By David O’Neill
Returning to Swansea Arena for the final night of their spring 2025 tour, the Manic Street Preachers delivered a performance that was both a celebration and a meditation – a fitting testament to their enduring legacy as titans of the Cool Cymru era and their continued evolution as artists unafraid to confront the passage of time.
Adwaith’s support slot was a triumphant showcase of Welsh-language post-punk energy. For a monoglot like myself it was a chance to listen to the Welsh language as an artform. I liken it a bit to listening to Pavarotti singing opera in Italian, Cerys Matthews singing in Welsh, Clannad in Gaelic and Rammstein in German. You may not need to understand the lyrics to appreciate the musicality and talent on show.
Opening to a packed house, the Carmarthen trio delivered a set drawn largely from their acclaimed third album, ‘Solas’ – a project that’s not only a milestone for the band but also the first double album in Welsh by female artists.
The setlist included ‘Planed’ (Planet), ‘Mwy’ (More), ‘Pelydr-X’ (X-Ray), ‘Coeden Anniben’ (Messy Tree), ‘Purdan’ (Purgatory), ‘Miliwn’ (Million), ‘Addo’ (To promise), ‘ETO’ (again). Personally, having listened to ‘Solas’ and ‘Bato Mato’ (named after the guide they had when touring Siberia). It appears they overlooked an opportunity to engage other monolingual individuals like myself, who have often listened to male voice choirs performing ‘Lan y Môr’ (By The Sea), a rendition of the traditional song ‘Ar Lan y Mor’. This piece would have been particularly fitting as the final number, considering the beachfront location of Swansea’s new arena.
Each song’s title hints at the band’s exploration of themes like self-discovery, hope, and resilience: ‘Planed’ evokes a sense of searching for place, ‘Mwy’ expresses longing, and ‘Addo’ reflects commitment and trust, while ‘Purdan’ and ‘Coeden Anniben’ delve into chaos and renewal.
Adwaith’s performance was tight and atmospheric, with Hollie Singer’s vocals soaring over shimmering guitars and pulsing rhythms. Gwenllian Anthony barely stood still on bass guitar and offered a different vocal experience on ‘Pelydr-X’ along with some very evocative dance moves. The band’s pride in their language and heritage was palpable, and their new material-bold, expansive, and emotionally charged-filled the arena with anthemic sound. Their connection with the Manics was acknowledged with gratitude, and the crowd responded warmly, proving that Adwaith’s star continues to rise in Welsh music.
Few acts embody the spirit of Cool Cymru like the Manics. Alongside peers such as Catatonia and Stereophonics, they helped define a generation of Welsh music in the 1990s, turning the spotlight on a nation often overlooked in the British cultural landscape. Tonight’s Swansea crowd, many of whom have grown up with the band, were palpably aware of this history.
Opening up with video of inspirational quotes and the video for the latest album ‘Critical Thinking’ (which they returned to in the penultimate song with Nicky Wire taking up lyrical duty), the band’s set was a deft balance of anthems and new material. Opening with ‘Decline And Fall’ from ‘Critical Thinking’, the sound and feel of which was definitely MSP as well as accompanied by many of the videos from each of the songs as a visual treat for the assembled fans. One group of fans in the front row told me they had seen the band over 100 times and were playing Manics Bingo!
‘Enola/Alone’ and ‘La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh)’ gave the audience their vocal opportunities to warm up for the two hour set. Following these there had to be some more classics and so followed ‘Australia’ and ‘You Stole The Sun From My Heart’. The crowd (and yours truly) was loving it!
With many tracks to choose from their career, it was inevitable that some older tracks made this set and so it was with ‘She Is Suffering’ and ‘Peeled Apples’, which hasn’t been played since 2010, were revisited. However, this cannot be said for the staples such as ‘Motorcycle Emptiness’ which was next up.
Nicky took vocal duties on ‘Hiding In Plain Sight’ which was followed by ‘Autumn Song’ and when the opening chords of ‘A Design for Life’ ignited a collective nostalgia, yet the performance never felt like mere retrospection. Instead, it was a living conversation between past and present-a dialogue the Manics have mastered over three decades accompanied by discharges from confetti cannons either side of stage that really added to the party atmosphere.
James took to centre stage to undertake almost three acoustic songs (‘Ready For Drowning’, the audience vote for ‘This is Yesterday’ and half of ‘The Everlasting’). A very evocative ‘Dear Stephen’ is an emotional reflection by Wire about many different things in adolescence and has been associated with a postcard from Morrissey.
Fan favourites like ‘If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next’ and ‘You Stole The Sun From My Heart’ were delivered with the kind of conviction that has made the Manics a byword for passionate live performance. But it was the songs from their latest album, ‘Critical Thinking’, that gave the night its unique resonance. Tracks like ‘Decline And Fall’ and ‘Brushstrokes Of Reunion’ showcased a band still pushing forward, their sound now richer and more expansive, drawing on influences they once kept hidden – Simple Minds, The Waterboys, Big Country – embracing a broader emotional palette.
What was most striking was the sense of maturation running through the set. ‘Critical Thinking’ is an album preoccupied with alienation, aging, and the complexities of modern life, yet it never totally lapses into cynicism. Nicky Wire’s lyrics, always sharp, now carry a weight of lived experience. When he delivered lines like ‘What happened to your critical thinking,’ the reference to societal pre-occupation with adding labels to things to make them seem more palatable to the masses and thus more popular was clear, but so was the sense of self-examination and humility that comes with age.
James Dean Bradfield’s voice remains a force of nature, alternately tender and ferocious, while Sean Moore’s drumming anchors the band with understated power. The chemistry between the trio – now 30 years strong – was evident in every glance and shared smile, a testament to their resilience after decades of personal and collective trials. Whilst the trio are obviously well versed in live performances, this was supplemented by the instrumental and vocal talent of their backing artists.
The two Swansea Arena shows were more than just tour dates. For a band so deeply connected to Welsh identity, playing to a home crowd brought an added layer of emotion. The audience’s response was rapturous, a mix of gratitude and pride. As the final notes rang out, it was clear: the Manic Street Preachers remain not just survivors of their era, but vital chroniclers of the present, still capable of inspiring, challenging, and uniting their audience.
In a world where many of their contemporaries have faded or settled into nostalgia, the Manics’ Swansea shows were a stirring reminder of their unique place in British music. They are, as ever, a band in conversation with themselves and their audience-reflective, undiminished, and still gloriously alive.
- PHOTO CREDIT: All photos © Bandtogs/Über Rock.