Live Review: Manic Street Preachers – Critical Thinking Tour, Manchester O2 Apollo, 2.5.2025

Manic Street Preachers - Critical Thinking interview

Picture credit: Alex Lake Having evolved from the sloganeering provocateurs of their early years into spokesmen for reasoned debate, Manic Street Preachers’ new album Critical Thinking sees the trio yearn for nuance. James Dean Bradfield tells us why social media is the cause of his only conspiracy theory – while revisiting his own favourites of pop’s greatest decade.  Going back to his South Wales childhood home in Blackwood recently, James Dea…

Live Review: Manic Street Preachers – Critical Thinking Tour, Manchester O2 Apollo, 2.5.2025

The Manic Street Preachers launched their much-anticipated ‘Critical Thinking’ tour with a sold-out show at Manchester’s O2 Apollo on May 2, 2025. Despite unforeseen delays due to a reported motorway fire and Glossop’s notorious traffic, which caused us to miss support act Honeyglaze, the evening unfolded into a triumphant celebration of the band’s enduring legacy.  Frontman James Dean Bradfield, battling a persistent bug and nursing a knee inju…