Friday 5th & Saturday 6th July 2024

Cardiff Castle

---

Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh Rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (drums, percussion, soundscapes), plus Nicky Wire (bass guitar, lyrics). They form a key part of the 1990s Welsh Cool Cymru cultural movement.

Following the release of their debut single "Suicide Alley", Manic Street Preachers were joined by Richey Edwards as co-lyricist and rhythm guitarist, the band became a quartet. The band's early albums were in a punk vein, eventually broadening to a greater alternative rock sound, whilst retaining a leftist political outlook. Their early combination of androgynous glam imagery and lyrics about "culture, alienation, boredom and despair" gained them a loyal following.

The news of the tour meets huge demand surrounding the success of Suede’s ninth studio album Autofiction, and their entirely sold-out UK headline tour earlier this year. Debuting at #2 in the UK Albums Chart, the release marked Suede’s highest charting LP since 1999’s Head Music. The new album has been received as a career peak by fans and critics alike. 

2023 has seen the release of Suede30 - a timely reminder of how the band’s debut album had such a powerful and transformative effect on British music from the outset. Suede’s eponymous debut shot to #1 in the UK Album Charts upon its release selling over 100,000 copies in its first week, winning the prestigious Mercury Music Prize and becoming the fastest-selling debut album ever in the UK at that time.

Suede and the Manic Street Preachers’ UK and Ireland shows will follow a sold out 2022 US tour that saw both bands greeted with a fantastic reception - - Spin Magazine hailed "a joyous return”, Riff Magazine said there was “Unstoppable energy” and Under The Radar declared it “Excellent”. The groups are also playing several dates in Asia together next month in Taiwan, Singapore and Japan.

And now audiences in Cardiff can look forward to another hit-filled night.