Manic Street Preachers: Wembley Arena, London

It's the longest running joke
In history
To kill the working classes
In the name of liberty

This trio of working class heroes are from killed off, if anything, the Cardiff outfit are as assured as death and taxes. They brought their outsider pop music to Wembley Arena last Friday and we were there to check it out.

This gig was consistently good, and occasionally special. The truly magical moments emerged when The Anchoress joined them on stage. Head to toe in leopard print, shades and deep red hair, she outdone Nicky Wire (until his pins got a stunning airing).

Having to don the roles of Nina Persson and Traci Lords is a feat most would cower from. So, to strut on stage and take ownership of these songs was incredible. The performance of 'Little Baby Nothing' was Julliette Lewis (Natural Born Killers) and Uma Therman (Pulp Fiction) rolled into one. The cuteness of the delivery of 'if I'm starving, you can feed me lollipops' switching to the immortal rock n roll goddess on the chorus (You are pure, you are snow  / We are the useless sluts that they mould / Rock 'n' roll is our epiphany / Culture, alienation, boredom and despair) is something that will live forever!

Then came 'Dylan and Caitlin', her duet from the new album 'Resistance is Futile'. A lesson to any aspiring artist, lyrical discourse can matter in pop music. It doesn’t have to be just love, loss and escape as this Chris Farlowe meets Phil Spector song proves.

It's well documented they struggled with their latest recording. On this kind of form, we can only hope they enjoy being Camus' 'Rebel' for a long time yet.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/eemrb