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"There's a bit of us that thinks maybe we should for once stop being so f**king principled and make loads of money and play it!" Nicky Wire joked last year about the prospect of performing The Holy Bible live. I bet there are easier ways to make much more money.

For all the fuss around this tour, Manic Street Preachers have played many of these songs on-and-off over the last two decades. Some of these songs are getting their first live airing since 1994 though, and this is the first time the album is being played in full. It was worth the wait.



The Roundhouse stage is dressed in basic army rigging and mainly bathed in red lights, with flashes of white and blue. No screens, no bells, no whistles. The decision to strip things down to a three-piece is significant.

Touring guitarist Wayne Murray and keyboard player Nick Nasmyth rejoin the group for a second 'hits' set, but for The Holy Bible itself it's just James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire and Sean Moore. You could split the stage down the middle for the first hour tonight, with everything happening to the right of Sean's drumkit.

There's a gaping chasm on the left hand side of the stage where Richey James Edwards should be. It feels like both the vacant armchair of a dear, departed patriarch and the bedroom of a missing child being preserved for eternity in the futile hope he may one day walk through the door.



The sound is raw, raw, raw. By all accounts, Richey wasn't exactly Keith Richards on rhythm guitar, but JDB has had some live help in the years since. Tonight, Sean and Nicky do their thing and the album samples are played through the PA in crystal clarity, but James carries so much of the weight on his own, playing simultaneous lead and rhythm. And singing. It's remarkable.

Admittedly on the opening 'Yes' it's a shambolic racket, but after that they settle right into it. 'Revol', 'PCP' and 'Faster' are a strobe punk rock explosion. James gives a few more lines to the audience here and there than he would normally and 'Mausoleum' has its phrasing tweaked, but you can certainly forgive him that.

There are changes of pace with 'She Is Suffering', '4st 7lb' and especially 'This Is Yesterday'. "When we recorded this song, I wasn't 100% convinced it should have been on the album, because it's very tender and melancholic," Nicky admits. "I'm f**king glad of it now, because I'd have a heart attack otherwise!" Him and us both.



The Holy Bible is dark, claustrophobic and oppressive, and in many ways so is this performance. There's much less chatter than at most Manics gigs, at least early on, and the trio convey a sense of melodic gloom throughout. But even stripped of its painful birth and aftermath, it's an incredible record, and the band do it absolute justice tonight.

After a ten minute break, there's a swirl of tracks from 1992-2014. We go from solo James acoustic 'Anthem For A Lost Cause', B-side 'Donkeys' and modern standard 'Motorcycle Emptiness' to a pogoing 'You Love Us' and handclapping, euphoric 'A Design For Life'.

The underrated '1985' gets a welcome outing, but it's the songs from this year's Futurology that shine. That's most true of instrumental 'Dreaming a City (Hughesovka)' and 'Divine Youth', featuring special guest Georgia Ruth. Like many of us, she looks like she can't quite believe she's there. As well as reclaiming their past tonight, the Manic Street Preachers have celebrated the here and now. See you in Cardiff.

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