The Manic Street Preachers are playing a massive open air show to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their album ‘Everything Must Go’.
The rock trio will perform at Swansea City soccer team’s Liberty Stadium on Saturday, May 28, 2016, in their native Wales to mark the release of their acclaimed 1996 LP – which was the band’s first ever major commercial success and featured the hit singles ‘A Design For Life’ and ‘Kevin Carter’ among others.
The band will perform two sets; fourth studio LP ‘Everything Must Go’ in full and a second set which will feature rarities, a handful of new songs and greatest hits.
Frontman James Dean Bradfield has revealed the idea for the concert came from bassist Nicky Wire following the success of their anniversary shows marking the release of ‘The Holy Bible’ in December 2014.
Speaking to Wales Online, he said: "It was Nicky’s idea. There was no indecision in doing something like this because we know that musically, stepping out on stage and playing the songs, it’s a much easier task for us.
"We enjoyed the experience of playing ‘The Holy Bible’ anniversary shows but purely in terms of just playing the songs that was much harder and much more problematic 20 years on because it’s such a vitriolic experience to play that music physically.
"But the difference with ‘Everything Must Go’ is that it breathes so easily. It has a flow to it and more warmth and humanity to it."
The Manic Street Preachers will be joined on the bill by guests Super Furry Animals and Public Service Broadcasting.
The band – which also includes drummer Sean Moore – are currently working with BAFTA Award-winning director Kieran Evans, who they worked with on videos for their last two albums, to create a new visual backdrop for the concert based around the artwork from ‘Everything Must Go’.
Recalling his memories of the album’s release at the height of Britpop, Bradfield admits it was a fantastic time but also "bittersweet" because guitarist Richey Edwards had gone missing in February 1995 never to be found.
He said: "We were a much more inclusive band around the time of ‘Everything Must Go’, which was such a gigantic achievement because, let’s face it, ‘The Holy Bible’ wasn’t such an inclusive experience.
"The memories of the album are of this strange sensation of being a popular cult band, to suddenly going overground and having 20,000 people singing songs back to me for the very first time. It was a shock. A completely new experience. It was a bittersweet experience, of course because there was the three of us, instead of four but it was affirmation that we could still rely on each other to be a different version of the Manics."
Tickets for The Liberty Stadium show go on sale this Friday, visit www.manicstreetpreachers.com for more information.
Manic Street Preachers to play Everything Must Go anniversary gig
