Bear Hands and the Manic Street Preachers: A Retrospective

October 8, 2009. I queued for hours, as did most of the other attendees. Manixfans are dedicated; some might say obsessive. Prior to this, they hadn't been to North America since 1999, so we were all starved. It turned out that the queue was a bit pointless: it dissipated once the doors were opened because there is a bar area before the performance area, so we all got a bit lost in there. Another queue formed, and hopefully no one was too lost in the scuffle.
Bear Hands opened, as they had all tour. I do not care enough to find a setlist. I do not want to remember any of it. They were poor musicians, had no stage presence, and seemed so scruffy that you felt unclean just standing near them. They played for thirty-six soul-destroying minutes, or so the internet tells me.
I think that speaks for itself: people were counting down to the end of the performance to the minute.
After what seemed like aeons, the stage was set up for the Manics, and they entered to cheers, yells, and tremendous applause. James greeted us: "HELLO, BOSTON", and then "MOTORCYCLE EMPTINESS". They dove straight into their traditional opener, and we were transfixed. On the bootleg, you can hardly even hear cheering, we were caught up it. Singing along to the chorus under neon loneliness/motorcycle emptiness/under neon loneliness/motorcycle was the first absolutely magic moment of the gig. We spat out  lines with James: this wonderful world of purchase power, and he encouraged us to sing survival as natural as sorrow. We obliged, more than obliged. EPIC GUITAR SOLO. This song was magical, seriously.
They next went into No Surface All Feeling. This was sweet; when they typically would have sung feel the guilt of a sinner / feel the cold of a winter, James added just one little word: feel the cold of a Bostonian winter. I'm not a native Bostonian, not even an adopted one, and I was touched.
He apologised for being away for so long, and then introduced Peeled Apples by saying that "all lyrics [are] by Mr. Richard James Edwards. Tremendous cheers. We're all here for this. We all love Richey. This is the  Journal For Plague Lovers tour. Peeled Apples has an angry energy behind it.
A rousing rendition of Your Love Alone Is Not Enough came next. I wouldn't consider it one of their anthems in the same way that Motorcycle Emptiness, for example, is, but it still energises a crowd like few others.
La Tristesse Durera: James' voice sounded amazing, although he told us that he has a "hamdinger" of a cold. Banter about the Boston gig from 1992 gets laughs.
The opening chords of Jackie Collins Existential Question Time get massive cheers. We're here for Richey; we all love Richey and cherish his memory. The Journal For Plague Lovers tour means a lot. Oh mummy what's a sex pistol? Cheers at the end, an emphatic "YEAH" is clearly audible on the bootleg.
Cheers again for Let Robeson Sing. I thoroughly underappreciated this song until I heard it at this gig. An amazing rendition. The crowd was much quieter by this point. Still cheers, still whistles, still far from subdued, just...quieter with appreciation and shock that they were here, in North America, in front of us. 
FASTER. God, this song is not dated in the slightest. The lines are still as pointed as we spat them out with James in 2009 as they were in 1994. I am an architect/they call me a butcher. This was amazing.
Cheers for Tsunami, more than I would have expected, but it's great live. So much enthusiasm to go with such despairing lyrics. He called This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours "their most commercial album". More banter. He explained that they would have played Tsunami during the 1998/1999 North American tour date that they had to cancel, and said that he'd met "even more people were coming to that", and dedicated the song to them. Aww. <3
The songs from Journal For Plague Lovers get the most cheers, even the weaker (not that they're close to weak, don't get me wrong) ones like Marlon JD. The energy in this translated much better in a gig setting than it does on the CD, though.
From Despair To Where. I know I got excited, god. James left room for us to fill in the blanks: I cannot tell if it's real or not. The bass and guitar are both great on this one. From despair to where/where can you go? 
More banter: they thanked their touring band. We cheered, we love their touring band, especially Wayne. We were in love with everyone that night.
If You Tolerate This Then Your Children Will Be Next got massive cheers. We all sung along to the chorus; it's our anthem, still. Listening to this on the bootleg still gives me chills.
James had planned two acoustic songs, but his voice only permitted Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky. I'm sure his throat pained him, but his voice still sounded amazing, even as he apologised for it. This song is so good as an acoustic version. It hurts so much.
Someone yells Drug Drug Druggy, and James responded "drug drug druggy, I need some drug drug druggy, is what I need". Hah.
From there quickly into a rousing rendition of Send Away The Tigers. It might be a weak album, but it's still a song that's easy to get enthusiastic to in a concert setting. SOOOO send away the tigers / because we're lonely and we're desperate. Let's take a moment to appreciate Sean's skills on the drums.
The energy continued into You Stole The Sun From My Heart. We sung along, and James got louder with us. Epic cheers at the end.
They introduced Motown Junk with All Or Nothing. It was a great combination. James continued to be energetic, and Nicky matched him on the bass. You'd never have known it was the last date of the tour, or that James was sick.
James thanked us, thanked America after this, and said that they "finally managed to finish a fucking tour of America, [they] only just did, but [they] did". This got him massive cheers -- we were all hoping that an epic send-off would bring them back soon. Someone had given him a hat, and he said it was "a little Frankie Goes To Hollywood", and we laughed appropriately.
On to Me And Stephen Hawking. There was a great moment in this where everyone chanted we missed the sex revolution / when we failed the physical (when we failed the physical). We adored the Journal For Plague Lovers songs more than any others that night, it seems.
Little Baby Nothing. With James' encouragement (barely required), we chanted your beauty and virginity used like toys (toys). We sung along with him for most of this song. The gig was almost over, and we were so into this.
Quickly into You Love Us, but James explained that tonight it was called I Love You. Much more fast-paced than it is on the album, it was effective. We did the pointy-shout (0:45): YOU! LOVE! US!  It's tradition. YOU! LOVE! US! 
James thanked us again before he closed, and then: "We are the Manic Street Preachers. May your gods be with you. We'll see you in two years."
We don't talk about love! We only want to get drunk! And we are not allowed to spend! As we are told  that this is the end! A Design For Life! A design for life! A design for life!  And chant it back. Sing the whole thing. We don't talk about love.
But we loved them. We really fucking loved them. 
Rock and roll is our epiphany. 

Setlist:

Motorcycle Emptiness

No Surface All Feeling

Peeled Apples

Your Love Alone Is Not Enough

La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh)

Jackie Collins Existential Question Time

Let Robeson Sing

Faster

Tsunami

Marlon J.D.

From Despair To Where

If You Tolerate This Then Your Children Will Be Next

Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky (acoustic)

Send Away The Tigers

You Stole The Sun From My Heart

Motown Junk

Me And Stephen Hawking

Little Baby Nothing

You Love Us

A Design For Life

* I am basing this not just off of memory, but mostly off of diary entries I wrote at the time.