Manic Street Preachers

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Observer zamieścił 25 najlepszych koncertów ever wg różnych osobistości. Jest też coś MSP a mianowicie:

Manic Street Preachers
London Astoria
21 December 1994

Sarah Boden

The Manic Street Preachers turned me on to being a proper wayward teenager. At 14 years old I was pissed off at sharing a room with my younger sister, and at being stuck in a Southampton all-girls convent school that was a stifling mix of shiny-haired conformists and mini-skirted 'Tracies'. After discovering the Manics, everything made better sense. The floral blooms on my bedroom wallpaper wilted under a covering of pictures, and my Saturday job wage went on Japanese imports and gig tickets. Within the year, come Saturday night, I was hanging out in toilet circuit staple the Joiners Arms, shyly avoiding old punks snorting speed in the toilets; I'd run away to Reading festival with my best friend, and acquired a compulsive music press and home taping habit.

I liked the Manics because they were a funny mix of innocent idealism and bolshy arrogance. When they formed in 1988, fuelled by fantastical idealism rather than musical proficiency, they spray painted their mum's frilly blouses with slogans nicked from Situationism and literary provocateurs. They namechecked Guns N' Roses as their biggest influence (while the rest of the country was loved-up on baggy) and gave exquisitely ridiculous soundbites like 'I hate Slowdive more than Hitler'.

In 1994, my best friend Lizzie and I got tickets to the last date of their three-night Christmas residency at the London Astoria. For the Manics it was the finale to a testing year that later would take on a poignant significance. The mental state of Richey Edwards, the band's aesthetic custodian, had become so critical during July that he was hospitalised and later sent to the Priory to be treated for anorexia, self-mutilation and alcoholism. A month later the band released The Holy Bible, a sparse, 13-track onslaught of nihilistic brilliance with song titles such as 'Die in the Summertime' and 'The Intense Humming of Evil'. Most of the harrowing lyrics were penned by Richey.

In a droll attempt at festive cheer, James Dean Bradfield wore a Santa hat and played Wham!'s 'Last Christmas', but since their show was Holy Bible-heavy, the mood was emotional and oppressive.

As if trying to condemn their horrible year to historical oblivion, they sped through their set with bloody-minded fury, James exuding a bullish determination, the veins in his neck bulging, as he barked out Richey's gothic lyrics.

As for Richey himself, he was shrouded in shadows left of stage, a whip-thin vision of self-conscious posturing. Then, halfway through signature sign-off tune 'You Love Us', he trashed his guitar and amp, before hurling himself into Sean's drum kit. Without hesitation, his bandmates joined in, destroying £8,000 worth of gear.

Richey never appeared live with his bandmates again. He disappeared a few months later on Valentine's Day.

· Sarah Boden is OMM's assistant editor
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na [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] są skany tego artykułu wraz ze zdjęciem Richeya

Hoti

Fajnie, aż z wrażenia trzebaby sobie włączyć i przypomnieć Smile

. Tylko pozazdrościć, że było się na takim koncercie (że w ogole się było).

Sylwia, a gdzie można znaleźć w ogolę listę tych koncertów, wiesz może? Dość ciekawe może być.

sylwia

Hoti

kasya

Może ta babka żle się wyraziła, jeśli chodzi o termin zaginięcia Richeya, a może nie była obsesyjną fanką (jak my) Wink

Jeśli mnie pamięć nie zawodzi 14 lutego oficjalnie ogłoszono zaginięcie Richeya. Przed tą datą wszystko było trzymane w tajemnicy, a tego dnia policja dostała informację o porzuconym samochodzie Richa i dla wielu osób stało się jasne, że sprawa jest poważniejsza, niż się początkowo wydawała, więc info o zaginięciu podano do publicznej wiadomości. Może o to chodziło autorce artykułu.

Dzisiaj w XFM usłyszałam, że Astoria ma być zburzona, bo w tym miejscu mają przebudować skrzyżowanie, czy coś w tym stylu Crying or Very sad

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