13/06/20 Middlesborough Riverside Stadium (Supporting The Killers)

[LA ex]

That was fun! Considering I expected a full on greatest hits set I was mildly surprised to see From Despair to Where and Autumn Song in there, but they were played so well that I couldn't complain (a few new James guitar parts that I can't remember noticing before). Biggest shock though was A Design for Life being played relatively early. Wondered if we might get a little KYE representation but apart from coming on stage to the Avalanches remix of So Why So Sad nothing to report.

Little in the way of between song chat - James apologising for going down with a cold (has he ever not got one?). Motorcycle Emptiness didn't even get a 30th Birthday mention - yeah, I know it's hard to say much about the set opener (for this sort of show I still argue Australia is the best song to open with). I dud shout out for Sleepflower which was completely ignored by the band but got a few giggles from in the know Manics fans.

I'm not going to attempt to describe Sean's shirt, but if he keeps it up he'll be replacing Nicky as the most glam member of the band!

The Killers were enjoyable although a strangely paced set meant things went pretty flat in the middle section. One of those bands that you forget quite how many hits they've had - although I was surprised that Mr Brightside didn't kick off as much as I've seen it do in many indie discos over the years!

The Riverside was frankly poorly set up for the event - I heard people complaining about queues for the bar taking over an hour, and getting in and out of the standing section was a nightmare with the limited access. I generally avoid stadium concerts, but the ones I've been to have been set up a lot better.

[mishima]

Originally Posted by LA ex

Full report tomorrow but I suspect the main talking point will be Sean's shirt.

there's a lot you could say about that shirt and none of complimentary

[Abstract Unknown Girl]

We were at this and the other dates the Manics supported at on this tour (we are also big fans of The Killers for the record - wouldn't have bothered otherwise!) and aw it was so nice to see two of my favourite bands on the same bill. I remember losing my mind way back in 2019 when the original dates were first announced.

The crowd around us were definitely the best for the Manics at this gig compared to the others, with quite a lot of people singing along. I had a quick nosy on a Killers Facebook group and everyone was generally very positive about the Manics too (although I had to laugh at someone chastising James for swearing too much ).

Also enjoyed The Killers, although agree that some of the setlists were oddly paced. Their Coventry setlist was definitely my favourite of the ones we did, although again, the crowd around us at Middlesbrough was probably the best. I guess it depends where you were, but everyone went mad for Mr Brightside at the end (we were about 4 rows back from the stage on the left).

I will say, though, the whole tour made me so glad I don't usually do stadium gigs and that the Manics usually play smaller venues. I hate being amongst such large crowds, especially in places where locals just go because it's down the road rather than because they're big fans. People can't stand still for more than 5 minutes without needing to pop out for drinks/food etc. and then complain that they can't get back to the exact same spot they were in. Like, what do you expect?! Especially the closer it gets to the headline act coming on stage. And don't even get me started on the number of people just chatting or turned away from the stage, or holding their phones up to film everyone around them. That's a new one that I really don't appreciate...don't film me ffs! I don't give you permission to do it and the band you've paid silly money for are behind you

Middlesbrough was probably one of the easiest entries/exits for us, though as we dropped lucky getting a space in a NCP car park right next to the motorway exit. We also went to Doncaster (no Manics support, but we live close and it was an extra date added to the tour after the rest of them) and that was definitely the worst for logistics. We paid for park and ride at the racecourse, but they totally fucked up the buses afterwards and a load of us ended up walking through greenery in the dark to get back to the car park! I think we saw one bus go by in the time we walked, so we definitely made the right choice as we'd have been waiting all night otherwise. I just don't think a lot of these venues are designed for large scale music events, as obviously the crowd capacity for a gig is greater than a football match.

And then there were a couple of gigs where GigsAndTours messed up badly and loads of people's (including ours) tickets said they'd already been used...at a time prior to the gates even opening. Luckily the box office at Doncaster knew there was a problem and gave us replacement tickets, and the stewards at Bristol didn't seem to care and let us in anyway. I don't know what the hell happened there, but they must have issued tickets with duff barcodes (and these weren't the original tickets from when the tour was first announced - we only printed them in the days before the event).

So, yeah...there was far too much stress and faff involved overall for my liking, but, I also reminded myself that the Manics supporting The Killers like this will probably never happen again, so at least I came and saw and enjoyed the music.

Oh and agreed about Sean's shirt, my face when I turned to my husband to comment on it must have been a picture (much like it was during the first airing of Autumnsong on this tour as well, because that was random)