Forever Delayed - The Independent Manics Forum  

Go Back   Forever Delayed - The Independent Manics Forum > Manic Street Preachers > Manic Street Preachers Discussion

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #16  
Old 23-08-2018, 18:27
Son of Stopped's Avatar
Son of Stopped Son of Stopped is online now
Builder of routine
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: The Wirral (Been saying it wrong, didn't realise there was a THE )
Age: 49
Posts: 16,641
Quote:
Originally Posted by Glyn View Post
I can remember a very drunk valleyboy asking me what it was called at a Manics gig in Cardiff (possibly 98) which lead to the great question from him (shouted into my ear) 'MOUNTAINBIKE WHAT??'
Ah great, now I'm calling it that from now on.
Under neon loneliness... MOUNTAINBIKE WHAT?? Ever last loneliness MOUNTAINBIKE WHAT??

James will make it fit when he sings it.
Reply With Quote
  #17  
Old 23-08-2018, 22:12
pineapple pineapple is offline
Knowlede Is Power
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: West of 'the mainland'
Posts: 1,114
Quote:
Originally Posted by Glyn View Post

I can remember a very drunk valleyboy asking me what it was called at a Manics gig in Cardiff (possibly 98) which lead to the great question from him (shouted into my ear) 'MOUNTAINBIKE WHAT??'
My husband once leaned over during a gig to ask if they would be doing the song about running out of petrol on a moped

I suspect he was trolling me
__________________
The advantage of a classical education is that it enables you to despise the wealth that it prevents you from achieving
Reply With Quote
  #18  
Old 23-08-2018, 22:55
Glyn Glyn is offline
Freed from the century
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 710
And another thing:
  • Never before has the saying 'greater than the sum of its parts' been truer than with the equation : Go Buzz Baby Go + Behave Yourself Baby = Motorcycle Emptiness
Reply With Quote
  #19  
Old 24-08-2018, 14:02
Oldland Manic's Avatar
Oldland Manic Oldland Manic is offline
An imitation of dignity
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Bristol/Bath
Age: 55
Posts: 51
I quite liked the band starting with "International Blue" on the RIF tour then seaming straight into ME but I'd agree that ME isn't the greatest of show starters...

Mind you, I'd probably got for something like Enola / Alone to kick off with.
__________________

1993 - Milton Keynes
2002 - Cardiff
2014 - Bournemouth
2018 - Wembley Arena
2019 - Bath
2021 - Cardiff
2021 - Bath
2021 - Wembley Arena
2022 - Bristol
2023 - Bath


Torn between the then and now, never really knowing the why and how
Reply With Quote
  #20  
Old 24-08-2018, 18:23
Son of Stopped's Avatar
Son of Stopped Son of Stopped is online now
Builder of routine
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: The Wirral (Been saying it wrong, didn't realise there was a THE )
Age: 49
Posts: 16,641
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oldland Manic View Post
I quite liked the band starting with "International Blue" on the RIF tour then seaming straight into ME but I'd agree that ME isn't the greatest of show starters...

Mind you, I'd probably got for something like Enola / Alone to kick off with.
I'd be happy with International Blue as that seemed to be the pattern. But maybe there's a superstition about opening with new songs?
I'd love them to open with Walk Me To The Bridge for the weird "So long" at the start!
It's a shame they won't touch THB material as "Faster" is the best opener they had.
Reply With Quote
  #21  
Old 26-08-2018, 21:04
rosetree rosetree is offline
I am purity, they call me perverted
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: leeds
Posts: 420
I like the song, the video and the live versions and I don't mind where it is played in a set.

I think the lyrics and music are more profound than some recent songs and it seems to age well because it has meaning. I think a lot of bands try to emulate that now. I like that it's still played a lot and it's one of the first songs.
Reply With Quote
  #22  
Old 05-09-2018, 17:15
starfucker starfucker is offline
Knowlede Is Power
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 1,051
Quote:
Originally Posted by Son of Stopped View Post
I'd be happy with International Blue as that seemed to be the pattern. But maybe there's a superstition about opening with new songs?
I'd love them to open with Walk Me To The Bridge for the weird "So long" at the start!
It's a shame they won't touch THB material as "Faster" is the best opener they had.
I agree with all of this. I personally love ME but it is not a natural opener. It's more of an after the acoustic section opening song. Walk Me To The Bridge would be a banging opener. Faster blew my fucking face off when they used it as an opener back in the day. But also, maybe a waste of a banger as during the first song you're excited to see the band onstage.

Open with Found That Soul, Yes (my personal favourite Manics song) or, IDEALLY, Stay Beautiful (IMAGINE THAT AS AN OPENER!!), play Faster as the last song of the main set before the acoustic break. After acoustic set, do ME, Motown Junk, You Love Us, Design For Life.

Last edited by starfucker; 05-09-2018 at 17:50.
Reply With Quote
  #23  
Old 13-09-2018, 07:01
The Crow's Avatar
The Crow The Crow is offline
Bored of being bored
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 1,856
I like it but not LIVE lol
Reply With Quote
  #24  
Old 17-09-2018, 10:17
darkanddivine's Avatar
darkanddivine darkanddivine is offline
Winterlover
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Wolfland
Posts: 6,982
I think if you're a Manics fan (long time listener, long time caller,) I can see why you might view it as overrated. Then again, I feel like this tune is the undroppable of all the undroppables. It's survived almost the entire history of the band in various forms so its significance is huge.

I've never thought of it as too long. To me the evidence of that is that any attempt to edit it turns out absolutely horribly. And if a song can whizz by in 6 minutes while feeling like 3, that's a freak of nature and deserves all the accolades it gets.

Interestingly, I don't recall it ever being particularly highly spoken of until recently. Perhaps all the Richey stuff and the high charting EMG/TIMT stuff put a dampener on it in the 90's. But as the band ditched the punk sound, Motorcycle actually fitted so well with the widescreen pop of the late 90s that it just slotted in the setlist like it was written at that time. I think most true MSP fans have always known how good it was, but it never seemed to gain much notoriety with the casual crowd until recently.

Unlike Design/Tolerate/YLA it didn't (seem to) get the same airplay so I think for casual fans, it may have only dawned on them that it was a classic in the last decade or so. It's a bit like how it took Everlong from its release in 1997, along with the Foos insistence of always playing it last to achieve that status.

Anyway. Everlasting nothingness...

Where the plot thickens for me is that the classic status seems to have come along with the current iteration of the song, the sped up post SATT version. I have to say that I'm less enthusiastic about the continued speeding up of the song. It's verging on being a bit pub band karaoke which sounds harsh, but it's the only way I can describe it.

To give some context to that, Motorcycle was actually a breather in the set in the late 90's/early 00's (imagine that) because everything else was played at 100mph. Now it's mostly the other way round. I think that worked in the post SATT euphoria to a degree, but I would like to see it return to a slightly more graceful format. James clearly struggles with that big scream in the middle 8 these days, which doesn't really befit the elegance of the track.

I also always felt it would make an amazing final tune at a gig, but I can only recall it ever hearing about them doing that a couple of times.
__________________
“I have known many sorrows, most of which never happened.” Mark Twain
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 22:12.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.6
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.