'Fearless, relentless, monumental and essential - their finest hour'

"Sean has smashed his drums to bits already," smiles bassist Nicky Wire, halting proceedings just two songs into the final night of their celebration tour of The Holy Bible. As Moore replaces his snare, Wire deadpans to the crowd: "My grand plan is coming together."

It was across town at The Astoria in December 1994 where the Manics had previously played both their last Bible show and their last gig with Richey Edwards on stage. While the symmetry of the band would be forever lost, the power of the parallels between then and now is lost on no one - least of all the Manics themselves.

As the band bound on stage to the soundtrack of The Chemical Brothers' remix of 'Faster', they're clearly pumped with the conviction to do this album justice, moreso than ever before. While frontman James Dean Bradfield may have been the victim of 'The Christmas bug' earlier this week, there were certainly no signs of weakness tonight. From the first howl in 'Yes' of "in these plagued streets of pity you can buy anything," the ferocious spirit of the record has clearly overcome him - filling every other moment with a windmill kick and relentless rush.

Of the 20 and counting times this writer has seen the band live, they have never been on as fine a form as this.

Audience interaction is kept to a relative minimum during the remainder of the Bible segment, allowing the true power of this essential record to steal all focus. We challenge you to find another band with the fearlessness to take a lyric like "Compton, Harlem - a pimp fucked a priest," or "Zhirinovsky, Le Pen, Hindley and Brady, Ireland, Allit, Sutcliffe, Dahmer, Nielson, Yoshinori Ueda, Blanche and Pickles, Amin, Milosovic / Give them respect they deserve" - and turn it into a feral sing-along anthem.

How do they do it? Well, the answer is far from simple. Critics have spent the last 20 years attempting to explain the genius of The Holy Bible, but few have done so with such succinct perfection as Keith Cameron who hailed it as 'a triumph over logic'.

It's everything that 'pop music' shouldn't be. It's a journey on the spike of a buzzsaw, the sound of four men staring out at the world and seeing nothing but murder, the sound of the soul being torn inside out. It's to the Manics credit that every idiosyncrasy in the twisted schizophrenia of 'Faster', the political-sexual paranoia of 'Revol' and the Holocaust nauseua of 'The Intense Humming Of Evil' touch something in everyone - binding together three or more generations of fans in The Roundhouse tonight.

With the wide-eyed, howling delivery and guitar prowess of James Dean Bradfield, the looming prescence of pogoing bassist Nicky Wire and the man-machine drumming insanity of Sean Moore, the Manics do everything possible to ensure that the Bible's genius endures.

But they couldn't leave it there. The Manics are far from being just a touring museum, pedalling the nostalgia circuit. They're still inventing, and they still matter - best showcased through their second set. Be it the "softer, wedding reception moment" of the tender acoustic 'Show Me The Wonder', the Bowie-in-Berlin futurism of 'Dreaming Of A City', the age-defying call to arms of 'Postcards From A Young Man' or the Krautrock stomping urgency of 'Europa Geht Durch Mich', James, Nicky and Sean showed once again that while they're rooted in the past, they still live for the future.

The heroic reception saved for 'Motorcycle Emptiness', 'If You Tolerate This', the Andy Cairns-assisted 'You Love Us' and the ticker-tape finale of 'Design For Life' show the timeless charm of the Manics catalogue, but it's the whole package that acts as a celebration of their past, present and future. From the Astoria to The Roundhouse, they may be one man down but their DNA remains the same: fearless, relentless, monumental and essential. Tonight was their finest hour.

Manic Street Preachers played:

The Holy Bible

Yes

Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit'sworldwouldfallapart

Of Walking Abortion

She Is Suffering

Archives of Pain

Revol

4st 7lb

Mausoleum

Faster

This Is Yesterday

Die in the Summertime

The Intense Humming of Evil

P.C.P.

Hits, Curios and Futurology

Show Me the Wonder (Acoustic)

Motorcycle Emptiness

Dreaming a City (Hughesovka)

You Stole the Sun From My Heart

Postcards From a Young Man

Europa Geht Durch Mich

If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next

Donkeys

Walk Me to the Bridge

Divine Youth (with Georgia Ruth)

You Love Us (with Andy Cairns)

A Design for Life

Read about why Futurology is one of the best albums of the year here.

Manic Street Preachers' Holy Bible tour dates for 2015 are below. Buy tickets safely and securely with Seatwave.

30 May EDINBURGH, Usher Hall

1 June WOLVERHAMPTON, Civic Hall

2 June SOUTHAMPTON, Guildhall

5 June CARDIFF, Castle