A magnificent set from the Manics full of surprises and rarities.

A series of Adverse Life Events meant that 2023 was a pretty rubbish year for me, with my dad’s death late in 2022 and the intense tangle of legal bureaucracy and family distress that followed causing me to remember it as one of the worst years of my life. However, one week stands out as a shimmering oasis of calm amongst the chaos: this week in the middle of June, when I ventured to Bath to see the Manics for the first time in 18 months.

It was my first trip to Bath, and luck had granted me a glorious day for it. Arriving at midday, I found myself wandering past the Forum to get to my hotel, and it was cheering to see a handful of Manics fans already gathered at the entrance, as though nothing had changed since their 90s heyday.

After a delightful afternoon of sightseeing, it was my turn to venture into the Forum to join them. Once inside, I found it a bit of an odd venue, with a tiny strip of a standing area in front of rows of seats. I did worry that this might lead to mosh hell, but it turned out quite a decent gigging experience.

First up was a support set from Picture Parlour, who were three girls and a boy drummer with some excellent dark retro sleaze-swagger rock. And then, about quarter to nine, the lights dropped and some thumping techno blasted as the screen showed a jumble of letters which resolved into a quote about Polaroids.

The boys came on, and my first thought was, ‘hang on, is James de-aging?,’ as he was looking like he’d stepped straight out of 2004. Whatever his secret is, I need to know it now. My second thought was, ‘just what the HELL is this setlist!!?? ‘ The first bunch of songs contained so many unexpected forays into my personal trove of MSP faves, from a rare nod to 2004’s “Lifeblood” with “1985”, to the scorching “Die In The Summertime” and the song that turned me into a Manics obsessive way back in 1993, “From Despair To Where”. I found myself wondering if they’d somehow designed the setlist just for me, and it was a wonderful thing to find myself shrieking in surprise and delight as they launched into each successive song.

Part way through the set, Catherine Anne Davies appeared to duet “Your Love Alone Is Not Enough” and “Little Baby Nothing”. These were both as impressive as usual, but I was less than impressed with the decision to have her sing “This Is Yesterday” in its entirety, rather than James. Of course, the Manics are no strangers to making abstruse decisions around their setlists – removing “Nobody Loved You” from their anniversary shows for “This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours” stands out in recent memory – but it’s hard not to see it as a bit inconsiderate to fans who have followed them through the decades to give a beloved track from “The Holy Bible” to a singer who has entirely no connection to that album.

However, this was the one small misstep in an otherwise spectacular gig. My personal favourite Manics album, the oft-neglected “Lifeblood”, actually had three representatives in the setlist, with the aforementioned “1985” joined by “A Song For Departure”, and the spindly spiky shiveriness of “To Repel Ghosts” providing a true highlight. “Yes, there will be a “Lifeblood” reissue next year!”, declared Nicky in mock exasperation at the hardcore, and of course, said reissue has since appeared in all its glory.

And the rarities didn’t end there. There was the return of acoustic “Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky” bringing back fond memories of my first Manics gigs back in 1996. There was the pogoing thrills of “Strip it Down”, the hypnotically eerie “Freedom Of Speech Won’t Feed My Children” and the strident and stirring “Walk Me To The Bridge”. And on top of these rarities, all the usual glorious hits like “Motorcycle Emptiness”, “A Design For Life” and “Faster”, with the more recent “International Blue” proving itself to have a rightful place amongst the classics. For a return to the world of gigs following a terrible seven months, I couldn’t have asked for more.

It’s now over a year since this gig happened, and unfortunately, the Adverse Life Events have followed me into 2024. A summer of dizzy spells and tinnitus caused me to cancel my plans to catch the Manics several times on their joint headlining tour with Suede in July, and it looks likely that my next chance to see my favourite band in the world will now have to wait until 2025. But the memories of this surprising and stunning gig, on a beautiful day in a beautiful city, are more than enough to keep me going until then.