Manic Street Preachers – Olympia Theatre – Review & Photos

On Friday the 20^th of September Welsh natives Manic Street Preachers (more commonly known as ‘Manics’) played their sold-out gig in the Olympia Theatre in Dublin. The crowd consisted mostly of hip middle-agers starting their weekend with a night of great rock music and a few pints with friends.

As the lights go down a cheer ripples through the crowd in anticipation and turns to an uproar when the lights come up as Manics take the stage. Lead singer Bradfield gives a single strum to his guitar and greets the crowd with an enthusiastic “How’re you doing, Dublin?!” which had the crowd in a frenzy! The band rock out a few songs with their third, ‘Your Love Alone Is Not Enough’, going down an absolute treat. The lucky audience members who had gotten to the front were pushing themselves up against the barrier and almost every person there was passionately singing back the words to the band and jiving along to the upbeat and buoyant tune. Everyone had a grin plastered on their face and bright eyes, it was if they were sixteen again and seeing their rock idols for the first time in concert!

Another greatly received song was ‘Show Me the Wonder’, a quick-paced tune that had a trumpeter coming up on stage to perform with the boys. The trumpet filled the venue and gave the band such a broad and big sound that the crowd were absolutely loving! It was such a happy and uplifting tune that even the few subdued concert goers in the seated area had their heads bopping along. After the sound came to a close in a roar of cheers and foot stamping Bradfield declares it’s “a pleasure to be back in one of our favourite places to play in the entire world!”.  Of course this began the biggest round of screaming and applause of the night, what crowd doesn’t love hearing the band they’re seeing loves their city?

The band was an absolute pleasure to watch and always kept it interesting with a balanced mix of songs, fast-paced heavy-rock numbers sliding with ease into slower and more thoughtful ones. A fine example of keeping it interesting was when the band called up their supporting act Cate Le Bon to perform ‘4 Lonely Roads’ with them. Bradfield dedicated the song to the late Irish poet Seamus Heaney and says “.. if only every gig could be like this”. The slower and more thoughtful number had the audience in a mellower mood, swaying with pint glasses in hand.

A band with a great stage presence and working together like a well-oiled machine it was an absolute pleasure to watch the band perform and their decades of playing together certainly shone through. A high-energy performance packed with catchy guitar riffs and complex drum beats I’m sure the audience can’t wait for Manic Street Preachers to return to Dublin.

Review by Miriam McGovern

Photos by Chris Charousset