“This one’s for you, beautiful boy.”
On July 10th, thousands of music fans came together in the open air esplanade within Edinburgh Castle. As the night progressed, it was quite clear to see who the fans were of each individual band on this co-headline lineup. However, as I glanced around the seated areas, I did notice fans singing proudly along with every word. If you’re a fan of Suede, Manics or both, it was definitely an unforgettable night full of mesmerising music and heartfelt harmonies.
Suede
English group Suede were first to bring their set to life, and what a set it was. From the first note, frontman Brett Anderson made the stage his own. He walked, lay down and climbed on every surface he could find. He incited audience participation from the start, even from people who weren’t as familiar with Suede’s material. Atmospheric fan-favourites were frequent in their 17-track co-headline slot. This included ‘Trash‘ followed by ‘Animal Nitrate‘ which were both played very early on. Maintaining the momentum and atmosphere, Suede quickly introduced fans to tour debuts ‘Sleeping Pills‘ and ‘The Wild Ones‘. These newer additions went down very well, with cheers roaring from the crowd after each one.
Anderson was keen to explore every area of the beautiful venue, and this didn’t just keep to the stage. At random points of each song, Anderson jumped down from the stage. He walked around the standing area, getting as close to his adoring fans as he could. I was surprised at how composed and controlled his vocals stayed during these segments. During ‘Saturday Night‘, Anderson continued his adventurous exploration of the stage setup, and encouraged everyone to sing along. It was strangely inspiring yet emotionally encapsulating to hear thousands of people singing in unity along with the chorus.
Other popular tunes including ‘She Still Leads Me On‘, ‘Antidepressants‘ and ‘Filmstar‘ made appearances and dedicated fans joined in with every word. Ending with ‘Metal Mickey‘ and another fan-favourite ‘Beautiful Ones‘, Suede concluded a set I won’t be forgetting anytime soon. I don’t think anybody will have been disappointed with the group’s performance. They’re definitely a band I’d love to see again. The multi-genre musicians gained and maintained the crowd’s attention with their infectious energy throughout. Brett Anderson is also hands down one of the best band frontmen to come from the UK. His energy is absolutely insane and it was easy to become exhausted just watching him strut and throw himself around.
Manic Street Preachers
Fellow headliners Manic Street Preachers took to the stage not long after Suede set the bar high. Manics kicked things off with immense energy from set opener ‘You Love Us‘. Following on from this, ‘Everything Must Go‘ and ‘Motorcycle Emptiness‘ kept this same energy flowing. The latter track is one of Manic’s many fan favourites and one that saw everyone singing along loudly. With the opening song and ‘Motorcycle Emptiness‘ coming from 1992 record “Generation Terrorists“, it only made sense to have the following song come from the same album. ‘Suicide Is Painless (Theme from M.A.S.H.)‘ was next on the setlist and the cover was met with atmospheric audience reaction that continued on from previous tracks.
Moving on to songs from 1998 release “This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours“, Manics played equally as popular tracks like ‘You Stole the Sun from My Heart‘. The band introduced a special guest who made her way onto the stage to the sound of cheers from around the venue. Along with The Anchoress, also known as Catherine Anne Davies, the group performed ‘Little Baby Nothing‘ and ‘Your love Alone Is Not Enough‘. When The Anchoress left the stage, the group dedicated their next track to former frontman Richey Edwards. “This one’s for you, beautiful boy,” was a statement met with an emotional response of applaud and cheers before ‘Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier‘ was performed.
Bringing the energy and brighter atmosphere back, Manics began playing a couple more fan favourites, ‘La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh)‘ and ‘A Design for Life‘. Both tracks brought everyone back together as each word was sang back to the band with energetic enthusiasm and passion. For the band’s final song, they played ‘If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next‘. The atmosphere walking out of the castle’s grounds after this was electric. Everyone was still singing along as they left the castle, the vibrancy from within the venue not dimming in the slightest.
This is a gig I loved and was so glad I could go to. It’s rare that you get a lineup, especially a co-headline one, that brings every single person together like this. Regardless of which band you were more drawn to, I doubt anybody left there regretting it. From lighting to the atmosphere, standing in the middle of it all was something else entirely. If you ever get the chance to see Suede and/or Manics, I can’t emphasise enough how much I recommend catching their shows. Even if you only know a small amount of their material, you’ll leave with a new favourite song, or two.
