Manic Street Preachers & Suede @ Edinburgh Castle Esplanade 10/07/2024

Rating: ★★★★★

Edinburgh Castle Esplanade Rating: ★★★★

Where I stayed: Premier Inn Edinburgh Park (Airport) Hotel (The tram was easy to catch)

SUEDE SETLIST:

Turn Off Your Brain And Yell
Trash
Animal Nitrate
The Drowners
It Starts And Ends With You
15 Again
Sleeping Pills (Tour debut)
Antidepressants
Filmstar
Killing Of A Flashboy
Saturday Night
She Still Leads Me On
Shadow Self
The Wild Ones (Tour debut – acoustic)
So Young
Metal Mickey
Beautiful Ones

MANIC STREET PREACHERS SETLIST:

You Love Us
Everything Must Go
Motorcycle Emptiness
Suicide Is Painless (Theme from MASH) (Johnny Mandel cover)
You Stole The Sun From My Heart
To Repel Ghosts
Little Baby Nothing (with The Anchoress)
Your Love Alone Is Not Enough (with The Anchoress)
Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier
A Design For Life
La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh)
Walk Me To The Bridge
Tsunami
Orwellian
From Despair To Where
No Surface All Feeling
Today (The Smashing Pumpkins cover – partially played)
If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next

I saw Manic Street Preachers for the first time at The Isle Of Wight Festival last year, when they blew everyone away headlining the Big Top Tent. I have explored lots of new music over the past few years and MSP is one of my greatest discoveries. This may sound strange since they formed in the 1980s and are one of the most well-known bands in the UK with a long history of hits. I’m sure I had a very different experience from lifelong fans who have seen them hundreds of times but their music really interests me and I wouldn’t hesitate to see them again. I only knew Suede’s biggest songs, ‘Trash’ and ‘Beautiful Ones’, before this co-headlining tour (a repeat of their 2022 one in The US) was announced. The bands demonstrated clear mutual respect and I got the impression they are close friends behind the scenes. Co-headlining shows have increased in popularity and MSP and Suede work extremely well together, so I was incredibly excited for this. I travelled down to Edinburgh in the morning and headed up to the castle early, to see what the area had to offer. There were a lot of tourists buzzing around, even when they eventually blocked off the roads and put up the barriers. The doors were supposed to open at 6:45pm but that didn’t leave a lot of time to get everyone inside comfortably for Suede at 7:25pm, so they started letting people in earlier. I wish this had been better communicated but I was keeping an eye on the ever-growing queue, for any sign of movement. It was a bit of a confusing set-up but there were plenty of staff members, if you needed to ask questions. I bought a seated ticket as I wanted a view of the castle, so I wasn’t stressed about queuing early. However, I missed out on a signed copy of MSP’s new book, ‘Little Baby Nothings’, as I didn’t know about it and there were already hundreds of people at the merch stall by the time I got in. My seat was perfect, as I was close enough to the stage to see all of the action and high enough up to get a stunning view of the castle. The seats were built over the steep cliffs, which was a little unnerving!

They have been taking turns opening and closing the shows and Suede were first this time around, effortlessly energising the crowd. Brett Anderson (Suede) is an incredible frontman and knows how to get the crowd on his side. I liked the order the bands performed in, as Suede got everybody in the party spirit and it was magical watching the sun set during MSP. Suede burst on to the stage bang on time and impressed the crowd straight away. I overheard people gushing about the band and saying they were the highlight of the evening for them and I can understand why, though I enjoyed MSP more because I am biased. BA is one of the most energetic frontmen I have seen and had the crowd in the palm of his hand for the entirety of the set. His vocals are fantastically distinctive and the whole band was sensational, making the songs sound just like they do on the albums. BA spent a lot of time amongst the general admission crowd, creating many memorable moments for fans. I couldn’t believe how far his microphone cable stretched, as he even dashed over to wave at us in the seats. He was constantly on the move and it is astonishing he didn’t trip over any wires or equipment on stage. He claimed no band is more synonymous with fun than Suede and I am starting to believe him after this performance. There was a singalong to the catchy chorus of their 1996 single ‘Saturday Night’ and it was probably my favourite Suede song of the night. I didn’t know it before but it is a timeless classic. ‘Antidepressants’ was advertised as a new song of theirs, which hints at an upcoming studio album. Fingers crossed! You could tell BA delighted in engaging with fans and was desperate to not disappoint anyone. I don’t think people could have felt underwhelmed, as entertaining the crowd obviously comes naturally to the band and their energy was contagious. It’s great they mix up the setlist every night to keep people guessing what they will perform next and encourage fans to attend even more of their shows. We got two tour debuts – the melancholy ‘Sleeping Pills’ and poignant ‘The Wild Ones’, which were a real treat to experience live. Everyone went wild for ‘Beautiful Ones’ and it was the perfect song to end with, being their biggest and most recognisable hit. The name of the band flashed on the screens at the end, leaving a lasting impact and ending on a magnificent high. I am glad they did this tour with MSP, as I may not have ever seen them otherwise and would have missed out.

