Back with their new album, Critical Thinking, Manic Street Preachers packed out the iconic Glasgow Barrowland for the opening two nights of their tour. The band commands a loyalty that very few could even hope to match, devoted over decades. You can be certain that 90 percent of the weekend’s crowd were pogoing away in the band’s early days gigs, physically lifted with the bouncing kinetic energy of those around them. The crowd, understandably more reserved now in the light of years passing, breathed in songs old and new and reaffirmed their love for a band that means so much, and sang their hearts out together, lifted by the warm glow of belonging and a lifetime of shared experience.
Tonight, the band drew from right across their history, kicking off the night with ‘Decline & Fall’ from Critical Thinking quickly followed up with ‘Enola/Alone’ from 1996’s chart-topping Everything Must Go. There wasn’t a huge amount of chat but when there was, James Dean Bradfield found himself one of the few people who can get away with referring to members of a Barras crowd as ‘Jocks’. Such is love.
‘You Stole the Sun from My Heart’ was an early highlight, followed by the brilliant ‘She is Suffering’, the only song played on the night from The Holy Bible. ‘A Design for Life’ rounded off the first half of the show accompanied with a storm of confetti. It was time for a breather. I’ve seen more than a few bands playing at the Barras with their quiet moments drowned out by chat. Here JDB had the crowd in the palm of his hand, attentive and mesmerised by solo acoustic versions of ‘This Sullen Welsh Heart’ and ‘Small Black Flowers That Grow in the Sky’.
From the new album, ‘Dear Stephen’ – definitely not a moral judgement on Morrissey and more about Wire (uh-huh) – went down a treat; a fact Nicky Wire seemed to get some satisfaction from, a small smile escaping as it drew to a close. ‘I believe in repentance and forgiveness’ is my favorite lyric so far in 2025, for all that might be worth. We need more of that kind of thinking. It was followed by a welcome return for ‘Sleepflower’. Wire, looking forever like your favorite auntie, seemed to be enjoying himself all through the night – a wee high kick here, a pirouette there – though a tiny touch of nerves shone through before he took lead vocals duty for ‘Hiding in Plain Sight’.
‘Motown Junk’ encouraged and received one last blast of energy before the band drew the night to a close with ‘If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next’. The confetti rained down again and the Manics once again reigned in Glasgow’s old battered music palace. It was nice to see that the old venue has had a lick of paint and its stars repaired and renewed since I was last there. Sometimes that’s all it needs to start anew…to bring the old feelings back.
4 stars
