Laura Dean

ByExactly 20 years since the day that their fourth album 'Everything Must Go' was released, Manic Street Preachers brought its anniversary tour to First Direct Arena, Leeds.Admittedly, I was a little disappointed when the Manics announced that they'd be doing another album anniversary tour so soon after the Holy Bible's in 2014/15, though one line into opening track 'Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier' all doubts I'd initially had were gone. It was incredibly strange hearing crowd favourite 'A Design For Life' so early on in the set and from singles 'Kevin Carter', 'Australia' and 'Everything Must Go' right the way through to 'No Surface All Feeling', the album sounded outstanding. 'No Surface All Feeling' possesses one of my favourite outros and successfully brought the set to a conclusive end in the same way that it brings the album to one. James Dean Bradfield is one of my favourite vocalists and if I ever needed a reminder why (which I definitely will never need) then I'd look no further than the beautiful acoustic track 'Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky', which slows the pace of the album down six tracks in. Bradfield's performance of the track was utterly sublime.After a quick 5 minute break, Bradfield returned to the stage solo for a couple of acoustic tracks; 'Ocean Spray' from the bands 2001 album 'Know Your Enemy' as well as Burt Bacharach's 'Raindrops Keep Falling In My Head' - the first track that the band recorded after guitarist Richey Edwards went missing in 1995. The band also played another cover during their set; Fiction Factory's '(Feels Like) Heaven' which showed off Bradfield's guitar hero skills.Bassist Nicky Wire and drummer Sean Moore returned to the stage to cheers from the crowd as Bradfield shouted "Motorcycle Emptiness" before diving into what Q Magazine Readers voted the 88th 'best song ever' in 2006. Other big hits in the second half of the set included 'You Stole The Sun From My Heart' and 2014's 'Walk Me To The Bridge', which received a crowd reaction as if it had been released at the same time as the singles from 'Everything Must Go'.A particular highlight of the second half of the set was Wire telling the crowd a story about Bradfield buying a new guitar and smashing it during their set at the Duchess of York the last time that they played 'this song' in Leeds, before being told by Bradfield that the next song was in fact 'Your Love Alone Is Not Enough'. Wire had a massive grin on his face for the entirety of the track, before they played the song that he'd introduced a little too early; 'Natwest-Barclays-Midlands-Lloyds' from their debut studio album 'Generation Terrorists'.The Manics lived up to their 'loud' live reputation with 'You Love Us', before ending the show triumphantly with 'If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next' and confetti cannons. The arena looked nothing short of amazing as the joyous front row were displayed on the screens, before the last shots of the band. 'You Love Us' was accompanied by a video of Wire and Edwards - as always, the band gave heartfelt nods and thank yous throughout the gig to Richey which is always lovely to see.The next and final stop for the 'Everything Must Go' 20th anniversary tour is Liberty Stadium, Swansea which takes place this coming Saturday (28/05/16). The band will be supported by fellow Welsh rockers Super Furry Animals and Public Service Broadcasting. Limited tickets are still available.