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Tulum's Collection

Manic Street Preachers   05/14/2011

Melkweg, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Source 2 x DPA 4060 mics -> DPA MMA6000 amplifier (100 Hz low-cut filter) -> Edirol R-09HR recorder (44.1 kHz/16 bit WAV)
Media FLAC   26 discs
Notes At last; Manic Street Preachers finally return to Amsterdam. How long has it been? I don't know; at least ten years. Too bloody long, that's for sure.

The Joy Formidable are supporting the Manics on most of the dates of this tour, but not this one. They'd buggered off to Carlisle for Radio 1's Big Weekend. My loss. Instead, we got some uninspired generic rock from Belgium's Sore Losers.

The Manics came on stage in a long since sold-out Melkweg at 21:20 and launched straight into 'Slash n' Burn', after which they barely came up for air between songs.

It was an interesting set-list, containing nothing from 'Lifeblood' and nothing even from 2009's 'Journal For Plague Lovers'. On the other hand, we got four songs a piece from 'Generation Terrorists' and 'This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours', which is as many as they drew from the latest album, 'Postcards From A Young Man'. As such, the set was a little top-heavy with older material, but the audience probably preferred it that way.

Banter was kept to a minimum and there was no encore. The way they were steaming through the songs, I had a feeling there wouldn't be. Not that they weren't enjoying themselves -- they clearly were -- but more and more bands these days are dispensing with the hackneyed concept of the automatic encore.

As long as they still play the same number of songs, I don't care.

Highlights for me were 'You Stole The Sun From My Heart' and the anthemic set closer, 'A Design For Life'.

Having lost nothing of their vitality and appearing scarcely a day older than when I last saw them live, the Manics demonstrated last night that they are still one of the greatest bands the UK has ever produced. I'm grateful for the opportunity to renew my acquaintance.

As usual, nothing has been added to the recording and nothing taken away. What you hear is what I got.

Enjoy!
Tech Notes Type: Audience (master), recorded front of house; 4 metres back from the left, ceiling-mounted PA stack.
Lineage: Audacity 1.3.13-beta (tracks split, fades added) -> FLAC (compression level 8) [libFLAC 1.2.1 20070917]
Trades Allowed Yes
Owned by Tulum · Last Updated Sep 10, 2025