MSP came on at 9:10pm, with the intro of ‘1985’ blasting over the speakers, which was the first song I heard them perform live and gave me flashbacks to The IOW Festival. Opening with the upbeat ‘You Love Us’ was a brilliant move, as it got everybody jumping. It is one of my favourite songs of theirs, as the lyrics are profound for a song which seems superficial on the surface. After ‘You Stole The Sun From My Heart’, James Dean Bradfield (lead singer) said it is nice to close your eyes and pretend you are back in the 90s, even for just one song. They tore through their hits until ‘To Repel Ghosts’, an unexpected rarity from their 2004 album ‘Lifeblood’, which JDB had originally dismissed but couldn’t pinpoint why. I don’t know that album very well yet but it was recently re-released for its twentieth anniversary, which might be why the band included a song from it. Nicky Wire (bass) told us he was terrified about their first ever gig in Edinburgh, as he had never flown before. He dedicated ‘Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier’ to their fondly remembered guitarist Richey Edwards, who was a key lyricist before his mysterious disappearance in 1995. He recalled performing together in famous Edinburgh venues such as Usher Hall, The Venue (now nonexistent) and The Corn Exchange (now The O2 Academy Edinburgh), before launching into the song. The Anchoress aka Welsh singer/songwriter and good friend of MSP Catherine Anne Davies was welcomed on to the stage for a couple of songs. She has a beautiful voice which complements them well and it was nice to see her still performing with the band after IOW. I was excited to see her outfit, as she has been sharing her creations from each of the shows on social media. Her Barbie-inspired outfit was my favourite. I adored ‘Walk Me To The Bridge’ and was happy to be getting different songs from last time. JDB joked about his “John Hughes dance moves”, which were in full force during that song in particular. He gave the core members of the band a shout-out (Nicky Wire on bass and Sean Moore on drums, who he described as “the beast who lurks behind every beat”) and was thankful for everyone joining them on tour. The opening chords of ‘No Surface Feeling’ delighted me, as I was crossing my fingers for that song. Curiosity got the best of me and I looked at previous setlists from this tour. They hadn’t done it at every show, so I was lucky. It was a bit trippy hearing them perform ‘Today’ by The Smashing Pumpkins, after seeing them last month. They did a fantastic version of it and it would have been amazing to hear a full cover. The famous ‘If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next’ brought the show to a close and had everybody on their feet, clapping and cheering. Finally, JDB thanked us in Welsh. Along with the Welsh flag designs on their equipment, it was a nice nod to their proud heritage.

I had heard mixed reviews about the venue, mostly surrounding the alleged poor sound quality. I didn’t experience any sound issues and I’ve been to a lot of venues now, so it’s getting easier to judge and compare. I found very little to complain about. The area in front of the castle is an appropriate size for events like this and it is thrilling to climb up to your seat and peer over the sides, if you are brave enough. It was difficult to get a drink, as the queues were gigantic and off-putting. During the thirty minute interval between Suede and MSP, I joined a queue for the three female cubicles situated under our seating area and ran out of time to get a drink from the bar. There may have been more toilets further along but I didn’t want to risk losing my spot and ending up in an even longer line. Alcohol was being sold in the general admission area and I was jealous watching people swan over and purchase some with little to no waiting time. I got by without a drink, as I was on my own and it wasn’t necessary. The walk up to the castle is pleasant and there are lots of quirky shops and restaurants at the top but it may be a difficult trek for those with mobility issues. Also be mindful that it is a popular tourist destination. The hundreds of steps leading up the hill were easily avoidable until the staff members blocked off the roads which curve upwards, so I would recommend getting there early if you can. The downhill walk from the venue to the tram on Princes Street took me only a few minutes and it was a beautiful night, miraculously staying dry after heavy rain was forecast. All in all, it was a very well organised event and I would definitely go back. I’m really looking forward to seeing which music acts will be announced next summer as they seem to have something for everyone’s tastes. The pop band JLS played at the castle the night before this and the traditional Scottish band Skipinnish graced the stage a few days afterwards. I have already followed Edinburgh Castle Concert’s page on X to see what else they have planned.

GALLERY