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Closing the Friday for us was the Manic Street Preachers. Kasabian were technically the headliners but for us the Manics were the highlight - Kasabian pale in comparison, and have nowhere near the number of hits that the Manics do.
Clearly loving the beautiful setting for the festival, James Dean Bradfield and co treated us to a greatest hits set which showed off their amazing back-catalogue. Opening with “Faster” JDB echoed the sentiments of many bands over the weekend: “this is the last festival of the season for us, and it’s amazing to be in such a beautiful place as this!” he smiled before launching into a high velocity “Motorcycle Emptiness”.
“You Stole the Sun From My Heart” provided the first genuine festival sing-along, with the natural ampitheatre of the Oyster main stage providing amazing acoustics for the anthemic sing-along.
JDB introduced “Walking Abortion” from their generation-defining “Holy Bible” by joking that “those who are expecting one of our newer ones with strings can go to the bar for this one!”
“They said this was like an older version of T in the Park…I may need a hip replacement but that’s so not true - you’re all looking amazing tonight!” he smiled before launching into a cover of Rhianna’s Umberlla, which was one of the most inspired (or stupidest) choices of cover, dependent on your level of Manics fanaticism.
Motown Junk was dedicated to Richie Edwards, their missing guitarist and lyricist who has now been missing for over 13 years, and provided a reminder of the bands early days, and shows just how far they’ve come in their career.
Large photos and setlist after the jump.
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