The Answering Machine have played two shows with Manic Street Preachers so far and both nights have been breathtaking.  I was lucky enough to be at the Llandudno show last night and was blown away by both bands. These are the biggest shows of the young Machines lives but quickly settled into their set and managed to flog a few Tour CDs afterwards so hopefully some fans were made.

After that, the Manics came on and played their new album in completion. It sounded really great and something I plan to investigate soon though current house moving plans mean my finances are low but will give it a bash on Spotify at least. A quick break before a greatest hits set. With bands who have been around for so long, you can quickly forget how many absolute tunes they have. After a blistering hour they finished on A Design For Life.

Manics – A Design For Life

Click on the link above to see the band performing on Later with Jools from a few years ago. This song retains a really special moment in my musical life. When the band released this I was 12 years old and just about stumbling into music I could love. 12 years later and the song still sounds as amazing as it did when I sat in my parents house listening to mix tapes my older brothers made me. My father, still quite baffled my life, asked me at the weekend where my love for music had come from and to be honest it’s from all those mixtapes from brothers/friends etc as well as Steve Lamacq every night on Radio One. Always on the look out for something that said something to me about my life and looking to expand my knowledge.  Finding music you love is a really special thing and the older you gets the less it happens. The Manics made me feel like I was that same knowledgeless kid sat in my bedroom discovering absolutly musical perfection.  The tour continues to London this week for three nights at the Roundhouse. Should be pretty pretty good.