O2 Brixton Academy

Tonight sees the first of two rescheduled Manic Street Preachers gigs in the capital this weekend, both original dates having been postponed last October when singer James Dean Bradfield was suffering from laryngitis. They come in support of last year’s generally-acclaimed Postcards From A Young Man, an album that contains big melodies set against a sense of disillusionment with the modern world.

Kindred spirits British Sea Power provide support, and they play a number of excellent cuts from their recently-released Valhalla Dancehall LP, including ‘Who’s In Control’ and ‘Stunde Null’. Their rousing sound sets the scene perfectly, and may even find them some converts amongst tonight's appreciative audience.

After the usual interlude, the black curtain at the back of the stage is removed to reveal what look like props from a 1950s Hollywood movie set. There are lots of glitzy and glimmering silver-plated statues - the Manics' recent appearance on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ has obviously left a lasting impression! The band open with ‘Slash and Burn’ - the first of many this evening from their early back catalogue - before the now customary ‘Your Love Alone Is Not Enough’, a song that illustrates just how well they've managed to recover from a career-threatening turn-of-the-century slump; it's perhaps telling in this regard that nothing from either Know Your Enemy or Lifeblood receives an airing tonight.

The band concentrate primarily on early favourites such as ‘Motorcycle Emptiness’, ‘You Love Us’ and ‘Suicide Is Painless’, all of which are delivered with a level of gusto that could lead an ignorant observer to believe them to be new songs from a band half the Manics' age. ‘Everything Must Go’ builds on the euphoric beginning, whilst ‘Roses in The Hospital’ and ‘La Tristesse Durera (Scream to A Sigh)’ are also highlights. The four songs culled from the new album work well here too, most notably the title track as well as lead single ‘(It’s Not War) Just The End of Love’. In amongst these, the dark and brooding ‘My Little Empire’, from This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours, is given a rare but welcome outing.

The celebratory theme continues when Nicky Wire reveals that he has recently turned forty-two. This leads to a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ which bleeds into the chaotic ‘Motown Junk’. The climax of this song prompts everyone bar Bradfield to depart the stage, leaving the singer to perform breathtaking acoustic versions of ‘This Is Yesterday’ and ‘You Stole The Sun From My Heart’.

His cohorts duly return in what is the closest thing to an encore this evening (the band otherwise tear through the twenty-two-song set without stopping). ‘Me and Stephen Hawking’ becomes - disappointingly, for this fan at least - the only track tonight drawn from 2009's brilliant Journal For Plague Lovers; but with an album discography that now runs into double figures, it would be impossible for them to keep everyone happy all of the time. They close the show triumphantly with ‘Faster’, ‘No Surface All Feeling’ and ‘A Design for Life’ - songs that are rightly seen by many as national treasures, even if in recent years they have perhaps proven more relevant than that. On this evidence, Manic Street Preachers show no signs of relenting and continue to go from strength to strength. Indeed, with a more abrasive-sounding eleventh studio offering already in the works, there is (hopefully) plenty more still to come...