDstBISHOP N TAPE„PRSTOL-IMPEAIAL Mss A TFÆ€ WC2.ROLlGH LEGGED MIDDLESBORO UGH.ALAN 34 Melody April 12, 1997 WMDY. D—VSH-IRE "Comfort •rhøy'reaN wyo•s

• James. c*litelv, with his

beautiful guitar. That Les Paul just malty does itfor mo. FANS V. NM FMS: "I'veliked tho Manics since 'Motown Junk' , but I think it's great that everyone tikes them now. I want them to be the most famous bandin the wcrld. ADRIAL In The Summertime" FAVE to namoonø." FITTEST: Nicky." EARLV vs NEW FANS: an oldfan, but the wholeCutt Of Richey is so elitist. All tho now fans are going back and listening to the early stuff; Ws not up to anyone to dictate who can like tho Manics. and SURREY FAVE M cie Emptiness" suHace all feeling. " -E verlasting nothingness.¯ FITTEST: beautiful. — MMS v. FANS: "I'm nat pissadoff with the new fans, I feal Sorry for them having missed Out on the early days. What rm pissedoff about is ait the Cast fans and beery lads stomping all ovar the place. daunting with ell these odd peoplahet e. DAVID, PEAK DISTRICT "Motorcvcte Emptiness" •underneon IønøØnoss/Mot0rcyClø Omptinøss. " "NickyWire- very tasty ankles , " MNSVsNEW ANS: "l saw the Manics first a few years ago and it was a lot wilder, more punkish, more energy. Tonight it's just loads Of big geezers hanging around the bar, bonding. shame. " BAR". BLACKPOOL FAVE TRACK: *From Despair TO Where" FAVELVÆC: "l.ibrariesgavo us power." mtEST: "NickyWire.Jamos isa porker." FANS V. NNS: good that thavrø getting new fans. Every band changes, has to change, and thervedpneitbriiliantiy." LANCASHIRE. SARAH HELEN. near LANCASTER FAYE TRACK: "Australia". Smau Black Rowers—. "Kevin Carter" mustgo. • "James." "James. • "Oooh. God. VENEW FANS: Althinkit'scoot

that little kids are-buying

. the-singles!"

• Thefansohouldget

. together; - isdæerved.• LOUtu. Ci•ESHIREand near BOLTON FAYE TRACK: "Love•ssweet Exile" , "Suicide IsPainless" "Ihavecrawled so far sidoways/Recognised and hated ofcreation. " •The centre ofhumanity is cruelty. " nrrEST: "Noneofthøm, theVro all a "told now! "Richey, Nicky. . EARLY FMsvsÆW æS: happy that people are really getting . into thøManics now and ifs just unfortunate that they lost Richey before they got Success. " and BOLTON TRACK: "You Love Us" , "Motorcycle Emptiness" HUELVXC: alienation/Boredom and dwpair. " "Culture sucks down "Richey." "Nicky." "Every single now fan out there is a total wanker. eve hadthe shit kicked out Of me about 10 times bv trendies, drunk footy lads and Cast fans. Thefrecoming up tome when rmjustdancing; they see tho eyeliner and kick the shit out of me. They're only here to listøn to A Design For Life' and elbow us in the face." "laintgoingbackin. TheVve busted my teg and spoiled the whole night. MARTIN CARR ON THE MANIC STREKr PREACHERS I first got into the Manics I had the same kinda feeling I had with Public Enem y. They were just one Of those bands that. if you were gonna get into them. you had to decide, you had to let them take you over. I dont think anyone else will Over make an album remotely like the " Holy B-ble— ever again. It's one of my favourite albums of all time. it's so F ••ing awesome, rs the kind of album that any lesser band would just try the rest of their career trying to live up to or live down. It is weird what's happened to them in the last year. You hope they can still put the same intelligence as they used to but you wonder when you look at the singing along to lyrics like We don't talk about love. wejust wanna got drunk like it' a P • • ing drinking song or something. Maybe it's unavoidable when you get that big. that you can't be sure everyone understands. I think that's whars F •s ed the Boos up actually. we can't let go, we have to be sure everybody gets it. "But we love supporting, we were actually getting totally bored headlining tours. ThereG no challenge to win anyone . so there% no effort, and you just get lazy. And seeing as us andthe Manics arethe only two rock bands in the country that really matter, this tour was for us.