It’s hard to argue with the merits of a co-headline gig, isn’t it?
Not only do you get the chance to see not one, but two (pretty much) full-length sets from the artistés on offer, but it also means that if you’re lucky, you can cram an entire decade’s worth of iconic bangers into the course of one evening.
And that, dear reader, is precisely what the crowd at The Eden Project’s Manic Street Preachers and Suede double-bill were able to do. In between enjoying the picturesque surroundings of what is surely the country’s most jaw-droppingly gorgeous concert venue, the five-thousand-odd individuals in attendance were able to bear witness to a one-two of performances so iconic, they almost ended up as a segment on the Eras Tour.
Here’s what went down.
Manic Street Preachers
James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, and Sean Moore brought a bevy of hits to the Cornish stage, armed complete with a delivery that never once betrayed their nearly forty – forty! – years together. Bradfield, in particular, is still more than capable of belting the kind of visceral vocal delivery that a man half his age would be proud of. And in today’s political climate, tracks like If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next and A Design For Life are arguably as vital in 2024 as they’ve ever been. Long live the Manics.
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Suede
Of course, that’s not to diminish the power of The Beautiful Ones themselves. They might never have been the biggest band in the country, but there’s no denying that Brett Anderson – who, somehow, still appears to be trapped in the body of a forty-year-old – and his motley crue have cranked out some stellar hits over the course of their career.
And it’s these hits that are wheeled out tonight: Animal Nitrate is an early highlight, before a closing rendition of the afore-referenced Beautiful Ones brings the set to a climax in a wave of euphoric, crushing, and all-out majestic wall of sound. It’s not a bad way to spend an evening, really – and, alongside the raw power of the Manic Street Preachers, we’d even go so far as to suggest that this might just have been one of the best Eden Sessions shows of the last few years.
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